Disney•Pixar Stamps Continue to Charm

If our Instagram feed is any indication, you all love the new Mail a Smile stamps. These “cute,” “adorable” stamps are the second in a two-part issuance that began last year with Send a Hello. Both sheets feature favorite characters from Disney•Pixar movies like Finding Nemo, Up, and Toy Story 2. And all of them have helped make mail time the best time of the day!

Most of the pictures of the Mail a Smile stamps that we see on Instagram look a little something like this. (We took this one for you all! )

But have you ever turned the pane over and looked closely at the back?

Those illustrations are actually blue-pencil sketches created by artists at Pixar Animation Studios. Even though Pixar is responsible for almost every major breakthrough in computer animation and continues to reset the bar in technology, the company begins every project the old-fashioned way: with a simple sketch. For Pixar, science inspires art and art challenges science. Both always serve the story; that’s the secret of Pixar’s success.

Want to share the stamps *and* sketches with your friends? The Mail a Smile postcards include both. (Click image to order.)

Come follow USPS Stamps on Instagram and show us your favorite stamps! And if you’re as crazy about Disney•Pixar movies as we are, head over to our newest Pinterest board, The Wonderful World of Disney.

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar

Bring Sunshine to Someone’s Mailbox: Mail a Smile Stamps Released Today

Today’s the day, folks! The Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps are available now! Not at Walt Disney World for the First Day of Issue ceremony? Don’t worry! You can still be part of the fun and excitement by watching a live feed of the entire dedication by following the link.

From ants who march to a different drummer to fish who learn to swim with the flow, from monsters with work challenges to superheroes with identity crises, Pixar’s unique characters have reminded us of our fears and foibles, challenges and victories, and made us laugh while doing so. Now some of those film friends are lifting our spirits once again on stamps that remind us that it’s always a good time to “Mail a Smile.”

Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (click to order)

This pane of 20 stamps includes five different designs featuring Disney•Pixar characters: Flik and Dot from A Bug’s Life (1998); Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) and Dashiell “Dash” Parr from The Incredibles (2004), with “Dash” also shown running in the background; Nemo and Squirt from Finding Nemo (2003); Woody, Bullseye, and Jessie from Toy Story 2 (1999); and Boo, Mike Wazowski, and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan from Monsters, Inc. (2001).

The Mail a Smile stamps are the second in a two-part issuance featuring Disney•Pixar characters. The first issuance, Send a Hello, was released in 2011 and featured characters from Disney•Pixar’s Ratatouille, Cars, Toy Story, WALL•E, and Up. A natural outgrowth of the successful Art of Disney stamp series issued between 2004 and 2008, the Send a Hello and Mail a Smile stamps tap the Disney•Pixar characters’ contemporary humor and lively personalities to convey an animated message about the positive impact of communicating by mail in any season and for any reason.

Since 1995, Pixar has won 29 Academy Awards, and its 12 feature films have grossed more than $6.5 billion at the world wide box office to date. Toy Story 3 is one of only three animated features ever nominated for Best Picture. Responsible for almost every major breakthrough in computer animation, Pixar Animation Studios continues to reset the bar in technology with every film—but for Pixar, science inspires art and art challenges science. Both always serve the story; that’s the true secret of their success.

Ceremony Program (click to order)

The Mail a Smile stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps in self-adhesive sheets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar

One Week Left Until You Can Mail a Smile

Don’t forget, stamp fans! The new Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps—the second issuance in a two-part series of fun Disney•Pixar characters—will be issued in one week, on June 1!

The Mail a Smile stamps feature beloved characters from five Disney•Pixar movies: A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), and The Incredibles (2004).

This stamp pane is a follow-up to Send a Hello (which are still available!), a 2011 issuance featuring Disney•Pixar characters that grew out of the Art of Disney series issued from 2004 through 2008.

These fun, lively stamps are a great way to brighten up anyone’s mailbox and put a smile on a loved one’s face!

The First Day of Issue ceremony will be held at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Will you be joining us? In the mean time, you can pre-order your Mail a Smile stamps today!

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar

Just Keep Swimming: Finding Nemo Stamp Coming Soon!

With the First Day of Issue ceremony for the Mail a Smile (Forever®) stamps just a couple weeks away, we can hardly contain our excitement! Finding Nemo is one of five Disney•Pixar favorites that will appear on the pane.

Father-son relationships reach new depths in Finding Nemo, the story of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin who overcomes his own fears to rescue his son, Nemo, from a dentist’s aquarium.

Directed by Andrew Stanton, Pixar animators dove into the challenge of making fish emotionally expressive and creating a believable underwater world by studying fish in a 25-gallon tank at Pixar Studios, taking diving trips, and attending ichthyology lectures. Advanced computer programs were developed to create the underwater environments.

The most complex Pixar film to date, Finding Nemo set a high-water mark for computer animation. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and nominations for Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Writing/Original Screenplay.

The fun, lovable stamps will be issued on Friday, June 1, at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort in Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Attendance is free and open to the public, but you must RSVP by May 22: http://www.rsvptrack.com/pixarstamps/.

The first issuance in this series, Send a Hello, which is still available, was released in 2011 and featured characters from Disney•Pixar’s Ratatouille, Cars, Toy Story, Wall•E, and Up. The Send a Hello and Mail a Smile stamps tap the Disney•Pixar characters’ contemporary humor and lively personalities to convey an animated message about the positive impact of communicating by mail in any season and for any reason. The Mail a Smile stamps can be pre-ordered today!

Which stamp is your favorite?

Disney/Pixar Materials: © Disney•Pixar