Marx Alice Rockykin

Another from the hard to pronounce series, and companion to yesterday's post is this Marx Rockykin. This was a fairly recent discovery, and the only one of the 'kin sized rocky figures I personally have ever seen. As with the Rockyking, it is merely a 'kin glued to the semi-spherical base. I can only assume it was issued with a box (all Marx figures were) but I have not seen one.

Size comparison shows that these are indeed two different sizes.

Marx Alice Rockyking

Perhaps one of the oddest - and hardest to pronounce - toys that Marx made was the Rockyking. Essentially a Disneyking figure glued to the top of a half sphere, you could say this was the forerunner of the Weeble. Originally sold in this illustrated box, the box is insanely rare.

Marx Alice Disneyking

Disneykings were also released in 1961, and Alice is one of 20 figures. It came in the large purple-ish box seen here. For some reason the Alice box is quite rare, and there are many examples out there with water damage on the bottom half inch or so. Perhaps there was a find of water damaged Alices in the past.

The Alice 'king is about 2 inches tall, slightly less than twice as large as the 'kin.

Marx Alice Disneykin TV Scene

Issued concurrently with the first series Disneykins were several small playsets featuring a single figure and some props. These were called TV Scenes and were sold in boxes with a TV tube shaped opening.

The Alice scene is admittedly a little strange, featuring a doghouse and a water pump, 'cause both feature prominently in the books and films...oh wait, they don't. WTF?

Marx Alice Disneykin

Today begins a new series: The Marx Series. First up, the Alice First Series Disneykin.

The first series Disneykins are from 1961 and were available pretty much continuously until the early 1970s. Alice is one of 34 different Disney characters in that series, and she came in three different box variations: the blue 'candy' box you see above, and the white box below.

The third variation is a pink window box, but I have not seen the Alice. Only 32 of the 34 first series figures came that way, in 4 collections of 8 figures; Alice is in collection 4.

The Alice Disneykin is very small, just over 1 1/4 inches tall. I have not figured out if the white box figure always had a green base like we see here, usually the Alice 'kin has a white base. There are also a wide variety of unpainted and oddly painted variations out there. Lots of the unpainted figures are from Mexico or South America. The variation below with the red dress is most likely from Germany or Holland as we'll see later.

If you are interested in Disneykins or other Disney Marx figures, I highly recommend Abby Weissman's excellent site. He has a wealth of information and an amazing collection of just about everything!

UPDATE: I have finally seen the pink box variation.

Trouble Afoot in Disneyland

I'm not sure what to think about this, my Southern California spies sent me this photo, accompanied by several reports of Cal/OSHA closing it for safety reasons (yeah, right, it's only been open and operating for 52 years) leads me to believe something dreadful is happening.

Alice Through the Disney-Glass - To-Day Magazine August-September 1951

From the summer of 1951 comes this English magazine called To-Day, with an article on Alice in Wonderland called Alice Through the Disney-Glass.

What's interesting about this magazine is that it is 99% about Scotland. Lots of articles about Scottish industry, scenery, culture, etc. And of course the Alice article. Out place? Perhaps.

The article itself is standard fare. Lots of statistics about the making of the film, albeit there is lots of emphasis on those members of the vocal talent who are indeed English - this is an English magazine after all.

The article is very careful not to critique the film too much, rather it spends a great deal of time praising Walt Disney in general and the artistry of the film. It does go so far to say that those expecting a Tenniel-esque adaptation will be disappointed. All in all a fairly fluffy piece.

I do like the press photo of Kathy on the final page of the article, as the publication does mention that Kathy bears a resemblance to the Tenniel Alice.

Raising Funds

I've begun posting stuff on eBay and adding to the Wonderland Bazaar in an effort to raise a little cash. Had lots of fun this summer, time to have a little income rather than outgo if you know what I mean. If you are at all interested in Disneyana and especially Alice, take a look at my items, you might just find something you can't live without!

I now return you to our regularly scheduled blog already in progress.

Walt Disney Archive Surprise!

On the last day of our California vacation I took a trip up to the studio to have lunch my friends Mark and Paul while the ladies enjoyed Tea and Biscuits in Yorba Linda. After lunch Paul (from over at the Disney History Institute) took us to the archive to have a quick look-see prior to the D23 event that night.

At the archive we met some very nice people, and Paul offhandedly remarked that I was THE Alice man. One of the archive people quietly slipped away and returned a few minutes later holding THIS!!

Wow. A King of Hearts maquette. Is that cool or what? I don't know if it is from the film or from the attraction, but I don't really care. How nice was that of Shelley at the archive to go get this and show it to me? And then take my picture with it? Very cool I say. Thank you Shelley from the Archive, you are the best!

Disneyland Vacation Photos

Our Disneyland vacation was a smashing success. Computer Girl very much enjoyed her 21st birthday celebration at Club 33 (thank you Tony!!!), and a great time was had by all.

I was pleasantly surprised on Father's Day when we entered the park to see this window display at the Emporium. Nice to see that they have their priorities in line.

I must admit I did spend quite a bit of time stalking the various Alice characters all over the park. I had a surprising amount of luck too, as I managed to find four of the seven (do they even have the Walrus and Tweedles anymore?)

This is quite possibly the cutest Alice I've seen at the park in quite some time.

She is a teeny thing too.

The Hatter of course can never be serious...

I did manage to get some good shots inside the Alice attraction as well.

Mystery Figures Identified

Thanks to Didier over at the Disney History blog for uncovering the source of these mystery figures. These were made by a Spanish company called Palés and are from 1969-1984. Be sure to look for his article on these Palés figures in Tomart when it comes out.

More Alices that Never Were

Still catching up from my vacation, but you should definitely go read this article by Wade Sampson on Alice at Disney.

Bruce Bushman Concept Brownline - Alice in Wonderland Walkthrough #14

Number 14 is another funhouse item, the counter rotating barrels. This is supposed to represent Alice escaping from Wonderland and returning to the real world.



That concludes the Alice that never was series. I'm curious to know what scenes 1, 2, & 8 were. Since the scenes follow the film pretty well, I can guess that 1 is probably chasing the White Rabbit, 2 is falling down the rabbit hole. Number 8 is a puzzle though. In the film the Garden of Live Flowers is immediately after the White Rabbit's house (numbers 7,9). Hmmm...

Bruce Bushman Concept Brownline - Alice in Wonderland Walkthrough #13

Number 13 is the trial scene with a card maze. Sounds like one too many mazes to me...

Bruce Bushman Concept Brownline - Alice in Wonderland Walkthrough #12

Number 12 is the Hedge Maze, with a scene of the cards painting the roses red.