Exhibition Site at GEM

Geppi's Entertainment Museum has (finally!) restored their site and the landing page for the Alice exhibition is back up.  First time I've seen it :-)

Mary Blair Alice in the Bottle on the Sea of Tears

What a cool image, I'm not sure I've ever seen a Mary Blair quite like this one.  I love the fish underwater and bubbles.  And at 8x10 it is quite large.  

Lewis Carroll Society Spring Meeting This Week April 14 - April 17

For the first time since 2008 the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) will be having its Spring meeting here in the DMV area, featuring pub night at the renovated Green Dragon (temporarily renamed The Jabberwock), and a visit to the Alice exhibition in Baltimore.  All events Friday and Saturday are open to the public, check the Carroll website for full meeting details.  See you there!

Animation Scoop Magazine Interview on Alice Exhibit!

Animation Scoop magazine posted this interview about the Geppi Alice exhibit!  Thanks to Leslie Combemale and Jerry Beck for the coverage :-)

Exhibit Opening Night Article in Scoop

 Geppi's online magazine Scoop posted an article on the opening night party for the Alice exhibit (along with Amanda Conner's art exhibit).

Interview in Geppi's Scoop

Just in time for today's exhibition grand opening, Scoop, Geppi's online magazine for all things fandom, published an interview with me.  Take a peek!

Exhibition Premiere Party Tonight!

If you're going, I'll see you tonight!

Two More Days!

Happy Easter! Pictorial Review - March 25, 1951

Happy Easter!  In celebration I give you this very colorful cover to the March 25, 1951 issue of Pictorial Review, a Sunday supplement magazine.  No article inside, but really, who needs more than the cover anyway?

David Lesjak from Toons At War recently posted the original line drawing for this cover on the Disney History Institute facebook page, go check it out!  And look for his forthcoming biography of Hank Porter, the artist on this and many other covers.

Wonderland Exhibit Setup Complete!

Whew!  Last week I delivered the last of the items and Monday I went up to help setup.  As of today the exhibit is up and ready!  Can't wait to see it in its final incarnation.  Hope to see as many of you there as possible over the next six months!

Chicago Biscuit Company Alice Tea Party Sugar Wafers Store Display

Well, here's something I've never heard of before.  I know that there were several food items created during the original release, but I've never heard of these.

Apparently CBC (Chicago Biscuit Company) - which was a division of Leaf brands (of baseball card fame) - created some sugar wafers (probably like nilla wafers) and themed them towards tea parties for their Alice tie-in.  But I've never seen packaging nor heard of them before I acquired this store display/price card.  The little rosette in the bottom corner would show the price of these lovely confections I'm sure.  Would love to know more about them if anyone out there knows anything.

Yowza! Cookie Cutters A-Go-Go

Today a complete set of Domar cookie cutters sold for almost $700.  Very nice indeed.

GEM Preview Articles in SCOOP

Looks like I made some ink!  Geppi has an online magazine called SCOOP that publishes lots of stories about pop culture related items, and they published not one, but two preview articles on the exhibition.  Go check 'em out!

Royal Stars of Wonderland Card Album

Wow, something I thought I'd never find.  You may recall this post from 2009 on the Royal Pudding premium cards that appeared on the backs of the boxes.  Each box bore one of sixteen different images from the film (I still need five - hint hint), and also on the back was an advertisement to send away for a collectible album in which to store your fantastic cards.  This is that album.  Woohoo!

 I confess, I was expecting something a little more impressive, but I guess I shouldn't have done.  After all, Royal made MANY different 'Stars' sets, and I'm sure it was way more efficient to create a single album that could contain any set.

The album contains 8 pages with very thin plastic envelopes, holding a total of sixteen cards.  Now if I could just find the remaining cards ....

Mary Blair Alice at the Tea Party

Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly can't seem to get enough of Mary Blair - certainly not in the past few weeks anyway!  I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to acquire this Mary Blair.  It features Alice, the White Rabbit (?), the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse all at the mad tea party astride a very large tea service.  How cool is this!

I just love the swirling steam and the detailed line work in the objects and flora.  Genius.

Coro Alice Heart Charm

A newly discovered Coro piece is this Alice Heart charm, most likely from a pendant necklace.  It is a manufactured piece and not something altered after the fact as can be seen by its construction.  While the CMD only lists a few items, there have been several items discovered that aren't a part of that page.  I would love to find a Coro catalog to see if there are any other items yet to be discovered.

Lost in Wonderland Exhibition Update!

We now have official advertising on the Geppi's exhibition.  Alice will be joined by Harley Quinn as depicted by the amazing Amanda Conner.  Plan your trip now!

In case you are wondering about the art for my exhibition, Disney is notorious for their ... reluctance to grant permission to use imagery for things like this, so they opted to avoid it altogether.  But, as you know there will be plenty to see inside the exhibition.

Mary Blair Cheshire Cat Playing with His Head

I love images of the Cat playing with his head, it's just so bizarre!  This Mary Blair was tailor made for me, the only improvement would have been if he was standing on it!

As with the previous piece, the atmosphere is dark and moody - perfect for the Tulgey Wood, and especially so for the Cheshire Cat.  And again, great line work details for the foliage of the tree.

Mary Blair Alice Approaching the Tulgey Wood

It has finally happened - there is a Mary Blair in the house!  Woohoo!  I was lucky enough to acquire not one, but two Mary Blair concept paintings, this being the first.

We seem to specialize in images of Alice's back here at the blog and this is no exception.  But I do love the signs at the entrance of the Tulgey Wood, and the dark line work of the trees surrounding the clearing just before she enters.  Stay tuned for #2 soon!

Lost in Wonderland

I am finally able to tell you one of the two big items for this year.  Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, MD will be exhibiting the collection you know and love from this blog for a six month run beginning April 1st!  The exhibition is entitled "Lost in Wonderland" and will feature a portion of the collection primarily devoted to those items from the original release.  Stay tuned for more details!

Disneyana Show this Sunday in Anaheim

We'll be exhibiting this Sunday at the Disneyana Fan Club show and sale (thank you Brian!), come on down and say hello and buy cool stuff!

Almost Ready!

Almost ready for the first big announcement of 2016. Stay tuned!

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 !!

Something Big is Coming!

Something big is coming, stay tuned!

Instagram!

We now have an Instagram where we will publish extra nice items.  Enjoy!

Happy 2016!

Whew!  What a year 2015 has been, can't wait for this year to firmly take hold!  And lots of good stuff coming your way from the VDA blog this year.  Details to come as they firm up, but look for several trips to several shows, an exhibition, and possibly more ;-)  Stay tuned!

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!