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!

Happy New Year!

Well, as the saying goes, it's been quite a year.  Life has intervened at every corner, and although some truly wonderful things have happened (especially the Geppi exhibit) I have not been able to post as regularly to the blog as I would have liked.  But, I hope to improve in 2017 and I still have one more big announcement to come, but more on that when I have a better grasp on the details.  Suffice it to say, may 2017 be calmer and filled with more and better posts!

Geppi's Entertainment Museum Exhibition Extended!

I just received word from the museum that due to popular demand, my Alice exhibition has been extended through the end of the year!  So if you haven't had a chance to come see it, you've got three more months. Come on down!

65th Anniversary of Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland's World Premiere in London

While the official release date may be July 28th, 1951, Walt Disney's animated classic Alice in Wonderland had its world premiere in London on July 26th, at the Leicester Square theater.  Kathryn Beaumont and Walt Disney were in attendance, and I'm sure a grand time was had by all.  Let's hear it for 65 wonderful years!

Open for business at Disneyana Mania

Second Big Announcement for 2016

Time for the second of three big announcements for 2016 here on the VDA blog.  Yours truly will be the keynote speaker at this year's Disneyana Fan Club banquet on July 15th!  So if you're in the area and coming to the DFC convention, sign up for the banquet and watch me make an ass of myself in front of hundreds of people.  Well, I hope not, but certainly not out of the realm of possibility :-)

DisneyanaMania
July 13-16, 2016
Wyndham Hotel - Anaheim / Garden Grove
12021 Harbor Blvd
Garden Grove, CA 92840

Ready For Business

All setup and ready to go!

Dayton Disneyana This Weekend

We'll be set up at Dayton Disneyana this weekend, if you're in the area come on by and buy cool Alice stuff!

Alice at Awesome-Con

Me and my Walt Disney signed Alice cel at the past weekend's DC comic-con, which has the regrettable name "Awesome Con". Alice can be seen through October 2nd at Geppi's Entertainment Museum.

Through the Looking Glass and Jello Commercials

So my family and I went to the new Burton-esque Alice film (meh). But what was amazing was during the pre-show (I love the pre-shows at the Alamo Drafthouse) they used MY video clip of one of the Alice Jello commercials. Pretty cool.

Happy Memorial Day!

Have a fun and safe Memorial Day everyone!

Disneyland Alice Attraction Color Photograph July 1968

A very nice snapshot of the Alice exterior with very cool leaves and the dearly-departed vine.

Looks a little overcast on this day, but the colors on the leaves are great!  Well, they are now, I did have to restore this a little.  I think you'll agree it looks better now ;-)

Little Golden Records

Given the past two days' posts on the DBR records, it seems only fitting to post about their smaller, much more common cousins, the Little Golden Records.

The Disney series of Little Golden Records was introduced very shortly before Alice was released, as can be seen in some of the S&S catalogs of the day, and by the relatively low product numbers on the Alice series of records (RD18-25).

As with most other Alice items from the original release, S&S went all out on this set, and produced eight records for the series, each with full color cover art!

Interestingly, the title song RD18 was also released in the Peter Puppet Playthings marionette theater set that I've previously posted about here.

Over the years it has become clear that some of these records are much scarcer than others.  In my experience RD22 (All in a Golden Afternoon) is the hardest to find of the set,

followed closely by RD23 (Alice in Wonderland Meets the Caterpillar and the Cheshire Cat).

My assumption is that these titles just weren't as popular with kids and they got thrown out more frequently than the others.

Additionally, all of the titles are difficult to find with their paper sleeves in any kind of decent condition, these were kids records after all, and while the records themselves were designed to suffer a great deal of abuse, the sleeves are just paper.

Big Golden Record DBR-2 Six Songs from Alice in Wonderland - Part 2

Second in the series, and probably rarer still than Part 1, but who can say for sure?  I've only ever seen two copies of each with their sleeves and maybe an additional 4 of part 1 without.  Regardless, insanely rare doesn't even begin to cover it.  I know the WDL-4015 is rare and valuable, but it is way more common than these.

Same additional titles on the back of both parts 1 and 2.  I've seen Peter Pan DBRs too, and a Jiminy Cricket MMC title that escapes me at the moment, but Disney titles in this format are small in number.

Labels for part 2 are blue rather than purple

Big Golden Record DBR-1 Six Songs from Alice in Wonderland - Part 1

What we have here ladies and gentlemen is possibly the rarest of all the Alice records.  Big Golden Record DBR-1, Six Songs from Alice in Wonderland, Part 1.  Together with Part 2, these comprise the rarest recordings (domestically) that I am aware of.

For years no one would believe me that these even existed, as I had no physical evidence, only a single reference in a single printed ad, but I was convinced they did indeed exist.

And lo and behold, about 7 years ago I was finally rewarded when I found both in a single lot of old children's records.  Fantastic!

The recordings themselves are nothing special, just a rehash of the same titles on the Little Golden Records, but the format is different.  The size of a standard 78 RPM record, with illustrated labels, and not too interesting sleeves, these must have been short lived indeed, for though there are literally 100s of LGRs, there is only a tiny number of titles in the BGR series.

I've heard it said that the DBR nomenclature on these titles stands for Disney Big Record, but have no confirmation of that.  Part 2 tomorrow.

Exhibition Site at GEM

Geppi's Entertainment Museum has (finally!) restored their site and the landing page for the Alice exhibition is back up.  First time I've seen it :-)

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.  

Lewis Carroll Society Spring Meeting This Week April 14 - April 17

For the first time since 2008 the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) will be having its Spring meeting here in the DMV area, featuring pub night at the renovated Green Dragon (temporarily renamed The Jabberwock), and a visit to the Alice exhibition in Baltimore.  All events Friday and Saturday are open to the public, check the Carroll website for full meeting details.  See you there!

Animation Scoop Magazine Interview on Alice Exhibit!

Animation Scoop magazine posted this interview about the Geppi Alice exhibit!  Thanks to Leslie Combemale and Jerry Beck for the coverage :-)

Exhibit Opening Night Article in Scoop

 Geppi's online magazine Scoop posted an article on the opening night party for the Alice exhibit (along with Amanda Conner's art exhibit).