Original Release Australian Press Book

Otherwise known in the US as campaign book, this press book contains lots of sample articles, ad mats, posters, and merchandise specific to the Australian market.  Super cool.  

The cover is based on the two-page ad that appeared in Look magazine here in the US, which was also issued as a promotional poster.  The same is true for this cover on the press book, it too was issued as a promotional poster.  

Both the press book cover and poster have slightly colors from the US, not sure if it is the printing method, or just similar fading over time, but they are decidedly more pink than the US versions.

One interesting this about this press book, and most Australian press books, is they way they are constructed.  It is multiple tabloid size sheets stapled together at the right edge, and folded in the center to look like a book or magazine - but since it is stapled at the edge, you have to unfold it before you can open it.

Perhaps the coolest part of the press book is the merchandise.  Many items are pictured, some of which have been posted about in years past here on the blog, but several I have never seen before nor even heard about.  Tea set anyone?  Yes please, I'll take ten!  And that boxed notepaper, to die for.  And not one, but two paint books!  Also mentioned but not pictured are an Alice doll and White Rabbit doll exclusive to the Australian market.  Wow.

And let us not forget the move posters, four of which are pictured.  Well, three posters and a glass slide.  We have all heard of the Australian daybill of course, posted about here, but I've never even heard of a 1-sheeter or 3-sheeter (presumably very similar to an american one-sheet and three-sheet).  And the glass slide was discovered not too long ago and posted here.

RKO Program from Japan 1953

Japan is one of the few countries to release Alice several years after its premiere, 1953 to be exact.  But that doesn't mean they did not have RKO promotional material.  This is one such item, an eight-page program - and one that I had never seen before until recently.

Original release items from Japan are quite difficult to come by, so I was thrilled to acquire this piece.  And I was surprised at how large it is, fully 8 1/2" x 12", which corresponds (most closely) with the standard size kiku 4.

The cover features some art we've seen before, that of the "Up to the Minute News" sheet of legal-sized paper I wrote about here, with an inset of Alice and the Broom Dog from the Tulgey Wood.  Even in 1953 the Japanese were ahead of their time highlighting unusual characters.

The remainder of the program (90% in Japanese) features character blurbs with photos of the actors, and a synopsis of the story with song lyrics to boot.  All in all a fabulous piece.

Australian Cinema Glass Slide

Today we take a look at something that I didn't think I'd ever see, let alone see again!  This is a glass slide used in movie theaters (or cinemas as our friends down under would say) to advertise upcoming films.  The fact that this has survived almost 70 years in this pristine condition, and loose no less (no holder or cardboard sleeve) is amazing.  I much prefer this one to the one made for the American release.

Original Film Poster ... From Greece!

Wow, who knew I'd come across one of these...ever. Original release movie poster from Greece. Love the art on this, very subdued, but still totally in tune with other art of the time. Now I need to find out what else there is from that release!

I do not have an official release date for Greece, but the poster still lists RKO as the distributor, so it must be prior to 1955.  My guess would be the same as the rest of Europe, late 1951 or early 1952.

Finally! An image of an English Quad!

I can't tell you how many years I've been waiting and wanting to find an image of what a 1951 English Quad looks like. I can now happily share this image with you although the poster is not mine :-( Enjoy!  And help me find one !!

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.

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!

40th Anniversary of the First Re-release of Alice in Wonderland - One-Sheet Poster

We interrupt our model sheet series to celebrate a notable Alice Anniversary.  Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first theatrical re-release (in the US) of Alice in Wonderland.  The 1974 re-release is notable for really only one thing - the (in my mind) hideous art they chose to adorn EVERYTHING!  And worst of all, it carried forward through the next release as well, and even to this day as the logotype from this release is used on Alice items galore.  A real low point.

But that being said, of course I still own things from that release, such as this one-sheet poster.  As I mentioned before, this exact art was used in 1981 for the one-sheet, so the only way you can tell them apart is by the copyright.  I do find it very odd that they chose to reuse this art in 1981 - by that time the psychedelic age was far in the past, and this art just looked dated even in 1981, let alone today.

1952 Australian Daybill

Here's something that until I acquired it I had never seen before, though I knew it had to exist:  An Australian Daybill.

A daybill is a little like a US insert, but smaller at only 13x30 inches.  The art on the daybill is adapted from the pervasive advertising art first seen in January 1951 in Life Magazine.  The quickest way to identify an Australian daybill (without a tape measure) is to look for the triangular emblem on the poster stating For General Exhibition.

Daybills are very popular among movie poster collectors due to their size - almost every home has wall space for something 13x30, while very few homes have wall space for a 6-sheet.

Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-85 - The Queen of Hearts (and the King)

The last of the reference photos from the Key Book set is this of the King and Queen of Hearts (hooray!).

Again, I don't think I've seen a reference photo for these two characters before.  I can't really tell where this is from, but the Queen certainly is pissed off.  But then again, when is she not?

Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-30 - The Walrus

I can't recall seeing a reference photo for the Walrus before!  How cool is this?

And check out what they used as Baby Oysters - bars of soap!  Would've been funnier if they had used empty oyster tins.

Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-10 - Alice Jumping

Next from the Key Book set is the photo of Kathy jumping.  My assumption is that this is from the sequence when Alice is entering the Queen's grounds for the first time through the maze, and hears the Card Painters and jumps up and down to see over the hedge.

I cannot match this to a specific frame of film (mostly because that whole sequence is dominated by the hedge) but as this is a SPEC still it may have been a press still image taken from a different angle, or it could be from another scene entirely.  I do know that this image is also very popular with Disney, both at the time of release and even to this day.

Live Action Reference Photo - Alice with the Card Guards

This next photo from the Key Book is a new one on me, a photo from a deleted sequence apparently. There is no scene in the final film where Alice is being marched away by two Card Guards.

The trial is Sequence 11.0 according to the animators draft, and Scene 1 is the cards flying through the air at the end of the Croquet scene.  The next 10 scenes were cut, and it is likely that this is from one of those scenes.

Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-? - Alice at the Bottom of the Rabbit Hole

Next up from the Key Book photos is this very fun image of Kathy hanging upside down as she reaches the end of her journey down the rabbit hole.

She must be wearing an early form of Gravity Mary Jane.  Notice the pair of hands holding the wall behind her, I'm guessing it was less than stable.

This particular image is frequently used by Disney even today.  My particular copy's negative number is very difficult to read, and is missing the numeric component due to the way the negative was centered when printed.

Live Action Reference Photo 1049-9 - The Mad Tea Party

This is a bit of a repost, but since I acquired this new copy of the photo from the Key Book with a different reference number and snipe intact I thought I'd share it again.

This is one of the earliest photos of Kathy as Alice.  According to the snipe this is a rehearsal for the Mad Tea Party sequence.  The reference number indicates that this is from October of 1949, nearly two full years prior to release.

And I must say that Kathy does indeed look very young :-)

Live Action Reference Photo 650-51 - Alice on the Sea of Tears

Next of the Key Book stills is this of Kathy standing on the Drink Me bottle while sailing the Sea of Tears - or a reasonable facsimile thereof.  This is very similar to the still originally posted here.

This one still has its original snipe on the back.

Looks like they may have reversed the scene either in the still or in the final animation.

Live Action Reference Photo 749-24 - Alice and the Caterpillar

Starting another batch of live action reference photos, all of which seem to have come out of a key book by the look of the punched holes.  First up is this great one of both Kathy and Richard Hayden as the Caterpillar!

I don't think I was aware that Richard Hayden performed the live action reference until I got this still with its snipe still intact on the reverse.

The Caterpillar sequence was among the first animated and the look of Alice in certain scenes is quite different from the rest of the film.

Even the colors of her dress vary slightly, with the collar tabs being a lighter shade of blue.

2013 Year in Review

This year was a sporadic one for the blog, but we covered some interesting topics.  The majority of the year was spent on animation art, in particular animation drawings. I even tried my hand at a little animation myself :-)

We also looked at a variety of Italian movie posters

A new Zaccagnini discovery

Some David Hall storyboards

A few cels

And who could forget the Vinyl Aprons!

A variety of trading cards from around the world

Some really cool dolls

And some early attraction tickets

And last but not least, some really big leaves!

I wish every one of my faithful readers a safe and prosperous new year.  See you in 2014!