Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to Me!

Another year has come and gone, lots of Alice has passed through this blog, with lots more to come.  This year I received an Amazon gift certificate via email, and it was in Spanish.  So, what better excuse to post a Spanish language birthday card?

The text of the card reads "I can not believe I forgot, I hope your day has been happy", or something to that effect (Google says so anyways).

I'm not technically late yet, but later than normal, so there it is.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Live Action Reference Photo 949-108 - Alice and the Flamingo

Here we see poor Kathy being subjected to yet another bizarre contraption whose sole purpose it seems is to make her as uncomfortable as possible.

Apparently there were no flamingos available for her to sit on while attempting that tricky croquet bank shot.  Oh well.

Live Action Reference Photo 350-59 - Alice 'Not at All'

I like this one as it shows Alice at her petulant best.  From March of 1950.

 The Cheshire Cat is up to mischief and has asked how Alice is getting on.  'Not at all' Alice proclaims, and chaos ensues.

Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-8 - Alice with Windex Boxes

I may be wrong, but I don't recall the sequence in the movie, or the book, where Alice is sitting in a chair waving Windex boxes over her head...

I have to say this is my favorite of all the live action reference photos that I have, simply because of the Windex boxes.  Classic.  I wish I could figure out what scene this is supposed to represent.

UPDATE:  As Major so eloquently put it, Orca FTW.  It is indeed from the mother bird sequence when Alice is shrinking back down to small size holding the mushroom pieces.

Live Action Reference Photo 650-26 - Alice Looking Through the Keyhole

Today's live action reference is a copy from the WED research library printed on October 26th, 1971 (guess I should have posted this one yesterday!), the notation on the back simply says:

Disney Productions - "Alice in Wonderland"
Live action model Kathy Beaumont
1950

Here we see poor Kathy lying on the floor peering through the tiny door, supposedly looking into Wonderland.

And you can see here that her dress is much less fancy, no lace trim, certainly not satin, more like wool or cotton.  At least it wasn't burlap.

Live Action Reference Photo 649-235 - Ed Wynn at the Mad Tea Party

This reference photo comes from an earlier time in the production based on its photo id (which is on the back of this particular photo) - June of 1949.  It features Ed Wynn as the zany Mad Hatter at his tea table filled with teapots.

It is difficult to figure out exactly where in the Mad Tea Party sequence this particular image falls, but you get the basic idea.

Live Action Reference Photo 451-8025 - Inside the Bottle on the Sea of Tears

Today begins a new series as suggested by my readers, live action reference photos.

This first photo shows our heroine inside her glass bottle adrift on the sea of tears, calling for help.  The photo number gives us some clue as to the time the photo was taken, 451 equates to April of 1951.  That is very late in the game for reference photos, and judging by her costume and hair, it is likely that this particular photo was staged for publicity purposes.

Later we'll see other photos of Kathy in the bottle, it must have been rather uncomfortable, and nauseating, to say the least!

Feeling Like I'm in a Rut

I've been feeling like I'm in a rut with my posting, so I wanted to get some input from my readers.  What would you like to see here on the blog?  Any particular types of items, specific items, let me know.  Can't wait to read your input.

I'm going to be in and out over the next couple of months, so posting is going to be a little more sporadic than usual unless I can get a series pre-posted.

1951 Danish RKO Program Booklet

I love finding foreign movie paper, and this piece is particularly cool as it is so voluminous.  It is a program booklet from Denmark.  Twelve pages in glorious Danish, can't read it, but love it just the same!  It is smallish in size, about the size of a quarter sheet of paper.

If it says RKO, you know it's original release!

Bruce Bushman Brownline of Alice Walkthrough

Back in the summer I did a whole series of these Bushman brownlines for the Alice walkthrough attraction that never was.  I realized that I missed one.

 

This is a hand-colored rendering of the White Rabbit's house scene, where the house is like a fun house attraction.  You entered through the front door, then jumped on the slide out of the top window.

Nice that this is signed too.

1951 Canadian Goodyear Promotional Mailer

This is very cool, and quite honestly very odd. A promotional mailer for Goodyear tires, Canadian market only. I must say, when I think Alice in Wonderland, tires do not leap to mind.

This mailer is incredibly well designed, and the art is very good. The first interior fold shows Alice chasing the White Rabbit towards the Queen's castle, in Goodyear Land (yeah, that rolls right off the tongue).

But the real gold is in the gatefold, where there is a little comic strip talking all about Goodyear Super Cushion tires, and how much Tweedledee and Tweedledum are like these amazing tires...all in verse!

If I were Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I would take offense at being called soft, and comments about how vast my area is.