Disney film fan’s tattoo tribute to dad

Baloo, Mowgli and Co cover Jodie’s body

A DISNEY fanatic who has inked her body with dozens of fairy tale designs says it was the death of her father that sparked her tattoo addiction.

Jodie Dunlop, 32, has spent thousands of pounds on the designs.

The cake designer, from Manchester, hopes her tattoos will encourage people to be less judgemental about body art.

After losing her dad Graham, 55, to a heart attack in December 2015, Jodie had a Jungle Book tattoo inked on her right arm.

The inking of Baloo, Mowgli and King Louie honours the happy times she spent watching the film with her dad.

It took five hours but Jodie loved the design so much she booked another appointment to add Bagheera.

She has since spent between 50 to 60 hours having Disney characters

Jodie in Disneyland Paris before she got her tattoos and, inset, as a baby with dad Graham

Some of Jodie’s many Disney tattoos painted onto her arms, hands and legs.

“I had a few tattoos before I got my Jungle Book one, but they were all very small and subtle,” she said.

“I’d always wanted lots more tattoos, but worried that people would judge me a certain way, or that it’d harm my job prospects. Most people are positive, but some people do still stereotype you if you have visible tattoos.

“Losing my dad made me realise that life is short, so I went for it.”

She added: “I’ve loved Disney all my life. It never fails to make me smile and the films show that there’s always something to look forward to. Despite all the obstacles, there will always be a happy ending of some sort.”

Some of Jodie’s favourite childhood memories are of watching the 1967 Jungle Book movie with her dad. When she went through his things after his death, she realised the film had meant a lot to him, too.

“I was going through his Sky Plus and found that he had recorded

The Jungle Book, ready to watch with the family at Christmas, which was just after he passed,” she says.

“The film had meant so much to me. I’d watch it on repeat with him as a kid. I even had one of the songs - Bare Necessities - played at his funeral.”

It was May 2016 when Jodie got her first Disney tattoo by Beau, of Blue Cardinal Tattoo, in Rochdale.

A self-confessed Disney obsessive, Jodie has now steadily added to her themed tattoo collection.

Jodie says the tattoos also remind her of a trip to Disneyland Paris with her husband Jonny, 34, and their daughter, Caitlin, 11, which they took in 2014.

Jodie says she is often stopped by strangers who ask about her tattoos.

“Sometimes people ask me if I’m worried about what they’ll look like when I’m old, but that really doesn’t worry me,” she says.

“Because my tattoos are bright and colourful, people are mostly kind about them. I get asked for photos a lot.”