Two German bisque Kewpie dolls, c. 1912–1913: Rose O’Neill’s character, whose Japanese mayonnaise namesake Sonny Angel’s creator drew on. Photo Scottdoesntknow, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. No free image of Sonny Angel itself exists — the figures are Dreams Inc. IP.
Sonny Angel
What it took directly
- statedThe Sonny Angel mini figure comes from an 18cm (7") wide-eyed doll, born May 15, 2004"At the beginning, Sonny Angel was not a mini figure. He was born as a 18cm(7”), wide-eyed doll. Born on May 15th, 2004." Dreams Inc., Sonny Angel official site (About)
- documentedThe name Sonny Angel took from Toru Soeya's own nickname, "Sonny""First invented in 2004 by Japanese designer Toru Soeya, Sonny Angels, given Soeya’s nickname, Sonny, were intended as a companion for young working women dealing with stress." Fortune (Jasmine Li and Sasha Rogelberg, Apr 2024)
- documentedSonny Angel comes from a brief: a "little boyfriend" (小さなボーイフレンド) bringing comfort to 25-year-old working women at life's turning points"仕事やプライベートなどでさまざまなターニングポイントを迎え、悩み事が増え始める25歳の働く女性たちに癒しを提供する「小さなボーイフレンド」がコンセプト。" Keizaikai (経済界) profile of Dreams, March 2020 (Japanese; our gloss)
- documentedSonny Angel took from the Kewpie mayonnaise baby, its cuteness and its roundness"Soeya was inspired by the cuteness of the Kewpie mayo baby and his creations share many of their predecessor’s traits — in particular, their amiable roundness." Vox (Alex Abad-Santos, Jul 2024) — the outlet's reporting, not a Soeya quote
- statedThe Sonny Angel Creatures series took from Donna Wilson's knitted lambswool Creatures"Dreams has collaborated with London-based textile artist and designer Donna Wilson. Donna Wilson’s Creatures include mysterious and lovely characters knitted from the softest lambswool and cashmere yarns." Dreams Inc., Sonny Angel official site (Creatures series release)
What it learned to do
- statedDreams Inc. (Sonny Angel's maker) learned from its own floating, light-up bath duck, whose success made "healing" (癒し) the company's core idea"『お風呂に浮かべて光るアヒル』を発売したところ、売れ行きが好調だったんです。この商品をきっかけに『癒し』というキーワードが弊社の軸になりました" Toru Soeya, Dreams CEO, to Keizaikai (経済界), March 2020 (Japanese; our gloss)
The tradition it sits in
- statedKewpie Mayonnaise (Japan) took from the Kewpie doll character, popular when the brand was named"The brand name was the name of the Kewpie doll character that was popular at the time." Kewpie Corporation, company history
- documentedThe Kewpie doll comes from Rose O'Neill's Kewpie drawings, made in bisque from 1912 by George Borgfeldt & Company"Several toy factories approached O’Neill about creating a Kewpie doll, and, in 1912, toy distributor George Borgfeldt & Company started producing the dolls, with royalties going to O’Neill, made of bisque porcelain." Smithsonian Magazine
- documentedSonny Angel comes from baby schema (Kindchenschema)"The term is called baby schema or kindchenschema, which both Kewpies and Sonnys embody." Vox (Alex Abad-Santos), summarising Joshua Paul Dale of Chuo University — the outlet's paraphrase, not Dale's words
- inferredSonny Angel's sideways, upward glance comes from the "sidelong eyes" Rose O'Neill gave her original Kewpies"Kewpies were fanciful, elf-like babies with a top-knot head, a wide smile, and sidelong eyes." inferred — Vox compares Sonny Angel's eyes to the Kewpie mayonnaise baby's; the State Historical Society of Missouri describes O'Neill's Kewpies. Neither source joins the two.
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedRose O'Neill's Kewpie comes from the classic cupid"Adapted from the classic “cupids,” O’Neill’s smirking, cherub-like characters with rosy cheeks came about when a Ladies’ Home Journal editor asked her to create “a series of little creatures,” as O’Neill recounted in her autobiography." Smithsonian Magazine, drawing on O'Neill's autobiography
- inferredSonny Angel comes from the cupid, by way of Rose O'Neill's Kewpie and the Kewpie mayonnaise baby"a biblically inaccurate, 3-inch-tall cherub figurine with peculiar headgear" inferred — chained from Vox (Kewpie mayo baby), Kewpie Corporation (named for the doll) and Smithsonian (Kewpies adapted from cupids). No single source draws the whole line.
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