The Figure Taking Down Mickey Mouse and Disrupting the Art World | Behind The HYPE: KAWS Companion

The Kaws Companion is a character collected by Kanye West, Travis Scott, and Drake.  From 100 ft sculpture forms to 11-inch collectibles, it and can be found in museums around the world.  HYPEBEAST dives into why Kaws’ iconic Companion character resells for thousands of dollars and has arguably become today’s version of Mickey Mouse.

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[avelye]

I was expecting a brief reason why ppl are attracted or how the artist come up with this twist. The Hyde explanation for Murakami is much satisfying.

[poego]

Literally the first I'm hearing of these and they feel like they're like, a plot point made up for a movie meant to parody how the art world can often be stuck up it's own butt a lot of the time. These aren't bad figures per say, but they look very dime a dozen like most other Disney deconstruction type figures. Sure, it came out in 1999, but it's not as if there wasn't Disney criticism back then.

The large art installations are defintely the more interesting aspect of it, as I'm very much a fan of gigantic installations. But when it definitely feels like the hype is due in part to it just being a status symbol, and it also is guilty of the same kind of consumerism as what's being criticized, it rings hollow and feels like a rich person's version of a beanie baby. Or it feels like it's Disney for people who are too self conscious to own Disney merch because it's not "mature" enough and they'd be embarrassed by it.

TL;DR: These would make nice 20$ Funco type pops for shelfs but its ludicrous that they're as expensive as they are for how uninspired they feel.

[jemchan]

This was the toy that got looted in the riots

[pirtl_turtl]

I'm too broke to understand the appeal of this

[chalk]

Never heard of these, sounds like a dystopian future concept

[MajatekYT]

Cool, it's "taking down Mickey Mouse" by also being a symbol of greed and it even represents financial status now. Something tells me the "art world" in this is more of an insular and exclusive club full of rich celebrities and their gullible fans. I can't wait to eyeroll harder after just finding out about it.

[onjwxvf]

It’s interesting how he came up. He basically just slapped his logo on other brands and people loved it.

[eggsand_bacon]

To be honest, i won't be surprised if they started nfts it's almost predictable for these types of "art" figurines.

[tekashi-fukg]

this is the toy that rich people buy for their kids on christmas

[gingerbob]

If they were affordable, they wouldn’t be that popular.

[ivy_]

Kaws: can I copy your homework?
Mickey Mouse: sure, just change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious that you copied
Kaws:

[bradleysmith]

Taking down Mickey Mouse? I think not. Mickey had been around for oh about 100 years. I’m pretty sure Kaws will be an afterthought in another 20

[pedrogarcia]

I honestly used to love kaws and was saving up money to buy one cuz I thought they were so cool but when I heard KAWS himself talk about the art he was so bland and made it seem like he doesn’t really have a story or any emotional attachment at all to his art and kinda just does it for the money

[herbertwesley]

Honestly I only found out about this shit after pewds showed off his collection. Back then they were only figures. A couple years later I see people walking around rocking fake kaws t-shirts so I was pretty perplexed. It probably only became popular as it is thanks to the low supply and the high price tag.

[cnsmooth]

This is the epitome of hype. Dude just put a different head on Mickey and now is making millions if not billions. Can't knock him for seizing his moment though, but glad to see the comments are the opposite of what I was expecting them to be.

[Eightyk]

Just think, there’s probably some broke college students out there who can create some of the best art humanity has ever seen but will probably never get the recognition.
Meanwhile someone redesigned Mickey Mouse and makes millions off of it

[DontLookAtMuh]

I can’t even watch this. The value people put on some things is so stupid

[johnnyc.]

How are you going to talk about this without talking about graffiti. This channel is called Hypebeast and it’s probably the most accurately named channel ever.

[ctbywon]

Ohhh that's so expensive! Can't relate to jhope and Namjoon. They love collecting KAWS

[troysarino]

One of these toys was looted recently during the George Floyd riot, that cost $87, 500. Instant jackpot