Articulation of Jakks Zarina 9'' Doll vs Disney Merida 11'' Doll - Undressed - Posing Feet - Pointed Sideways and Out - Lower Midrange Front View
Comparing the articulation and posing ability of the Jakks Pacific The Pirate Fairy Zarina 9'' doll (2014) versus the Disney Store Brave Merida 11'' doll (2012). They are both undressed, to fully show their articulation and body proportions. They are also lying down, for ease of posing. They were photographed using built-in camera flash.
Merida is actually 11 1/4'' with her feet flat on the floor, and 11 1/2'' with her feet angled for high heels (as are the fixed angled feet of Zarina). So Merida is 2 1/2'' taller than Zarina. Besides the difference in height, the dolls have very different body proportions. This affects the posing ability of the dolls, as does the articulation. Zarina has shorter arms, a shorter and skinnier torso, narrower shoulders and smaller head. Since she is a fairy, she doesn't have to have human body proportions, which Merida more closely approximates.
Merida is more fully articulated than Zarina, with ankle joints instead of the fixed angled feet of Zarina. But Zarina has much better knee joints, being ball joints rather than the hinge joints of Merida, although Merida's knees can tilt back more than Zarina's. They both have roughly equivalent neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip joints. These are all ball joints (which both tilt and rotate), but Zarina's joints have more freedom of movement.
I show joint by joint the range of movement of the dolls body parts. I also compare their overall posability.
They both have ball jointed neck joints, but Zarina's head is much more posable. Both their heads can swivel around 360 degrees. They can also tilt, both up and down, as well as side to side. Zarina's neck joint is much smoother than Merida's, and can tilt at least twice as much, and can hold a pose much better (partly due to the softer and less massive head of hair on Zarina).
The joints in their arms (shoulder, elbows and wrists) are all ball joints. Zarina's joints have more exposed balls, so have more freedom of movement, but they also look less natural. Merida's shoulders stop at a 90 degree tilt from the vertical, but Zarina can raise her arms 45 degrees past the horizontal. To raise their arms vertically, they have to rotate their shoulders, and also move their heads out of the way. Because of Zarina's narrow shoulders, she has to move her head more. Merida, by rotating her elbow to the right position, can tilt her forearm down inward exactly 90 degrees from her upper arms, whereas Zarina can't quite tilt as much, stopping at perhaps 80 degrees. However, Zarina can tilt her forearm outward by more than 60 degress, with Merida stopping at 45 degrees. Zarina's wrists are way more flexible than Merida's, tilting both forward and backward a full 90 degrees, while Merida only does half that. Zarina's shorter arms and more flexible joints make certain poses easier and more natural looking, such as rubbing her belly, clasping her hands in front her waist or over her forehead. But Merida's longer arms and posable feet make her ballerina pose much better than Zarina's.
The joints in their legs very different. Merida has ball jointed hips, hinge jointed knees and ball jointed ankles. Zarina has ball jointed hips with greater tilting ability, ball jointed knees that partially make up for her lack of ankle joints, and fixed angled feet. They both have to splay their legs to sit up straight, but Merida's legs are 45 degrees apart, while Zarina's are 30 degree apart. Rotating Zarina's knees make it possible for her to point her feet outward or inward without having ankle joints, but her feet have a fixed 45 degree angle. Zarina can also pose bow legged, knock kneed, or cross legged, which Merida can do only very weakly. Merida's feet can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt up 30 degrees or down 60 degrees from the horizontal. Merida's leg joints are smoother than Zarina's so it is easier to move her into different poses.
Despite Zarina's lack of ankle joints, she is much more posable than Merida. But I think Merida's joint look more natural, as they are not as exposed, and her proportions are more realistic. But I do wish that Merida had the flexibility of Zarina's neck and knee joints, which do look good, since they are not exposed like her other joints.
Articulation of Jakks Zarina 9'' Doll vs Disney Merida 11'' Doll - Undressed - Posing Feet - Pointed Sideways and Out - Lower Midrange Front View
Comparing the articulation and posing ability of the Jakks Pacific The Pirate Fairy Zarina 9'' doll (2014) versus the Disney Store Brave Merida 11'' doll (2012). They are both undressed, to fully show their articulation and body proportions. They are also lying down, for ease of posing. They were photographed using built-in camera flash.
Merida is actually 11 1/4'' with her feet flat on the floor, and 11 1/2'' with her feet angled for high heels (as are the fixed angled feet of Zarina). So Merida is 2 1/2'' taller than Zarina. Besides the difference in height, the dolls have very different body proportions. This affects the posing ability of the dolls, as does the articulation. Zarina has shorter arms, a shorter and skinnier torso, narrower shoulders and smaller head. Since she is a fairy, she doesn't have to have human body proportions, which Merida more closely approximates.
Merida is more fully articulated than Zarina, with ankle joints instead of the fixed angled feet of Zarina. But Zarina has much better knee joints, being ball joints rather than the hinge joints of Merida, although Merida's knees can tilt back more than Zarina's. They both have roughly equivalent neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist and hip joints. These are all ball joints (which both tilt and rotate), but Zarina's joints have more freedom of movement.
I show joint by joint the range of movement of the dolls body parts. I also compare their overall posability.
They both have ball jointed neck joints, but Zarina's head is much more posable. Both their heads can swivel around 360 degrees. They can also tilt, both up and down, as well as side to side. Zarina's neck joint is much smoother than Merida's, and can tilt at least twice as much, and can hold a pose much better (partly due to the softer and less massive head of hair on Zarina).
The joints in their arms (shoulder, elbows and wrists) are all ball joints. Zarina's joints have more exposed balls, so have more freedom of movement, but they also look less natural. Merida's shoulders stop at a 90 degree tilt from the vertical, but Zarina can raise her arms 45 degrees past the horizontal. To raise their arms vertically, they have to rotate their shoulders, and also move their heads out of the way. Because of Zarina's narrow shoulders, she has to move her head more. Merida, by rotating her elbow to the right position, can tilt her forearm down inward exactly 90 degrees from her upper arms, whereas Zarina can't quite tilt as much, stopping at perhaps 80 degrees. However, Zarina can tilt her forearm outward by more than 60 degress, with Merida stopping at 45 degrees. Zarina's wrists are way more flexible than Merida's, tilting both forward and backward a full 90 degrees, while Merida only does half that. Zarina's shorter arms and more flexible joints make certain poses easier and more natural looking, such as rubbing her belly, clasping her hands in front her waist or over her forehead. But Merida's longer arms and posable feet make her ballerina pose much better than Zarina's.
The joints in their legs very different. Merida has ball jointed hips, hinge jointed knees and ball jointed ankles. Zarina has ball jointed hips with greater tilting ability, ball jointed knees that partially make up for her lack of ankle joints, and fixed angled feet. They both have to splay their legs to sit up straight, but Merida's legs are 45 degrees apart, while Zarina's are 30 degree apart. Rotating Zarina's knees make it possible for her to point her feet outward or inward without having ankle joints, but her feet have a fixed 45 degree angle. Zarina can also pose bow legged, knock kneed, or cross legged, which Merida can do only very weakly. Merida's feet can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt up 30 degrees or down 60 degrees from the horizontal. Merida's leg joints are smoother than Zarina's so it is easier to move her into different poses.
Despite Zarina's lack of ankle joints, she is much more posable than Merida. But I think Merida's joint look more natural, as they are not as exposed, and her proportions are more realistic. But I do wish that Merida had the flexibility of Zarina's neck and knee joints, which do look good, since they are not exposed like her other joints.