Mindy Carson with Three Beaus and a Peep (no kidding) on RCA

This will be my last audio post for a while, but this one is one of my favorites. Mindy Carson was a pop artist in the 1940s and 1950s, who had some hits prior to - and after - these covers of Alice songs. Her career did not extend much beyond this, but these covers are quite fun. You can read more about Mindy Carson on her Wikipedia page.



These particular recordings came from a promotional copy of the disc, probably used in a radio station.




A Side is I'm Late


B Side is Twas Brillig (my all-time favorite cover of an Alice song).


There is a compilation CD available of her greatest hits (including these two songs), grab it on Amazon from the link below.

Dennis Day Sings A Very Merry Unbirthday - RCA Y-430 Birthday Fun

This is pretty fun, Dennis Day explaining to a dog (Little Nipper) what an unbirthday is.


I like the cake on the label with a piece cut out. On side 1 the cake is whole.

Alice in Wonderland & I'm Late - Bob Dale, Nadia Dore on Royale

I've always liked colored vinyl, and this 45 on the Royale label is a very nice translucent red.

Featuring Bob Dale, Nadia Dore, and the Lockyer Orchestra, these are pretty decent recordings of 3 of the songs from Alice. Side one is the title song Alice in Wonderland and In a World of My Own, almost a medley. Side two is I'm Late.

I even managed to locate a photo of Nadia Dore from a piece of sheet music for this post.



Alice in Wonderland / In a World of My Own


I'm Late

Buzza Cardoza Birthday Card Record

I hesitated to post this as it is so atrocious, but what the heck.

This is a record greeting card by Buzza Cardoza of Anaheim, California. The content is really pretty unlistenable, but I suppose if you are 5 or 6 years old it is tolerable.

Don't know who the scary voices are, but certainly not Ed Wynn, Jerry Colona, nor Kathryn Beaumont.

Believe it or not, there are actually two versions of this. Cover and inside greeting differ slightly although it appears as though the record itself is the same.



Don't say I didn't warn you...

Alice in Waterland - Weeki Wachee Record from 1964

Quite possibly the weirdest thing I've ever come across is this record from a Weeki Wachee mermaid show from 1964-65, featuring the Alice title song with slightly modified lyrics, as sung by Marlin and the Mermaids! Gotta love that.

The Mad Hatter is truly frightening.

I've also found a few postcards to go with it, would love to find a brochure or program.

Unfortunately the vinyl is a little scratchy so there is some static.


Weeki Wachee is still in operation today, it has become a State Park and is now safe from closing - its fate was very uncertain about 5 years ago. If you are in Florida and nearby, go see the mermaid show, they are very fun.

Alice in Wonderland Title Song by Ray Nolan - Argentina

In honor of my daughter's first day back at William & Mary, and new course MUSC 365: "Alice in Musicland", I'm going to be posting music for a while.

The is a record from Argentina featuring Ray Nolan performing an instrumental of the title song Alice in Wonderland - Alice en el Pais de las Maravillas. It is a 78, but in the smaller 7 inch size, like a Little Golden Record.

The vinyl on this record is interesting, it looks like plain black vinyl, but if you hold it up to the light it is translucent.

Jello Commercial Cels - Alice and Caterpillar

The last of my cels from the Jello ads, first up is the Alice that I got along with the Gryphon. The white headband seems to be a trademark feature of cels from the Jello ads. The effects cel of the water is interesting, and certainly not from the two video clips I have.

Next is another Art Corner setup, this time with Alice and the Caterpillar as a butterfly. This originally had another cel as well, Toughy from Lady and the Tramp (go figure). Again, the two clips I have do not feature the Caterpillar, so there must be more Jello ads out there somewhere.

I do not have a reliable date on the ads. The video collection I have says 1956, but I have no other evidence of that date. The campaign materials I have from the original release do not mention Jello anywhere, in fact one of the larger campaigns for the original release was with a competitor, Royal Desserts.

Gryphon and Mock Turtle - Jello Commercial Cels

This Gryphon cel I acquired a very very long time ago, before I even knew of the existence of the Jello commercials. It came with another Alice cel that had the same heavy black lines, so it seemed like it belonged. I'm very glad I bought it when I did!

This next cel setup of Alice and the Mock Turtle is a Disneyland Art Corner setup as it is on a Sleeping Beauty background print, something that they did a lot of at the Art Corner.

Gryphon and Mock Turtle - Jello Commercial

Ok, so when I said that the Gryphon and Mock Turtle were forgotten characters, that was only partially true. They never appeared on the big screen...but they did appear on the little one. This is a Jello commercial from the same video collection as this post. But unlike the previous one, this one is almost entirely new animation, including the Gryphon and Mock Turtle!



Alice sounds like Kathryn Beaumont, but still need to verify.

Mock Turtle - Lobster Quadrille Storyboard Stills and Art

No Gryphon today, but lots of Mock Turtle. I think this is the storyboard sequence for an abandoned song called The Lobster Quadrille (as mentioned in Lost Chords) but I am not positive about that. I have posted the entire sequence since there are some pretty fun images in here that are not of the Mock Turtle. Again, these are stills from the same estate as yesterday's post.

I don't know who the artists is for these, anybody out there know who did these?

Guess this is the Lizard with the French Horn - Bill's cousin

and Frog with Lute....

and the blowfish with the music stands is quite something as well...

I love the Mock Turtle-ettes!


I swear it looks like that lobster is wearing loafers...



This past summer this one sold at auction, but I didn't get it :(

Gryphon and Mock Turtle - David Hall Storyboard Stills

This is a series of stills of David Hall storyboards of Alice leaving the pool of tears and encountering the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle on shore.

In this detail you can see the Gryphon in a very similar pose as one of the Tenniel illustrations from yesterday's post.

This is a very nice portrait of these two characters, I particularly like the Gryphon's bowler hat.

Here it appears as though the Caucus Race is beginning, with Mock Turtle and Gryphon taking part.

These stills came from the estate of Jack Cutting, Disney Foreign Agent (I love that title, sounds positively mysterious), and was part of a larger group that essentially covers the entire story arc.

Gryphon and Mock Turtle - Story Reference Stills

I'm beginning a new series, all about two of Alice's forgotten characters in the world of Disney, the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle.

All throughout the development of Alice in Wonderland, Disney struggled with how much of the two books to include in the final product. As such, all the original Carroll characters (and a few new ones) received at least some treatment. Two of those characters were the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle.

These are original stills that were used as reference - presumably for story development - enlargements of the original Tenniel illustrations of Alice with the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle. I found these with a large bunch of story stills from the estate of a former Disney employee. There were 34 of these Tenniel illustration stills, along with additional stills of story art.

Postcard from Germany - Mad Tea Party - 1960

As mentioned yesterday, this is the other postcard from Germany from the same company, with much more vivid (and PINK!) art than the previous one.

As you can see from the postmark, this was mailed from Amsterdam on Feb 17, 1960.

My German is not what it used to be, so other than Walt Disney Productions and Alice in Wonderland, I'm at a loss as to what this says on the back. Hans?

UPDATE: Sarah pointed out that these were printed in Nuremburg, Germany. Thanks Sarah!

I did a little Google-ing, and found out that the company, Michel & Co. is apparently still in business, and headquarted in Frankfurt. These postcards were made by the Kunstverlag , or art publishing division.

Postcard from Germany - Alice with Daisies - 1960?

Nice vintage postcard from Germany, featuring art of Alice in a field of daisies with the Eat Me cookie.

This art was used a lot in various different products all over the world, most notably a dye transfer that was available at Disneyland's Art Corner, although with more of a bluish tint than what we see here. I have another postcard from the same maker that is postally used with a postmark of 1960 that I'm posting tomorrow, hence the assumed date on this example.

Ferdinand Horvath Character Concept Drawing - Umbrella Bird

This is an original concept drawing of the umbrella bird from the Tulgey Wood sequence, by Ferdinand Horvath.

Horvath was at the studio for a very short time in the 1930s, did a lot of concept work on Snow White and others. For more information on Ferdinand Hustzi Horvath at Disney, there is a good article here.

Playthings Magazine - January 1951

Fantastic cover to the January 1951 issue of Playthings, the ultimate toy industry magazine.

Cover touts 1951 as being the Alice in Wonderland Year, and so it was as far as Playthings was concerned. Nearly every cover for the entire year was devoted to Alice in Wonderland.

Not much actual content Alice-wise inside this issue, a single page article that comments on what is in store for Alice in the coming months. Does make reference to the Pictorial Review posted here, and also to One Hour in Wonderland, Disney's very first TV show.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from 1987 in this postcard from Tokyo Disneyland.