Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-65 - Standing on the Bottle on the Sea of Tears

Another bottle picture today, this time featuring yet another crazy contraption meant to make Kathy sick.

Check out the rocker mechanisms on the underside of the platform, nothing like the modern day gimbals they use to move entire sound stages around.  Rube Goldberg eat your heart out.

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday to Me!

Another year has come and gone, lots of Alice has passed through this blog, with lots more to come.  This year I received an Amazon gift certificate via email, and it was in Spanish.  So, what better excuse to post a Spanish language birthday card?

The text of the card reads "I can not believe I forgot, I hope your day has been happy", or something to that effect (Google says so anyways).

I'm not technically late yet, but later than normal, so there it is.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Live Action Reference Photo 949-108 - Alice and the Flamingo

Here we see poor Kathy being subjected to yet another bizarre contraption whose sole purpose it seems is to make her as uncomfortable as possible.

Apparently there were no flamingos available for her to sit on while attempting that tricky croquet bank shot.  Oh well.

Live Action Reference Photo 350-59 - Alice 'Not at All'

I like this one as it shows Alice at her petulant best.  From March of 1950.

 The Cheshire Cat is up to mischief and has asked how Alice is getting on.  'Not at all' Alice proclaims, and chaos ensues.

Live Action Reference Photo A-SPEC-8 - Alice with Windex Boxes

I may be wrong, but I don't recall the sequence in the movie, or the book, where Alice is sitting in a chair waving Windex boxes over her head...

I have to say this is my favorite of all the live action reference photos that I have, simply because of the Windex boxes.  Classic.  I wish I could figure out what scene this is supposed to represent.

UPDATE:  As Major so eloquently put it, Orca FTW.  It is indeed from the mother bird sequence when Alice is shrinking back down to small size holding the mushroom pieces.

Live Action Reference Photo 650-26 - Alice Looking Through the Keyhole

Today's live action reference is a copy from the WED research library printed on October 26th, 1971 (guess I should have posted this one yesterday!), the notation on the back simply says:

Disney Productions - "Alice in Wonderland"
Live action model Kathy Beaumont
1950

Here we see poor Kathy lying on the floor peering through the tiny door, supposedly looking into Wonderland.

And you can see here that her dress is much less fancy, no lace trim, certainly not satin, more like wool or cotton.  At least it wasn't burlap.

Live Action Reference Photo 649-235 - Ed Wynn at the Mad Tea Party

This reference photo comes from an earlier time in the production based on its photo id (which is on the back of this particular photo) - June of 1949.  It features Ed Wynn as the zany Mad Hatter at his tea table filled with teapots.

It is difficult to figure out exactly where in the Mad Tea Party sequence this particular image falls, but you get the basic idea.

Live Action Reference Photo 451-8025 - Inside the Bottle on the Sea of Tears

Today begins a new series as suggested by my readers, live action reference photos.

This first photo shows our heroine inside her glass bottle adrift on the sea of tears, calling for help.  The photo number gives us some clue as to the time the photo was taken, 451 equates to April of 1951.  That is very late in the game for reference photos, and judging by her costume and hair, it is likely that this particular photo was staged for publicity purposes.

Later we'll see other photos of Kathy in the bottle, it must have been rather uncomfortable, and nauseating, to say the least!

Feeling Like I'm in a Rut

I've been feeling like I'm in a rut with my posting, so I wanted to get some input from my readers.  What would you like to see here on the blog?  Any particular types of items, specific items, let me know.  Can't wait to read your input.

I'm going to be in and out over the next couple of months, so posting is going to be a little more sporadic than usual unless I can get a series pre-posted.

1951 Danish RKO Program Booklet

I love finding foreign movie paper, and this piece is particularly cool as it is so voluminous.  It is a program booklet from Denmark.  Twelve pages in glorious Danish, can't read it, but love it just the same!  It is smallish in size, about the size of a quarter sheet of paper.

If it says RKO, you know it's original release!

Bruce Bushman Brownline of Alice Walkthrough

Back in the summer I did a whole series of these Bushman brownlines for the Alice walkthrough attraction that never was.  I realized that I missed one.

 

This is a hand-colored rendering of the White Rabbit's house scene, where the house is like a fun house attraction.  You entered through the front door, then jumped on the slide out of the top window.

Nice that this is signed too.

1951 Canadian Goodyear Promotional Mailer

This is very cool, and quite honestly very odd. A promotional mailer for Goodyear tires, Canadian market only. I must say, when I think Alice in Wonderland, tires do not leap to mind.

This mailer is incredibly well designed, and the art is very good. The first interior fold shows Alice chasing the White Rabbit towards the Queen's castle, in Goodyear Land (yeah, that rolls right off the tongue).

But the real gold is in the gatefold, where there is a little comic strip talking all about Goodyear Super Cushion tires, and how much Tweedledee and Tweedledum are like these amazing tires...all in verse!

If I were Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I would take offense at being called soft, and comments about how vast my area is.

1960s Sugar Daddy Alice Trading Card

This was a new one on me, I'd never heard of this before. This is a trading card from Sugar Daddy candy. While I have seen (and even remember getting) trading cards out of Sugar Daddy candies, I never knew there was a Disney series, nor an Alice in that series.

This Alice is card number 20 out of a set of 25 cards called Mickey Mouse and his Pals, series number 5. Don't know if this means 5th series of Mickey and pals, or 5th series overall.

I also don't have an exact date on this, but the art tells me that it is most likely from the 1960s. If anyone has details on this series or knows if there were other Alice characters from that series, I'd be grateful for that information.

New Book by Jim Korkis

Disney historian Jim Korkis has written a new book called The Vault of Walt, featuring lots of great stuff on Disney, and a fantastic section on Alice from the 1930s to its release in 1951. This is based on an article he originally wrote under his pseudonym Wade Sampson that I blogged about previously.

Izumi Yukimura Autograph

A while back I posted a Japanese version of the Alice in Wonderland title song. A kind reader recently identified the singer for me as Izumi Yukimura. And even more recently, I acquired this autograph! Izumi Yukimura is alive and well and still performing.

Love the little sketch.

Not Really Marx, But...Mad Hatter and March Hare Bottle Stoppers

I didn't really know what to do with these, they are certainly not Marx, but are clearly made with Marx figures. These are bottle stoppers. They are made from some sort of metal, maybe pewter. They are the size of the SP figures, and are attached to a bottle stopper with a cork bottom for sealing a wine or liquor bottle.

Pretty cool, but bizarre. If they made these two, did they make all five of SP figures?

Marx Wrap Up

Well, it has been quite the plastic-filled ride during this Marx extravaganza. Since I'm sure you haven't had enough Marx yet, thought I'd sum up the series, 'cause I'm stalling for time to scan some new stuff. We saw:

Alice Disneykins in a variety of paint jobs and boxes

Second Series New Disneykins featuring the Mad Hatter, March Hare, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts in a variety of boxes

TV Scenes of Alice and the White Rabbit & March Hare

New Disneykin Playset

Disneykings featuring Alice, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare

Disneykids of the Mad Hatter, March Hare, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts

Rockykins and Rockykings of Alice and the Mad Hatter (btw, I recently saw a Rockykin of Grumpy)


UPDATE:  Found the March Hare Rockyking!!!

SP figures of Alice, Mad Hatter, March Hare, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts

Holland figures of Alice, Mad Hatter, March Hare, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts

Disney Fun Pal of Alice

Cake topper with the Mad Hatter

Heimo figures of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare

Nodders of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare

Snap-Eeze of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare

Twistable or Twistoy of the March Hare

Rolykin of the White Rabbit

Ramp Walker with Mad Hatter and White Rabbit

Snowdomes of Alice and Mad Hatter & March Hare

and last but not least the Viewmarx.

Whew. That's a ton of Marx stuff, and it probably isn't even all of it. I'm sure there must be a March Hare Rockyking and Heimo figures of Alice, the White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts.