Lego Spring Festival Mickey Mouse

Learning All the Spring Festival Exciting Stories from This Lego Design

Lego Spring Festival Mickey Mouse is not only for Mickey Mouse fans, but also for anyone loves Chinese culture, festivals and traditions.

Lego is great at attention to details. But have you ever thought of the reasons and the stories behind how this Mickey Mouse put together?  Why does this Mickey Mouse put on some special clothes and red in color?  What is this little statue carrying in both hands?  Are they just random items look like Chinese? You will get all the answers and more below.

I bought this set in the Lego store when it was on sale for Lunar New Year items.  Your head is most likely spinning and thinking of the question that you want to ask, "Does Mickey Mouse really put on Chinese custom for this big festival?"

Let's look at...
The Costume
The 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs and the Story
The Lantern
"Gong Hei Fat Choi!" Here Comes Red Pocket Money 恭喜發財！利是逗來！
Chinese Lion Dance
Product Review
Comments

The Costume

Pictures of my family. The one on the left is very close to the one Mickey put on. You can see the full set of the costume on the top right with the hat, just like Mickey does. The one on the bottom right has modern design.

Yes, Mickey Mouse does put on Chinese costumes and/or clothes during Chinese New Year.  You can find Mickey dresses up like this in Hong Kong or Shanghai, China Disneyland.

So, is the costume authentic?  Yes, this is considered as the “modern” Chinese costume started around the last dynasty, Qing Dynasty 清朝 (between 1644-1912).  It is called Tangzhuang (aka Tang suit) 唐裝. My family and I sometimes put on this kind of costume to attend the Chinese New Year events. In upstate NY, it is pretty cold when you have this on due to the design. But it’s elegant and so much fun.  2 of my uncles are into Chinese martial art.  When they need to perform in front of some audiences, they put on this costume as well.

That's the top of Mickey's top of his Tang suit. Doesn't it look like the one my son and I put on?

I must admit that Mickey’s costume is even better than ours because it came with a hat which matches the exact Chinese ones that people used to put on centuries ago.

Just like many Chinese New Year decorations, Mickey's outfit is red.  Why?  In Chinese culture, red means something happy and great.  Yellow used to be reserved for emperor’s used only.  Pure white or black are only for funerals and something really sad.

So, Mickey got his clothes on appropriately. Good job, Lego, for getting this right!

With beautiful Chinese New Year decorations, it MUST go with some delicious food of this big festival. This cookbook will walk you through all the steps and show you how to make a Chinese feast that everybody will enjoy to the last bite.  Learn more.

The 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs and the Story

If you were born in the year of mouse, a Mickey Mouse fan or celebrating the year of mouse, this is the Lego for you.

You may wonder which years are the year of mouse/rat.  First of all, you need to know that there are 12 animals (zodiac signs) representing each year. They are (in this order) mouse/rat 鼠 (2020), ox 牛(2021), tiger 虎 (2022), rabbit 兔 (2023), dragon 龍 (2024), snake 蛇 (2025), horse 馬 (2026), goat 羊 (2027), monkey 猴 (2028), rooster 雞 (2029), dog 狗 (2030) and pig 豬 (2031).  Then, the cycle will start all over again.

Have you ever wondered why mouse is the very first Chinese zodiac animal?

After seeing all these animals, you may question, “What made mouse/rat to be the first zodiac among these 12 animals?  Isn’t it dragon considered as the superior one in the Chinese culture?  Why isn't it be the first one in the order?”

Great questions.  Here is the story how mouse/rat and the other animals were chosen to be the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

One day, the Heavenly King asked all the animals to assemble in his courtyard.  He announced that there would be a competition among these animals.  Whichever was able to cross the river and reach to the finish line would be part of the zodiacs.

The competition would start in a few days.  So, the animals went back home and got ready.  Cat and mouse used to be friends.  But mouse knew that cat would have the advantage of winning the game.  So, he made up something for cat to eat which also made cat fell into deep sleep.  This gave the opportunity for the mouse to go to the contest and have a head start.

Crossing the river was the last obstacle course that every animal needed to complete.  But most of them couldn't swim.  So, many of them got on the back of the ox, mouse was one of them.  He hopped right off the ox when the shore was near.  Therefore, he was the champion of the race and became the first in order of the Chinese zodiac signs.  By then, the cat just woke up and learned that he was late for the competition.  From then on, cats and mice are enemies.

You may find that there is a different version of this story.  I shared what I learned when I was a kid.

The Lantern

Check out Mickey's lantern. It does look very similar to the traditional Chinese ones. (Side note: There are always some spare parts from each Lego set just in case you miss or lose one.)

These lanterns with some traditional design look very similar to the one Mickey carries.

Mickey also carries a red lantern on his right hand.  Traditionally, a red lantern means something great happening.  People would hang several up in front of their main entrance.  Taking a big lantern around town was a very challenging task.  Even if they carried it with their hand, the size of a regular lantern was way too big to stretch out your arm to carry one.  Besides, the traditional one was always lighted up with candles or a small flame inside.  It was dangerous to begin with. As a result, people would hang it on a stick to make it easy to carry it around.

This picture was taken in Cyber Port Shopping Mall in Hong Kong in 2009 Chinese New Year. At the time, there was a Frameless Lantern Exhibition. As you can see they all look similar to the one Mickey has even with contemporary design.

As you learned more Chinese cultures and traditions, don't you wonder if the food served during Chinese New Year needs to go by the same principle?  Yes, what do you need to know?    This cookbook will give you all the details.  Guarantee your Chinese friends will be very impressed.  Learn more.

"Gong Hei Fat Choi!" Here Comes Red Pocket Money 恭喜發財！利是逗來！

That's the red pocket that Mickey carries.

Have you ever wondered what Mickey is holding on in his left hand?  Yes, it is a red pocket (sometimes called red envelope).  I love the attention to details of this Lego set because Chinese New Year cannot go without red pocket money.  The design on it is a lion, drawn in Chinese style.  I will come back to this later and give you more details about lion in the Chinese culture.

I purposefully put Mickey's red pocket on my hand so that you can see how tiny, but attention to details it is. Be cautious with small children around you when you are having fun. Compare the picture in the Lion Dance section, it does look like the lion head, doesn't it?

When it comes to red pocket money, I most likely can write a book. That custom of how, when, where and whom you should use, give and accept is like an art. Chinese also use the red pocket before and after Chinese New Year. In fact, it is widely used throughout the year. It always represents some great things and a way of showing gratitude and blessing.

So, when to give and receive red pocket money? In short, elderly gives to the young. Parents give to their children. Bosses give to their subordinates. Married friends give to their single friends.

Chinese Lion Dance

The Chinese Lion Dance performance is a kind of martial art. If you happen to see it in China, Hong Kong or other Asian countries, it is a lot more difficult and challenging. You will be super excited to enjoy it.

Back to our Chinese lions, what you see in all these pictures is totally authentic design.  Although you can’t find lions in China, except in the zoo, lion is a symbol of strength, power, protection and blessing in the Chinese culture.

This is a miniature of Lion Dance set for little kid. You can see the details which looks very similar to the design on Mickey Mouse's red pocket.

It’s common to see this performance during the Spring Festival.  Sometimes, store grand opening may have this as well.  Of course, that is outside of the Chinese New Year time.  I grew up seeing this kind of performance led by one of my uncles from my mother side.  It’s no easy job. It’s a kind of martial art that there are at least 2 people doing the lion dance with coordination of the beats from the Chinese drums and gongs.

While I was writing this page, I found that there is a Lego set perfectly capturing the actual lion dance performance.  Check this out.

If this Mickey Mouse brick set has so many Chinese traditions and customs to affect its design, can you imagine how much it needs to be considered to make a Chinese New Year Feast?  No worries.  This e-cookbook gets you all covered from planning to dinner being served.  Learn more.

Lego Spring Festival Mickey Mouse Product Review

All the parts and instructions taken out from the box of Lego Spring Festival Mickey Mouse (40673).

For Lego beginners, this Mickey Mouse set certainly is a very easy one to work on.  It took me 30 minutes to complete.  A big-thumb up to Lego for the attention to details.

My son has several Lego City themed sets.  There are some bricks in each set required to put a sticker on a small brick as a special design. It is very similar to this Mickey Mouse set when it comes to the red pocket, Mickey's sparkly eyes and his beautifully designed Chinese outfit.

But the difference was that it is a print-on in this set.  Personally, I am 50/50 about this.  Both stickers and print-on designs have their own advantages.  The stickers are very sharp and vibrant in colors.  And the colors are not easily faded away due to the sunlight or being rubbed off.  Those are the exact disadvantages if there is print-on design on a Lego brick.  However, the stickers are super tiny.  It must have very steady hands to put on with precision.  Otherwise, a brick will look very odd and out of place with an unaligned sticker on it.

Word of Caution: Lego is very good at assigning the age group of each set.  For this Lego Spring Festival Mickey Mouse set, it is recommended for age 10 or older.  There is a reason.  As you saw some pictures in this page that they are very tiny.  If there are any young children around, there is a risk of choking hazard.  Safety is always your top priority.

This is the first time I wrote about a product which is related to my themed recipes. If you want me to have more pages like this, please comment or contact me to let me know what you like to see in the future. Before you go, please check out my Chinese New Year Feast eCookbook.