Animation Artifacts &Articles on Animation &Disney 05 Jun 2008 08:16 am
LIFE with Alice
- I’m going to put together a couple of posts on Disney’s Alice In Wonderland, and I think this LIFE Magazine article from June 18, 1951 is an excellent place to start.
It’s interesting that they call the article, “Alice In Disneyland.” This is one of the first references to “Disneyland” that I’ve noticed. There was a TV show done for ABC, “One Hour In Wonderland,” a 1951 Christmas show which promoted the heck out of the movie. Kathryn Beaumont, dressed as Alice, got to parade around with lots of kids. This show probably served as the prototype for the “Disneyland” TV series, but made no reference to the name of the future theme park.
This article comes from John Canemaker‘s the collection, and I have to thank him for his contribution, _____(click any image to enlarge.)
yet again.
I’ve chosen to leave any periferal ads in there, for context and amusement.
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on 05 Jun 2008 at 12:21 pm 1.Eric Noble said …
Awesome post. “Alice in Wonderland” is actually my favorite Disney film. I know a lot of animation critics don’t like it that much, but to me it has a special quality that I don’t find in other Disney films. Thank you for posting this.
on 05 Jun 2008 at 1:50 pm 2.Michael said …
I’ll probably have a large section of storyboard drawings from “Alice in Wonderland†to post on Monday. I just have to scan it all. Check back.
on 05 Jun 2008 at 2:32 pm 3.Eric Noble said …
Oh sweet, storyboards. THank you so much. I’ll check it out on Monday. Oh, BTW, thanks for commenting on my blog. I’m surprised you would even bother with me.
on 05 Jun 2008 at 4:04 pm 4.Thad said …
Are the storyboards from what finally became the film? I’ve never seen those, but I have David Hall’s from the aborted 30s version (Beautifully eerie stuff, but I wouldn’t like the film as much if it looked like that!) and one set from 1943.
on 05 Jun 2008 at 5:53 pm 5.james said …
fun stuff. Yeah, Walt used (smartly) this show and others to launch his dream project – the park. He did it in a subtle way, and brilliantly invited himself into America’s living rooms.
on 05 Jun 2008 at 9:21 pm 6.jay said …
“Alice” may not have much narrative cohesion, but the pure inventiveness of the animation and the boldness of both the character and background design still make it one Disney’s best.
on 06 Jun 2008 at 7:13 am 7.Stephen Macquignon said …
I like the side by side comparison of the book illustrations and Disney version
on 06 Jun 2008 at 11:06 am 8.Matt Jones said …
Love to see vintage mag scans-these are beauties. Magazine design was so much more elegant in the 50s & 60s. I recently acquired some old HOLIDAY mags featuring Ronald Searle’s travel illustrations which I hope to find time to scan & post soon.
on 07 Jun 2008 at 10:21 am 9.john grant said …
Michael..I have collected DISNEY ALICE character
merchandise since 1970 and have never seen storyboards…._I do have a photo of the Jabberwock
wearing a turtleneck sweater-looks like a still that was never used-do Jabberwock storyboards exsist?
Stan FREBERG was to voice the character..
on 07 Jun 2008 at 10:50 am 10.Michael said …
Jabberwocky production art was used in making the Disney children’s book, Jabberwocky. I posted images from this book back in Feb 2007. Go here to see that post. Maybe it’s time to recap that post?
on 10 Jun 2008 at 4:00 pm 11.Floyd Norman said …
The term, “Disneyland” was often used to describe Walt’s cartoon factory long before the theme park became a reality.
I also have a copy of Life from 1951. When I saw this article, I was determined to someday work for Walt Disney.