Goebel DIS 93 - Tweedle Nodder

We're entering the home stretch now. Up next are the 1952 nodders. First up is DIS 93, Tweedledee/dum. Unlike the figure, this is a single figure, which could be either of the twins. Rare enough that getting two to make a set is probably not worthwhile, nor likely in any short amount of time. TOMART says "standing thick man as rocking figure".

As with the other nodders, the same mechanism is used for the nodding action.

Goebel DIS 91 - White Rabbit

DIS 91, the second White Rabbit. TOMART says "running rabbit with watch".

As with the other duplicate 1952 figures, this one has the odd coloring, but surprisingly no discernible size difference from his 1951 counterpart. Go figure.

And that concludes the Goebel figures. The remaining items are more nodders, ashtrays, and the liquor decanter set! Stay tuned!

Goebel DIS 90 - Walrus

DIS 90, this is the second and final figure of the Walrus, although there are three additional Walruses (Walri?) in the series. TOMART says "standing man with cigar in right hand".

As with the Mad Hatter figures in the 1952 series, this one is significantly smaller than his 1951 counterpart, and again the odd coloring.

Goebel DIS 89 - Mad Hatter

Third and final figure of the Mad Hatter, DIS 89. I love this figure, teapot pouring tea through his sleeve into the cup, classic. TOMART translates as "standing man with coffee pot in hands". Let's see just how bad this translation is.

First of all, he is sitting. Secondly, it is a tea pot. After all he doesn't attend the Mad Coffee Party. *sigh*, those wacky Germans...

Goebel DIS 88 - Mad Hatter

The next figure is the first repeat of a character in figure form. DIS 88 is the second of three Mad Hatter figures (why?!?). This figure has the quintessential Mad Hatter expression on his face.

The repeat characters for the Mad Hatter and Walrus in the 1952 series are all smaller than their 1951 counterparts, and their coloring is a little odd when compared with the 1951 series. Perhaps it can be attributed to the differences in style between Zetzmann and Möller, but while some of the modeling is better in the '52 series, in general I think the colors in the '51 are better

Goebel DIS 87 - March Hare

Continuing with the 1952 series we have DIS 87, the March Hare. TOMART translation reads "dressed rabbit lying flat on face with forelegs propped up". Pretty long winded as translations go!

Goebel DIS 85 - Dinah

Another cryptic TOMART description, this time for DIS 85, "laughing cat lying on its back with forelegs crossed on chest" led me to originally guess that this could be the Cheshire Cat. And the catalog photo did not really shed any more light on the matter.

But once again, the FC331 adaptation reveals that this is also Dinah.


Apparently Herr Zetzmann was an avid comic book reader.

UPDATE:   I have finally acquired this figure

Goebel DIS 84 - Dinah

DIS 84 is Dinah. I hear you saying “hey Matt, Dinah is not a black cat, she's an orange cat, and what’s that thing on her head?” I’m glad you asked.

Years ago when I first studied the TOMART books ('cause that's just how much of a geek I am), I couldn’t figure out which characters DIS 84 and 85 were, since at that time no one had pictures of most of the figures nor the catalog pages (at least not in the US). Most of the figures listed had a best guess as to the character represented, but not those two figures. Based on the description “sitting cat with flower on head”, I made a guess that DIS 84 was Dinah. As you may recall, in the film Alice places a daisy chain on Dinah’s head, so it seemed a reasonable guess.

Fast forward 13 years, and the German Goebel book was released, with pictures of 84 (and 85). Still, no convincing evidence as to which Disney cat this was supposed to be, although both are pictured on the Alice in Wonderland page (but then again, so is a Donald ashtray).

As I’ve said in previous posts, the studio released stills of character designs to licensees prior to the release of the film. Sometimes the pre-production art does not match the final design. This is one such case. This is a licensee still of a test cel setup of Alice, Dinah, and the Sister from the final scene of the film. You’ll notice that Dinah is black, not orange.

This is a detail of Alice and Dinah from the Big Golden Book by Al Dempster. Again, Dinah is black, AND Alice is holding a daisy over Dinah’s head.

But the best and most compelling evidence is to be taken from the Dell Four Color comic book adaptation (FC 331). On the first page of the story there is this panel which is pretty much the exact representation of Dinah as modeled in the figure, right down to the color of the flower.

I don't know if there was additional licensee art available that has this image, but it seems an unlikely coincidence that this image and the figure resemble each other so much. And as you'll see in the next post, the "coincidence" extends even further.

UPDATE: The plot thickens. A kind reader forwarded this image of a Figaro model sheet from 1939 for Pinocchio.

Looks like the early designs for Dinah were lifted directly from this Figaro model sheet. Take a look at this side by side comparison and tell me we don't have conclusive evidence now.


UPDATE #2: I recently discovered that in an Italian book (see this post) there is another rendering of Dinah that looks just like the above. Wonder how many more will be uncovered...

Goebel DIS 71 - Dodo Ashtray

In 1952 Goebel extended the line of Alice in Wonderland figures to include another 14 items in total. This, DIS 71, the Dodo ashtray was the first of these new 1952 figures. This image is from an original catalog page that shows the entire Alice line (save the decanter). TOMART says "dressed bird with pipe as ashtray".

This ashtray is the only one of the 4 ashtrays to be completely figural in nature. In this way it is similar to a more common ashtray, DIS 8, the Thumper figural ashtray. The remainder of the Alice ashtrays are merely standard ashtray dishes with figures from the 1951 series attached.

I've never actually seen ANY of the Alice ashtrays, although I do hope to someday, as odd as the thought of a Disney ashtray is...although as smoking characters go, this one is appropriate as he does have a pipe, which is his inspiration for a 'more energetic remedy'.

UPDATE:  I have finally acquired this figure

Goebel DIS 70 - King of Hearts Nodder

I apologize in advance for the crappy photo, this is one I got off the 'net as I do not have it in my collection. This is DIS 70, the King of Hearts nodder, the last of the 1951 series. TOMART lists it as "King as rocking figure".


Thus endeth the 1951 series.

UPDATE: I have recently acquired this piece, yay!

Goebel DIS 69 - Queen of Hearts Nodder

The elusive nodders. This is the first of two nodders released in the 1951 series, DIS 69, the Queen of Hearts. The TOMART translation reads "'Queen' as rocking figure".

The nodders have a very clever, and simple design. The head has a small rod descending down into the body cavity, at the end of which is a lead weight. At the 'neck' of the figure is a cross bar that rests in a groove set in the opening to the body cavity, and the lead weight acts like a pendulum. Clever.

But, with cleverness comes danger: If you 'nod' too hard, the clever little pendulum becomes a wrecking ball, shattering the body of the figure. Nice. Probably why these thing are so very scarce.

Goebel DIS 67 - Gardener Card

This is one of my favorites of all the Goebels, DIS 67, the gardener card. He is just so well executed. Great face, nice details with the paint brush and bucket, what more can you ask for? TOMART description is "standing man with playing card as body".


And this concludes the figures that were released in the 1951 series. Next up, some nodders! Oh, and for those of you keeping score, these first 10 figures were all modeled by Arthur Möller.

This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

Goebel DIS 66 - Dodo

Now we're talking. A nice, esoteric character. DIS 66, the Dodo, complete with pipe. TOMART description reads "standing bird with pipe"; pretty much sums it up.

Goebel DIS 65 - Tweedledee and Tweedledum

This figure is a bit of a cheat - two for one. DIS 65, Tweedledee and Tweedledum. TOMART lists them as "two men with caps standing side by side". This figure was also used in one of the ashtrays (DIS 107), although I have never seen one in the flesh. There is also a Tweedle nodder (DIS 93), although it is only a single figure rather than a double.

I know it would have been nearly impossible to do, but I wish these figures had the little flags on the tops of their heads.

This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

Goebel DIS 64 - Carpenter

DIS 64, the Carpenter. TOMART lists the translated description as "standing man with paving stone on head". This was the only figural representation of this character that I am aware of until the release of the Tiny Kingdom figures in the late 1990s.

 
This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

Goebel DIS 63 - Walrus

Yet another character to get multiple figures, this is DIS 63, the Walrus. This figure has a nice hang tag rather than an affixed sticker. This is also a generic Walt Disney Character sticker, the only variety I've ever seen on Alice figures. It has also been my experience that this figure is the most common (if you can call any Goebel figure common) of the Alice series. TOMART description reads "standing man with top hat and cigar".

For whatever reason, the Germans must like the Walrus, he has a total of FIVE figures (two actual figures, one ashtray, one nodder, and one decanter set). Again, a little more variety anyone? How about a Cheshire Cat or a Caterpillar! Geez..

This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

Goebel DIS 62 - Alice

NOTE: This is a bit of a repost, but I have consolidated the original post into the introduction and this post, plus this post has a lot more detail on the origin of this figure and its design.

This is the Alice figure, DIS 62. She retains her original label, although it is the generic Walt Disney Character label rather than a specific named character label. The TOMART description is "standing girl with hands at her skirt".

The striped stockings have always intrigued me. A lot of pre-production art depicts Alice with the red-striped stockings, and this still looks remarkably like the pose in the figure.

The comic book adaptation also depicts Alice with the red-striped stockings.

The comic book will be important later in the Goebel series as well.

Goebel DIS 61 - White Rabbit

The next figure in the series is the White Rabbit, DIS 61. Yet another character to have multiple figures - two in total - the other being DIS 91. The TOMART description reads "standing rabbit with spectacles and heart on chest".

Goebel DIS 60 - Queen of Hearts

DIS 60 - Queen of Hearts. TOMART describes her as 'female figurine with animal under arm'. I have to say, even though I *know* this is supposed to be a flamingo, it looks more like some sort of demented lizard to me. The Queen is another character to get more than one figure, again a nodder (DIS 69). The Queen is the largest of the figurines (nodders, ashtrays, decanters excluded) at roughly 4" tall.

Goebel DIS 59 - King of Hearts

DIS 59 - the King of Hearts. The TOMART description for this figurine is 'standing figure with crown'. It interesting that the King of Hearts is one of the few characters to have multiple figures - the other being a nodder (DIS 70). I've never been able to figure out the rationale used to decide which characters got multiple figures, and why some characters were not depicted at all! Alice in Wonderland has more characters than any other film of the era, so why do multiples? And no Cheshire Cat or Caterpillar? What were the Germans thinking!

This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.