Merry Christmas!

A bit of a repost from 2008, holiday catalog from France in 1951, where Alice was a Christmas release!

Dog Flower Mum Cel

This is a cool little cel, once of flowers from the Live Garden, looks to be a mum.

This little guy appears in the scene where Alice is fleeing the mean flowers and it barks at her on her way out.  I like the fact that this is a full cel and retains it notatations in the lower right corner.

Original Art - Walt Disney Comics Digest #46 - April 1974

Something a little more recent, from 1974, the original art for the cover to the Walt Disney Comics Digest issue #46, featuring (you guessed it) an Alice cover!

When Disney was prepping to re-release Alice in 1974, they pumped out almost as much marketing and merchandising as they did in 1951 since it had never been re-released till that time.  This digest contains part of the FC 331 story, which would be continued in a later issue.  But this is the only issue that had Alice on the cover.

Actor / Character Comparison Still - Alice and Kathryn Beaumont - Riding the Bird in the Caucus Race

The last of the comparison photos, this time Alice again!  Poor Kathy was so tormented by the animators during the live action reference filming.

Where was OSHA back then?

Actor / Character Comparison Still - The Mad Hatter and Ed Wynn

Never has Disney cast a better voice.  Ed Wynn's lispy Hatter is just fantastic.  And his improv skills proved better than the writers as his live action reference footage from the Mad Tea Party was so good, they used it as the vocal track rather than the studio recorded version.

While he later went on to portray Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins, he will always be the Mad Hatter to me.

Actor / Character Comparison Still - The March Hare and Jerry Colonna

The March Hare is the epitome of Jerry Colonna's crazy personality - or is it the other way 'round?

Regardless, they couldn't have made a better casting choice for this character.  "Just half a cup if you don't mind."

Actor / Character Comparison Still - Alice and Kathryn Beaumont - Sliding Down the Table Leg

This particular image was very popular during the months preceding the release of Alice in 1951, it was featured in several magazine articles promoting Disney's latest all-cartoon film!

I must say I do love images of the various tortures they put Kathy through during her live-action reference.

Actor / Character Comparison Still - The Cheshire Cat and Sterling Holloway

Sterling Holloway's toothy grin perfectly suits this comparison still with the Cheshire Cat.  I must say I think his performance is pretty damn special. I know he was the voice for many characters over the years, but to me (not surprisingly) this is his best.

Pooh fans, don't hate me :-)

Actor / Character Comparison Still - The Caterpillar and Richard Haydn

Since the Caterpillar is my favorite character, I was very excited to find this still of Richard Haydn as the Caterpillar.

I just love that they dressed him up in turban and such, but I don't know what the writing on the 'hookah' means, do you?

Actor / Character Comparison Still - Alice and Kathryn Beaumont

A long time ago I found a still that had lots of little tiny images of the various actors with their animated counterparts.  Recently I came across the full size still for several of those images, so let's have a series!

First up is, of course, Alice!

This still was used a lot back in the day, and the image of Kathy was practically ubiquitous.  But nonetheless, a cool still.  The animated Alice appears to be from the Caterpillar sequence based on the leaves in the background.  Haven't had a chance to find the exact image in the film, perhaps later in my voluminous spare time.

Advertising Poster for Dell Four Color 331

I've spoken a number of times here on the blog about the Dell Four Color comic that adapts the film, #331.  It was one of the - if not the - earliest Alice items I collected.  But did you know that Dell issued a poster to advertise its publication?  I acquired this poster in the early 2000s (the naughties) directly from Disney through their Disney Auctioneers program.  Those were the days let me tell ya.  Back when the company was selling treasures from their archive with no oversight whatsoever.

Promotional materials for comic books is nothing new, and companies have done it for decades.  I remember that brief time in the late 1980s when I worked for a comic book distributor  we got all kinds of promotional materials, from posters to flyers to buttons announcing the latest and greatest from all the publishers.  And apparently Dell was no exception. The humongous poster - a whopping 28x44, bigger than a one-sheet - just goes to show exactly how hard everyone was pushing the film.

Mock Turtle Pastel Storyboard

I love this little storyboard, the Mock Turtle just looks so shocked, or maybe stunned.  Whatever is supposed to be going on in this scene, he was clearly not made aware of it in advance.

I don't know who did this particular piece of art, but if I had to guess I'd put my money on Bill Peet.

One From the Wall - Alice Studio Setup with Walt Signature

We've recently acquired one of our Holy Grail items here in the Tulgey Wood, a Walt Disney signed cel setup.

I love this cel. It is from the very first sequence that was animated, when Alice encounters the Caterpillar.  Several things mark this as such. First, Alice's face is rounder and more childlike than in the rest of the film.  Second, the color of Alice's collar is a lighter shade of blue than the rest of her dress. One can only assume that it was (wisely) decided that it would have been way too much trouble to animate her dress that way throughout the entire film. Third (but only audibly) Kathy's voice is much younger sounding in this sequence than in any other. 

I've always wanted a cel from this sequence, and a Walt signed cel?  Killed two birds with one stone with this acquisition.

I also figured something out, like a bolt from the blue.  Remember this cel setup from before, the one that Walt *almost* showed on national television?

I always wondered why the mat board at the bottom was so much wider than at the top.  And now I know:  To allow for Walt's enormous signature!  Guess he just never got around to signing my other setup.  Oh well, probably a good thing, it would've cost me a whole lot more than it already did!

Danish 1-Sheet

So we may be done with Sweden, but I have one more Scandinavian poster to share, this time from Denmark.

As will all these foreign posters, I usually don't know the proper language-correct name, so I'm calling this a 1-sheet. I like the colors very much, one of the most vivid I've seen.  And again, I like how they mimic the wonky Alice font.

Happy Halloween!

Or as I prefer to say, Happy Birthday to me!  That's right, today is not only Halloween, but also my birthday.  And what better way to celebrate both than with cool Alice Halloween garments!  Over the years there have been not one, but two Alice themed Halloween scrub tops!  The medical industry gets all the cool clothes.

What's great about these, is that you can generally find them on eBay for pretty cheap, and you can either wear them as is, or in my case, have them made into cool Hawaiian shirts!  Happy Birthday indeed!

Swedish Insert (Stolpe)

Third and final Swedish poster their version of an insert, called a Stolpe.  Quite odd in its coloring with the gradation of dark maroon to yellow, but a cool poster nonetheless.

Stolpe roughly translates to post or pillar, so I guess these were made to be displayed on some sort of pillar-like surface.

Swedish 1-Sheet

Hey, a series, who doesn't love a series?  Today we have another Swedish poster, this time the Swedish version of a 1-sheet.

I really like the way they tried to mimic the wonky font seen in a lot of the US advertising.  I love attention to detail.

So Yeah, Life Happened...

And as a result, I've been woefully absent from the blogosphere.  But fear not, I am reinvigorated and some cool stuff awaits in the coming year!  To start you off, here is a very cool movie poster from Sweden, and it's big!  I'm calling it a 2-panel as it is made up of, you guessed it, two panels side-to-side.

I've got two more Swedish posters coming up. so stay tuned!

Unexpectedly Going to Disneyana Mania this Sunday

Well I didn't think I was, but now I am.  I'll be at the Disneyana Fan Club show and sale this Sunday July 19th.  This year will be a decidedly smaller display, but thanks to the generosity of Erin & Robby I will be there.  Hope to see you too!

Ready for Dayton Disneyana 2015

Fruit of the Loom Child's Sock Set

How cool is it that this package of little girl's socks has survived intact since 1951?  Fruit of the Loom Guaranteed Socks featuring Alice in Wonderland designs in the package!

And the cellophane is still there too!  I have an ad for these socks somewhere, I'll post it when I come across it again, but these are in fact licensed and from the initial release.

Bates Disneyland Fabric - Tea Cups

I've had this fabric scanned and ready to post for a while, ever since the slew of feedsack and fabric posts back in August 2014, but I didn't know who made it so I held off on posting.  Today, we were finally able to make out the faintest copyright line in light pink(!) printing on the selvage, and it is in fact Bates like all the others.

The color of the fabric is not captured very well in this photo, it is really more of a very pale blue, but the pattern is pretty cool with old school tea cup ride decorations.  Sadly I don't have very much of it, and have never seen any more, would be cool to make a shirt out of this.

1963 Topps Temporary Tattoos

In 1963 Topps made a series of Disney character temporary tattoos that were printed on the inside of the wrapper of individual pieces of bubble gum, kinda like Bazooka bubble gum comic strips.  Oddly, the name of the gum was Tatoo Bubble Gum [sic] - I guess they felt that purposefully misspelling the word tattoo would prevent kids from getting real ones later in life.  We know these are from 1963 because the wrapper advertises the new Disney feature Summer Magic.

Currently I only have a March Hare tatoo, and it is amazing that even this one survived - after all why would you as a kid buy tattoo bubble gum if you weren't going to use the tattoo?  But I know there was at least an Alice and a Mad Hatter as well.  How do I know this?

Because I was fortunate enough to purchase the original art for all three of these tatoos from the Topps archive.  And tiny pieces of art they are too.

For more information on these Topps Tatoos, check out the amazing Topps Archive Blog (which I don't think is affiliated with the Topps Archive).

Swedish Trading Cards - 1000th POST!!

Wow.  I never thought I'd get to 1000 posts!  And it only took 7 years.  Let the fireworks commence!

I know essentially nothing about these, other than they appear to be Swedish (Alice i Underlandet), and that they are about the same size as a business card.  This first card has no number on the front, and the print of the copyright is totally different than all the rest, it might be from a different series.

This second card is fairly amusing, as it depicts Alice having a day of beauty with Minnie Mouse and Chip the chipmunk doing her hair and makeup.  You'd think she'd look better after all that work.  This is number 234.

Next is #315, featuring Alice talking to the Tulips.  I'm sure she could pick every one of them if she were her right size.

The Mad Tea Party with the Mad Hatter and March Hare is on #570, presenting Alice with her very own unbirthday cake.  You know today is my unbirthday too.

And lastly, #607, featuring art lifted from the Dell comic book Four Color 331.

I have no idea who made these, how many there are (although it appears to be a fairly huge number) and if they are all Alice or a variety of Disney characters, but in my 25 years of collecting these are the only 5 I've come across.  I welcome any information on these from anyone out there.

Blog Follower Needs Some Assistance

I don' t normally do this, but a follower of the blog who teaches English overseas is looking for some help to get to her next gig:  Thailand.  If you can, give her some help so she can continue teaching and maybe spread the Alice word to Thailand :-)

Alice and Cinderella Book by Collins of England

Whereas yesterday's Dean book is one of the prettiest Alice books, today's Collins Alice/Cinderella is perhaps one of the ... less attractive books.

First of all, why the combo book?  Was Collins short of funds and needed to combine two stories in a single book?  Secondly, who in the hell is the artist on this?  Alice looks like a cross between the big-eyed kids and a Tijuana black velvet painting - no offense to Margaret Keane.

The cover is nice, and that's about all I can say for it.  Surprisingly this book was reprinted in at least two other countries:  Italy and Brazil.

Alice in Wonderland Book by Dean of England

Possibly one of the prettiest books to come out of England during the original release (that didn't use Studio art) is the Dean book.

Released in 1951 it uses art that appears to be taken directly from frames of the film, with the exception of the cover and end papers.  It is difficult to find in good condition due mostly to the spine - which has a tendency to come off entirely.

In 2006 Disney released a reprint of this book in conjunction with the 55th anniversary of the film.  It looks just like the original, but with a few small differences.

1. The reprint comes with a dust jacket
2. The dust jacket has a big gold sticker on it that states this is a reprint from the 1951 original
3. The word Dean has been removed from the grass in the lower right corner of the cover.  
4. The lettering on the spine is totally different; the original has Alice in Wonderland vertically printed with the Dean horizontal at the base
5. The back cover has a UPC code - a sure indication that it is not from 1951 ;-)

Don't be fooled..

Alice's Sister Full Figure Cel

Cels of Alice's sister are rare enough, she has so little screen time, but full figure images are very tough simply because she's only on screen for a few seconds at the very end of the film standing over Alice trying to wake her up.  I recently acquired this full figure cel and it is quite lovely, wouldn't you agree?

Alice Animation Drawing - Watching the March of the Cards

Another cool - and large - drawing, this time just of Alice's head as she's watching the March of the Cards.  This scene was mostly animated by Hal Ambro, and Alice's head is really the only thing moving, the rest of her body was on a still cel.  Neat, isn't it?

White Rabbit Animation Drawing Sequence

Now this is really cool.  A sequence of drawings of the White Rabbit as animated by Bill Justice.  Bill was a good friend of mine, and it was me who reminded him on one of his birthday's, lo these many years ago, that he did in fact do considerable animation of this character.  This sequence of 14 drawings is from the scene where Alice has just grown huge in the White Rabbit's house, and he rushes off to get help.  While not a very long sequence in time - slighly more than 1/2 second - it is still amazing to see exactly how much detail is in each frame of animation.

Using a little Photoshop magic I have been able to create an animated GIF of these drawings above, so enjoy!  The full sequence of individuals follows.