May 22, 2013 Last Updated: 04:19 PM EDT
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By Kadia Blagrove , FashionnStyle Reporter | Aug 30, 2012 03:09 PM EDT

This holiday season, Barneys New York channels its inner child and creates a campaign based on beloved Disney characters, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, and Goofy. However, Barneys' recreation of the classic animations is now the center of controversy.
A tall and lanky Minnie Mouse with pin-thin legs fronts one of the ads wearing Lanvin - not quite the image most remember as children. A super thin Daisy Duck dressed head to toe in Dolce and Gabbana is also in one of the ads. The cartoons' exaggerated gaunt features have many questioning the idea behind the campaign. While, Vogue UK praises the modelesque version of the iconic characters saying that they look "chic," many others are outraged.
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People are saying that the skinny Minnie creations will send out damaging body-image messages to children. Ming Na, the voice of Disney princess "Mulan," has expressed her disappointment via Twitter, "Apparently #Disney characters are on a very strict diet 4 this Xmas! Yeek!" Take a look at what other appalled critics are saying on Twitter:
"Disney, you really missed the mark on this one. Unattainable thinness is not an attribute of beauty, even in cartoons." -@Grady_Booch
"This story got me fired up this morning. Minnie is now super skinny thanks to a fashion marketing team. Really?!" - @sarahbrodhead
"This wont affect kids & body image. Nope." - @MissRetroGlam
"Anorexic Minnie Mouse? The Disney icon gets a makeover. Me no likey" - @annettelawless
"This is pathetic. Disney & Barneys New York have given Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck & co "Skinny makeovers" - @austinGatorUCF
Called "Electric Holiday," the campaign will feature a "moving art short" of the Disney characters strutting down the runway in their designer garments. The animated fashion show is said to include animated versions of real-life fashion people including "make-up artists, photographers, respected journalists and editors, and the celebrities and notable guests that typically attend the high profile shows."
Dennis Freedman, Barneys' creative director, made the decision to shed the Disney character weight. According to him, "The standard Minnie Mouse will not look so good in a Lanvin dress." (Ironically, Lanvin's latest campaign featured real women of different body shapes). Freedman told WWD "I said, 'If we're going to make this work, we have to have a 5-foot-11 Minnie,' and [Disney] agreed. When you see Goofy, Minnie and Mickey, they are runway models."
Alongside the film, there will be a 3-D electric light show and bright window displays. The only non-controversial aspect of the collection is its charitable benefit. Barneys will donate 25% of the sales from "Electric Holiday" purchases to a yet-to-be-announced charity.
Are the new Disney characters inappropriate or is this fashion?
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