Happy New Year!

So another year has come and gone, and while I have taken some major steps forward in preparation for an upcoming project, the blog has suffered.  Looking back at the history of posts over the past few years it is abundantly clear exactly when I started working for myself  - I'm sure you can guess when too!

That being said, I do have things happening on the Alice front and will continue to update the blog with content as I get the chance.  The first being - today!

This year has been a good one for art acquisitions.  I have been fortunate enough to acquire three new Mary Blair pieces, although I did have to part with another to finance them.  But so it goes, you gotta sell to buy!

I was also lucky enough to score an original page by Mel Crawford from the Little Nipper Storybook which I have not posted yet but have mentioned in several posts - mostly about Japanese books.

And the Australian exhibition closed in October, but is now traveling the world, first stop Singapore!  I will post details when I have them.  Happy New Year to all!

Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year!  It has been a while since I've posted, you know that pesky real life.  But I hope to have some interesting news in the next few weeks, so stay tuned!  In the mean time, enjoy this new addition to the Tulgey Wood - a very nice Mary Blair of Alice with the Cheshire Cat.

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.  

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.

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!

Promotional Photo of Kathy Holding Kitten A-SPEC-132 - with LOTS of Mary Blair Art

Today the family and I are at the Walt Disney Family Museum visiting the Mary Blair exhibit.  Seems a perfect time for this post.

What a great photo.  Kathy at her cutest holding a little kitten.  And just look at that art!

It is a Mary Blair extravaganza behind her.  Oh to have even one of those.  Many of them I've seen cross the auction block in the past few years, how many can you recognize?

New Mary Blair Exhibition Catalog Coming Soon!

The Walt Disney Family Museum is going to have what looks to be a spectacular exhibition of Mary Blair artwork this year, running from March 13 - September 7, 2014. And there is going to be this very cool catalog (complete with AMAZING Alice cover) accompanying the exhibit! Order yours today from Amazon!  And go to the exhibit!

Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair

Thanks to Didier over at the Disney History blog for the heads up on this.

Disney Animation Research Library

We interrupt our regularly scheduled David Hall series to bring you this special announcement.  Last week we traveled to LA to move Computer Girl into UCLA to begin her PhD program.  While we were there, I finagled a meeting with the Disney ARL on an upcoming project (shh, its still a secret), and we had an amazing time.  That place is incredible.  The giant wall of Mary Blair Alice concept paintings, the giant room full of animation maquettes, and of course all the amazing friendly helpful people.  Thanks to Lella Smith, Mary Walsh, Doug Engalla, and everyone else we met for making us feel welcome.  And I made their facebook page!

Happy Birthday Mary Blair - Google Style!

How about that?  Google honored Mary Blair's 100th birthday today.  I guess she has hit the mainstream consciousness, bad news for me since I still don't own a Mary Blair piece. 

In honor of this amazing artist's 100th year, here are a few of her exceptional Alice pieces.  Enjoy.

Great D23 Article

And I'm not just sayin' that 'cause I got quoted.   D23's Jim Fanning wrote this very nice article on all things Alice for the film's 60th anniversary, which just got published on Wednesday.  Jim is extremely knowledgeable on all aspects of Disney history, and an all-around swell guy.  Hop on over to D23 and give it a read!

Rossini Auction This Weekend

Rossini is having another fantastic auction this weekend, and I think this Mary Blair would make a great Father's Day gift for me, don't you?  You can bid in the US via ArtFact if you can't make it to Paris to bid live.

Profiles in History / Van Eaton Auction - Yowza!

Well, Father's Day is rapidly approaching and on my personal wishlist is this FANTASTIC Mary Blair piece in the upcoming PiH auction (get the catalog here.)  Of course, there are lots and lots and LOTS of fantastic items in this two day auction, would that I were independently wealthy.  sigh.

Simon and Schuster Golden Catalog - Spring 1951

Another recent acquisition is this excessively cool catalog for Golden Books and Golden Records for the spring season of 1951. The cover is taken from the Al Dempster art for the Big Golden Book cover.

Lots of great stuff in here, S&S was pulling out all the stops with their support of Alice in 1951, and there are no less than 12 separate Alice items advertised in this catalog.

The inside front cover is a full page notice for the Big Golden Book, again utilizing Al Dempster art from the book itself.

Pages 4 and 5 list the new titles in the Little Golden Book line for 1951. Notice that the release dates of the various books are spread throughout the year, and at this point there are only 2 Alice titles - the Live Flowers and White Rabbit - the Mad Hatter book apparently had not been put on the schedule yet. Notice also the Mary Blair title I Can Fly. Based on the dates here, it appears that this catalog was released late in 1950 in anticipation of the spring season.

Pages 8 and 9 promote the relatively new Little Golden Records, of which they produced 8 different titles for Alice. And as Brian pointed out in his comment, some of the titles vary from what was actually produced, notably the Jabberwock title, and the Christmas Title (which I think is just a typo by an overeager editor, should be Unbirthday instead of Christmas).

The back cover is basically a check list for all the current titles available; none of the Alice titles appear yet.

There is one more item in this catalog, but I'm saving that for my next post. Stay tuned for when I explore one of the most elusive items in the world of Disney's Alice in Wonderland, with a shocking conclusion (well, perhaps a bit melodramatic, but still, should be worth a read).

TV Today March 18th, 1951 - Fred Waring Television Preview

Today is the 58th anniversary of the preview appearance of Alice in Wonderland on the Fred Waring television show March 18th, 1951. Below is a copy of TV Today from the week of March 17th, featuring a blurb on the preview show.

The Fred Waring show was pretty amazing, it devoted the final 30 minutes of their 1 hour broadcast to a fully staged Alice musical vignette, complete with sets designed by Mary Blair! Kathy Beaumont and Sterling Holloway were live and in person acting out their various parts, all to the music from the film as performed by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians. That score was later released on Decca records as a two record set with illustrated sleeve (stay tuned for that).

But what was most amazing to me as I again watched this segment today (available in the supplemental material on the most recent DVD)

was the filmed introduction by Walt Disney. My cel makes another guest appearance - almost. The still from my earlier post was actually taken during the filming of this segment, and Walt is frames away from showing my cel on live national television! Stupid editor, would it have killed you to let Walt show all three cel setups he was holding?

Ciné Revue May 25, 1951

This is a French magazine called Ciné Revue from May 25, 1951. It is your basic movie magazine, but large format 11x14. This particular issue has an amazing four page article on the making of Alice in Wonderland.

This mag is chock full of live action reference photos, some of which I've not seen in any other publications, and lots of art taken directly from model sheets too.

If you look closely at some of the photos, especially the large one of Kathryn Beaumont holding the kitten and the one with Walt, you can see some Mary Blair concept art.

The photos of Kathy and Bobby Driscoll in various locations are pretty fun too, since they were probably already recording the voices for Peter Pan at this time. The photo of them outside the Brown Derby is particularly cool.

New Mary Blair Book

A slight departure from my usual posts, but this one is worth it. A great new book released on Tuesday (mine arrived today!) with lots of fabulous art by Mary Blair. Great images in here, including several never published before (at least I've never seen them).

If you love Alice or Mary Blair, this book is for you. Click below to order from Amazon. The previous Cinderella book is excellent and the upcoming Peter Pan will be as well.