David Hall

David Hall was born in Ireland in 1905 and later emigrated to America. After studying at high school and art college he went to work as a production artist in the film industry. His first work was for Cecille B. deMille's silent film, The King of Kings in 1927. Hall later joined the Walt Disney Studio and worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Two years later he was producing illustrations for the proposed film of Alice in Wonderland.

Walt Disney read Carroll's book when he was young and it made a lasting impression on him. In 1946 Disney said, "No story in English literature has intrigued me more than Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. It fascinated me the first time I read it as a schoolboy, and as soon as I possibly could, after I started making animated cartoons, I acquired the film rights to do it."

It was in 1931, when Disney purchased the rights to the Tenniel illustrations. One year later the 80 year old Alice Liddell travelled to New York for the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Carroll's birth.




	Above: Walt Disney with Shirley Temple and Right: Walt being a bit more serious.




			"Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end?" mused Alice after tumbling through the rabbit-hole.



	The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into a doze: but on being pinched by The Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek.

Disney's plans for his Alice film were put aside when Paramount Pictures announced that it was planning a movie based on Carroll's book. Several thousand young hopefuls auditioned for the role of Alice which finally was given to seventeen year old Charlotte Henry. Among the Hollywood stars signed to play the part of the Wonderland characters, beneath mountains of rubbery make-up were W. C. Fields (Humpty Dumpty), Gary Cooper (The White Knight) and Cary Grant (The Mock Turtle). Because of the success of the Paramount Production, Disney abandoned the idea of making his own film at that time

Although Hall modelled the general appearance of his characters after Tenniel's illustrations (Disney felt "it would be wrong to go too far away from them") his pictures are highly individual creations. His characters are wilder and less inhibited than Tenniel's and because he was illustrating for film, his work has a dramatic sense of movement. and his flair for illustrating facial expressions and physical energy are reminders of how posed and static are Tenniel's original illustrations. There is in Hall's fluid style, sure line, narrative detailing and muted watercolour pallette a debt to Arthur Rackham. Hall's technique of layering transparent colour washes over black ink lines is similar to Rackham's Alice .



	Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at first she thought it must be a walrus or hippopotamus...

Also remarkable is Hall's prolific output. In about three months he produced over 400 paintings, drawings and sketches. One of the reasons why there were so many illustrations created by Hall was to produce a "Leica reel" for Mr Disney to view. This is a process whereby a sequence of still images is filmed and then screened with a soundtrack to give an idea of the shape and continuity of the story. Many pictures are required to give the fullest possible sense of movement to the story. A sound track was recorded, and among those who provided voices was the actor Cliff Edwards who, later became well-known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Disney's Pinnochio.

The Leica Reel was screened for Walt Disney in November 1939. Disney liked parts of the proposed film but still had his reservations: "There are certain things in there that I like very much" he said, "and there are other things that I think we ought to tear right out". By the end of the session it was clear that the film was still not ready to go into production. Perhaps Disney was worried about how far the story had drifted away from Carroll's original, Disney added: "I still think that we can stick close to Alice in Wonderland and make it look it and feel like it, you know".

David Hall left Disney Studios and then worked as an art director for 20th Century-Fox and MGM working on such films as National Velvet (1944), Quo Vadis (1951), Ben Hur (1959), Solomon and Sheba (1959), The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse (1961) and The Greatest Story Ever Told, for which he designed the sets and on which he was working when he died of a heart attack at the age of 58 on July 1, 1964. His pictures for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland remained "lost" in the Disney Studio's archives until 1976 ehen they were discovered when material was being selected for a touring exhibition of Disney artwork. Now, half a century after they were created, they are being given the recognition they deserve... truly fantastic illustrations to one of the most wonderful fantasies ever invented.

David Hall's drawings weave a magic spell on all those who view them. The richness, lavish details, grand conceptions and sheer beauty draw us into a timeless fairytale world. It is unfortunate these drawings were not made to come 'alive' as only Disney Studios could have done in the mid to late-1930s.


	"How can I have done that?" she thought. "I must be growing small again." She got up, went to the table to measure herself by it, and found that, as near as she could guess, she was now about two feet tall..

	"Then you should say what you mean." the March Hare went on."I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least- at least I mean what I say- that's the same thing you know."




		Walt Disney directing a new "actor".


	"Come back!" the Caterpillar called after her. "I've something important to say!"This sounded promising, certainly: Alice turned and came back again."Keep your temper," said the Caterpillar.

"Friends wonder sometimes at my refusing all social invitations now, and taking no holidays. But when old age has begun, and the remaining years are certainly not many, and the work one wishes to do, before the end comes, is almost certainly more than there is time for, I think one cares less for so-called 'pass-times'. I want the time to go more slowly, not more quickly.

A letter from Dodgson to Mrs. Blakemore, October 28 1889