Animation Model Sheet 550-8006 - Peed's Dodo Suggestions

Well I'll be damned...a newly discovered model sheet.  How cool is that?  And this one is extra special, it mentions a specific artist by name!

That's right, this model sheet is specifically by Bill Peed (later Bill Peet) who was a story artist on Alice and did a lot of storyboard work on this and many other features before leaving the company in the late 1960s to pursue his solo career in children's books and illustration.  Boy that was a long sentence.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my faithful readers out there.  I promise to get back in the saddle in 2015 - after all it is the year of Alice, being the 150th anniversary of her publication.  Until then, enjoy this Christmas figurine from 1996.

Cinerevue December 1951 from France - Holiday Cover

Beautiful Christmas cover on this issue of Cinerevue magazine from France in 1951.  Alice was released at Christmastime in France, and this was one of several Christmas themed Alice items from that part of the world.

Original Pan Background Auction Result

On Friday December 19th, 2014, Profiles in History held a major animation art auction in conjunction with the Van Eaton Gallery.  In it this beautiful pan background was sold for a whopping $65,000.00 + buyer's premium, totaling $81,250.00.

According to the auction listing:

In the feature, the camera pans across this spectacular master background of house and grounds, with a view of gardens, flowering forest beyond and incredible starry sky. Disney Studio created the pan cel for exhibition purposes. This set of originals was included in The Art of Animation exhibits shown in America, Europe and Japan in the 1950s into the early 1960s. The Art of Animation was the last major touring exhibition of Disney Studio art sponsored by the Disney Company. This artwork is also published on page 55 of The Art and Flair of Mary Blair book by John Canemaker.

While the auction says that the cel was created by the studio, one wonders why they got her legs wrong?

The auction had hundreds of amazing items, including many Alice cels, paintings and drawings.  The full catalog can be viewed here and here.

I was fortunate enough to acquire two items in this auction, more on those when they arrive after the holidays!

Ed Wynn's 128th Birthday - Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-160C

Today is Ed Wynn's 128th birthday, born Nov 9, 1886.  He passed away only 6 months before Walt on Jun 16, 1966 at 80.

This live action reference photo is classic Ed Wynn and Mad Hatter.  I can just hear that thilly lithspy voice, can't you?

That Was a Much Longer Break Than I Had Intended

Wow.  Sorry about the 2-month break there folks, real life just has this annoying habit of getting in the way.  But with the holiday season rampaging towards us, I will try to have the odd post here and there, but probably won't be back into the full swing of things until the New Year.  Until then, here is a cool photo of NPH and his family for Halloween.

Happy Halloween - And Happy Birthday to Me

So I have the coolest friends on the world. Check out my birthday present - real lanterns from Disneyland's Mad Tea Party! Soon to be refurbished and lit :-)

Dalla Magazine #1 1953 from Germany

From Germany comes this children's magazine I've not heard of before, Dalla.  Seems to be typical of the children's magazines of the times, very short stories on a variety of topics suitable for younger readers.

But wait, here is a one page article on Disney's Alice, complete with color photographs from the film.  All are pretty standard fare except the first, which is unusual and not familiar to me from any other publications.

The last picture too is unusual in that it has been reversed for publication.

Parents magazine September 1951

Thanks to Jerry Beck over at Cartoon Research for alerting me to the existence of this magazine, although it did take me nearly 5 years to locate a complete copy of it.  The September issue is a trove of Alice content, both large and small.

First up is a tiny tiny blurb for Alice in the Family Movie Guide section.

Apparently it is an excellent film for adults and youths but children need some preparation.  And it is a Parents' Magazine Family Medal Award film to boot!

Next up is an ad for an Alice school bag.

While not the Disney bags we saw back in this post, it nevertheless exhibits a phenomenon that still occurs today:  third party merchandising.  Seemingly for every Disney movie ever released, there is a slew of other merchandise that is NOT Disney, but riding the publicity wave caused by the Disney film.  In this case, other Alice merchandise not licensed by Disney but still Alice themed.  One of the problems with filming stories in the public domain.

Next up is this great ad for Children's Digest magazine, which I blogged about way back in the first year of the blog, nearly six years ago!  Wow, has it been that long?

And finally another great ad, this time for Alice in Wonderland themed children's clothing.

Togs like toys for girls and boys.  What a great tag line.  And this ad solved a mystery that had eluded me for nearly 20 years.  It mentions picture buttons.  I have one of these, but have never been able to figure out from where it came.  Now I know!

Promotional Photo of Kathy Holding Kitten A-SPEC-132 - with LOTS of Mary Blair Art

Today the family and I are at the Walt Disney Family Museum visiting the Mary Blair exhibit.  Seems a perfect time for this post.

What a great photo.  Kathy at her cutest holding a little kitten.  And just look at that art!

It is a Mary Blair extravaganza behind her.  Oh to have even one of those.  Many of them I've seen cross the auction block in the past few years, how many can you recognize?

Auction House Mis-Attribution of David Hall

I don't normally do things like this, but this is bugging me. RR Auctions is having an animation auction that closes tonight. One particular lot is very clearly mis-attributed, the claim is that the lot listed is David Hall, and art by him is very sought after. I've contacted them about it and they agree and said they'd change the listing "...appreciate your email and we have decided to change the lot details to state that it is not a David Hall as you have stated." They haven't. By not changing the listing after they'e been alerted to the error and agreed, they are now actively deceiving their bidders. I don't know how else to proceed, so I thought I'd see if leveraging the social networks might get them to fix the listing before it is too late. It may already be too late.

Update:  The item has been withdrawn.  Go me.

Disneyland Alice in Wonderland Gloves by Wells Lamont

I know when I was a kid the only souvenirs I wanted when I went to Disneyland were gloves.  Nothing like gloves in bright and sunny southern California.

These gloves are particularly cool as they have a very nice illustration of Alice on each one.  Made by Wells Lamont of Chicago, I do imagine that for those kids visiting from colder climes these would indeed be a cool souvenir to take back home with you.

This particular example is very nice in that it has its original tag with price (49¢).  Wells Lamont held a license for gloves for 11 years (1958-1968), so it would be pretty tough to nail down exactly from when these come, but the style of the Disney copyright says late 1950s to early 1960s to me.

Hey, I Made Some (Virtual) Ink!

Today at the Walt Disney's Robin Hood blog there is a beautiful photo of Joan Rice as she attended the Alice in Wonderland premiere in London.  Joan played the part of Maid Marion, and as the film had just started production was certainly available for the Alice premiere.  And, the blogmaster gave me a very nice shout out.  Right back at ya Clement Glen!

For those who have not be exposed to the live action Robin Hood, it is a very nice film, and holds a special place in Disney history as it was the first film shot in England, using Disney's money that was 'stuck' in the UK from the war years.  The Robin Hood blog is a treasure trove for fans of that film, and even for those who may be new to it.  It is in my opinion one of the best Disney film blogs out there.  Run, don't walk, to check it out right now.

Garden of Live Flowers LGB with Promotional Wallet

How cool is this?  I don't know what exactly this is, I can only assume that it was some sort of in-store promotion, but this is the Alice Finds the Garden of Live Flowers Little Golden Book with a Mouseketeers Alice in Wonderland wallet attached to the front cover.  The wallet is in some sort of plastic sleeve - which is barely there - which is in and of itself unusual.

The LGB only has an A printing, and the Mouseketeers did not come into existence until 1954 with the Mickey Mouse Club, so there must have been a TON of these books printed and some store was using them as a promo to sell more wallets, or vice versa.  Regardless, what a neat find!

Danish Storybook

The second of the Scandinavian books, this time from Denmark.

I especially like the title page with its red and blue Alice logo.

This Alice book was fifth in a series of Disney books (The Great Disney Children's Books according to Google translate) that included Dumbo, Pinocchio, Cinderella and 'Stampe' which I'm going to assume is Thumper but I cannot be sure.

Swedish Storybook

One of two books from Scandinavia featuring the same contents (in native languages of course), this copy is from Sweden.

The interior art is a mix of full color and line drawings, and appears to be similar (if not the same) as that of an English book by Dean that I've not yet blogged about.

Roughly the size of a Little Golden Book, this is only one of two copies I've encountered in all my travels.

1970s Jersey Fabric

The last of the fabric posts - until I find something new.  This stuff just screams the 1970s to me, but please correct me if I'm wrong.  It is some sort of jersey-like material, very lightweight.  So far I have found it in two colorways:  white

and pink.

And I've even found two homemade items in it, one of each color.  A blouse or pajama top in the white

and a baby blanket in the pink

Bates Disciplined Fabric - Alice Painting the Roses Red

Another Bates fabric, probably from the same era, is this very neon example featuring Alice in a number of poses with some rose trees that have been painted red.

While this example does still have a selvedge, it just lists the company name and the Disney copyright.

Bates Disneyland Fabric - Alice in Wonderland in Blue

Ok, so yesterday I said I assumed this fabric was available in store.  It was.  And this is a piece of it in blue.  I've not yet found a piece in pink.  I really like the mushroom background pattern.  All of the characters are a little crudely rendered, but what do you expect for cotton fabric from so long ago?  No selvedge on this piece, so I don't know what, if anything, this pattern was called other than Alice in Wonderland.

As luck would have it, I also have a homemade item using this fabric - a doll's apron or pinafore.  I love finding stuff like this.

Bates Disneyland Fabric Ad

What is really an ad for kids bathing suits as sold only at Disneyland is in fact also an ad for Bates Disciplined Fabric in Disney prints

The Alice in Wonderland print was available in both blue and pink, and although the Can Can style swim suit was only sold at Disneyland by Cole of California, the fabric was available in fabric stores everywhere.  Or so I assume.

Sheet Music Song Book from Finland

Something new for me, some sheet music from Finland!  Way cool.

Interesting that the title is listed in both Finnish (red) and Swedish (green).  Really bizarre color scheme on this, red green & white, everyone looks a little possessed.  Interior has music and lyrics for three songs in two languages.  Pretty damn cool and the only one I've ever seen.

English Birthday Card by Valentine's - Alice

Last in the series (that I am aware of) is this of Alice, with the bluebird of happiness apparently.

Again interior sentiment not really saying much, and certainly not themed to the Alice-ness of the card.

Nanny must have gotten a deal on these cards, and only known one heartfelt phrase for her presumed young charges - this time the recipient is Bobbie.  Twins perhaps?  Who can say, but I'm very glad to have them.

English Birthday Card by Valentine's - Dinah

Now here's something you don't see everyday, a birthday card with Dinah.

And it is even our friend Figaro as Dinah as we've discussed many times in the past.

Interior sentiment is similar to the others.  And this card was given by Nanny to John, she must really have liked him as she gave him seven kisses!

English Birthday Card by Valentine's - White Rabbit

Since I have several of these Valentine's birthday cards, seems the right time to do them all.  The second card in the series features the White Rabbit.

The greeting is 'A gay "Note" for your birthday', odd that they didn't succumb to the 'belated' temptation that seemingly every other greeting card company did.  Refreshing, but odd.

Interior message is again lengthy and not particularly themed to the rest of the card, except for the repetition of the 'gay' sentiment.  For those of you under the age of 30, gay is an old fashioned way of saying lighthearted, carefree, fun, merry etc.  Think Flintstones theme song.  Oh, and the Flintstones is an old cartoon about a stone age family - again for the under 30 crowd.  Hmm...maybe ever for the under 40 crowd.  Damn I'm getting old...

I Went to the DFC Disney Show and All I Got was this Birthday Card - King of Hearts Birthday Card by Valentine's of Great Britain

The DFC show was a rousing success!  Thanks to everyone who dropped by to say hi!  My only score at the show was this English birthday card by Valentine's Greeting Cards, featuring the King of Hearts.

My quest for this card has spanned almost an entire year.  I first became aware of it after last year's D23 show - which I did not attend.  A friend sent me a camera phone shot of it, but it didn't come through until after the show was over.

Yikes!  Never seen this before!  I must have it!  Then followed a series of inquiries by several individuals trying to track down both the vendors and the card.  I did finally discover the identity of the vendor, and I met them at the Dayton show.  But alas, was told the card had sold :-(  Then at the DFC show this summer, one of the individuals who had tried to track it down told me that the card was still available and that there had been some sort of miscommunication!  Hooray!  And it now happily resides with its brethren in the Tulgey Wood.

The interior sports a fairly lengthy verse about living life well...with no reference to the King or Alice whatsoever.  But I will hand it to Joan, a nice obscure card to her friend Gavan is never wrong in my book.

Walt Disney and Family at the Alice in Wonderland World Premiere

In celebration of the 63rd anniversary of Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland, we have here a press photo of Walt and his family at the World Premiere in London.

The snipe reads as follows

I recognize Walt, Lily, Sharon and Diane, and perhaps Roy, but I don't know who that little girl is in the foreground.