We Made Some Ink! Washingtonian Magazine July 2022

Being residents of the greater DMV (that's DC, Maryland, Virginia for those not in the know), the Washingtonian is our version of New York Magazine or Los Angeles Magazine, with features on local interest, published monthly.  And this month has a one-page feature on the Alice collection, only 6 years in the making!  Pictures below of the cover and our single page, and then an annotated page.

In the photo below, the numbered its are:

1. Regal Mad Hatter Teapot
2. Gund Queen of Hearts Vinylite Stuffed Toy
3. Regal White Rabbit Creamer
4. Zaccagnini (Italy) Cheshire Cat Figure
5. Disneyland White Rabbit Press/VIP Gift from 1984 Attraction Re-Opening
6. Neevel Doll Wardrobe Case
7. Lars (Italy) Bill the Lizard Stuffed Toy
8. 1970s Disneyland Child's Sunglasses
9. National Leather Mfg Co Schoolbag
10. Madame Alexander Doll
11. Larceram (France) Lamp
12. Chad Valley (England) Nursery Play-Toy Tin Stacking Blocks
13. Unknown Tweedledee/dum String Holder (likely unlicensed)
14. Enesco Head Vase
15. Sni-Dor (Canada) Record Player
16. Goebel (Germany) Dodo Smoker Ashtray
17. Unknown (England) Meal Time Dish Set
18. Hassenfeld Bros (Hasbro) Nurse Kit
19. Linemar Mad Hatter's Sky-View Taxi Tin Friction Toy
20. US Time Watch in Teacup Box

Zaccagnini Auction Result!

Today an amazing collection of Zaccagnini figures was auction, including a King of Hearts!  The result of the auction were mixed, but the king did especially well, realizing 6x his original high estimate.  Congratulations to the winner, he is indeed exceptionally rare.

Zaccagnini First Draft Complete

 I just completed the first draft of one of the most difficult sections in the ceramics chapter, that for Zaccagnini.  Not counting the years it has taken me to acquire all the various information and references, I've spent hours just to create 2000 words.  Gotta pick up speed...

Zaccagnini Cheshire Cat Redux - I Love the Internet!

Some of you may remember a few years ago I unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a Zaccagnini Cheshire Cat on eBay.  The auction gods did not smile on me that day, but lo' and behold:  this past June the internet gods (far more powerful) did smile upon me, and now this guy is safely ensconced here in the Tulgey Wood.  And there was much rejoicing.

This reduces the number of known figures not in the collection to two:  the Queen of Hearts and the Walrus.  Hint, hint.

Zaccagnini Queen of Hearts - I just missed it :-(

This just in from my network of spies, a sighting of the Zaccagnini Queen of Hearts - sadly by the time I found out about it, it was already sold, but at last a full color image of it!

UPDATE:  The original seller of this example was kind enough to send me a VERY nice image.  Enjoy!

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!

The Case of the Mysterious Artwork

Several years ago I was approached by a reader of the blog who had a very unusual piece of artwork.  He wrote the following:

"My father was a member of the press who interviewed Walt Disney several times from 1947 on and always managed to bring home little bits and pieces of Disney wonderfulness, particularly after I came into the picture in 1950.  Among them was this pencil drawing which we never had properly framed. It was just stored down in our basement and I would take it out and look at it from time to time. It seemed to be some kind of work in progress, but what it actually is, or was, or was supposed to be is still a mystery to me."

It certainly looked like a Disney-created piece, but I had never seen this image before.  Flash forward a few months later and this piece came up for sale, and I acquired it!  I still didn't know what it was, but I liked it.  It is done in a combination of pencil and pen & ink on tissue or vellum.

Then two weeks ago I received this Italian newsprint magazine (again with the Italians!) called La Domenica del Corriere.

On pages 10 and 11 there is an article and images from Disney's Alice, with some grabs from the film and a nice image of Kathy,

and just look at the images near the top in lavender!

Finally the mystery is solved!  It was art prepared for magazine articles about the film and probably specifically addressing the similarities to the Tenniel art.  I've still not come across this art in a US publication, but it must exist somewhere!

The only differences between the original art and this published version is the captions on the Mad Tea Party.  But other than that (and the fact that it was published in color, pretty common), it is indeed the art in question.  Cool.

Zaccagnini Dodo

And the hits just keep on comin'!  Take a look at this bad boy, a Zaccagnini Dodo!

I seem to say this a lot, but who knew this existed?  And he's huge, almost 9 inches tall!

And best of all, he still retains his original sticker on the base.

I don't think I'll ever know exactly how many characters were made by Zaccagnini, but it sure is fun finding new ones!

Italian 2-Sheet - Alice with Dinah

The last of the Italian posters for now, this 2-sheet featuring the same art as was on the magazine ad posted here.  The dimensions on this are also quite large, half as big as the 4-sheet (go figure) measuring in at 100x140 cm or 39x55 inches, just slightly smaller than a US 40x60.

This poster has been in my collection for a very long time, so long in fact that I noticed some light foxing on the linen border that I will have to have cleaned at some point so that it does not encroach on the poster itself!!

Italian 4-Sheet - Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers

This is one of the most beautiful posters ever issued for Alice, the Italian 4-sheet, or 4-fogli.  This poster is quite large, measuring 140x200 cm or 55x78 inches - similar to an American 3-sheet, and features wonderful art of Alice with the flowers and several other Wonderland denizens.

Image courtesy of Little Nemo Online

I do not own this poster, nor have I ever seen one for sale, but I would give my left...well you know.

Italian Jumbo Fotobusta Style B

Style B was a relatively recent discovery of mine, again with the bizarre size, so Jumbo Fotobusta Style B it is.

I love all the named images in this poster, especially some of the more esoteric like the Mome Raths and the Bread and Butterflies.  And of course who doesn't love Biagio Lucertola?

Italian Jumbo Fotobusta Style A

As I mentioned in the past few posts on fotobustas, they were originally 35x50 cm in size, which lasted until the late 1950s at which time the size changed to 50x70 cm.  Which makes these next two posters in the series oddities.  They are from 1951 given the RKO logo (and the date in the bottom border), and they are clearly related to the other fotobustas given that they use the same art of the March Hare holding the Technicolor sign, but they are also 50x70 cm in size.  So what are these?  For the time period they cannot be called fotobustas since they are too large, but there was no other poster size (that I'm aware of) from that time period that match these dimensions.  So I'm calling them Jumbo Fotobustas...because I can.

First up is style A, featuring a montage of images from the film including several images that were constructed for publicity stills as seen in the post on Color-Glos.  Interestingly, just below the title is a line of text advertising the adaptations in books by the publisher Mondadori.  Could these be advertising posters for the books?

Italian Fotobusta - Anybody Know?

While I have not seen a 12th fotobusta, it seems likely that one does exist.  If anyone out there knows what it is, or has a picture of it, I'd love to see it!

Italian Fotobusta - Alice Asleep Paired with Alice and the March Hare at the Mad Tea Party

Eleventh in the series features a view through the keyhole looking at Alice asleep with Dinah, paired with Alice and the March Hare at the Mad Tea Party

Italian Fotobusta - Caterpillar Paired with Alice Fleeing Card Army

Tenth in the series features two images from the end of the film, the Caterpillar with butterfly wings on the Sea of Tears, and Alice running away from the Queen of Hearts and the card army.

Italian Fotobusta - The King of Hearts at the Trial Paired with Alice in the Tulgey Wood

Ninth in the series features the King of Hearts at the trial with the card guards flying through the air, paired with Alice looking at the signposts in the Tulgey Wood.

Italian Fotobusta - The Jury Paired with Alice in the White Rabbit's House

Eighth in the series features the jury at Alice's trial, paired with Alice exploding from the White Rabbit's house.

Italian Fotobusta - Cheshire Cat and Queen of Hearts Paired with the Iris

Seventh in the series features the Queen of Hearts with the Cheshire Cat, paired with the Iris in the Garden of Live Flowers.  Again we see the censor stamps on this poster.

Italian Fotobusta - Alice and the Cheshire Cat Paired with the Card Painters

Sixth in the series features Alice looking up at the Cheshire Cat as he prepares to open show Alice the short cut to the Queen of Hearts, paired with the Gardener Cards painting the roses red.

Italian Fotobusta - Alice and the Caterpillar Paired with Alice and the Flamingo

Fifth in the series features Alice talking with the Caterpillar paired with Alice and a giggling flamingo croquet mallet.  This example also retains its censor stamps.