disney


	Over the years there have been quite a number of Alices and White Rabbits produced in print, on the stage, on the movie screen and on all kinds of different products.

In 1951, after a number of attempts, Walt Disney finally produced his version of Alice In Wonderland, a full-length animated movie that had its world premier at the Leicester Square Theatre in London (July 26, 1951).

Reproduced here are a couple of movie posters from the time, one from Spain and the other from the USA (with no mention of Lewis Carroll as the author of the story). Below is an animation cell that shows how Alice finally appeared..




		A poster by the Disney Studio.






		"Oh I beg your pardon!" cried Alice hastily, afraid that she had hurt the poor animal's feelings. "I quite forgot that you didn't like cats."


Alice had been on various Disney drawing boards for some time before the movie was finally released. Below are some Alice paintings produced by another Disney artist, Mary Blair, some time in 1941. Of all the artists that worked for Walt, this female artist was his favourite.



		Alice in a pool of tears (left) and Alice before the Court (above) by Mary Blair at Disney Studio.

	.Earlier, in 1939, during the preliminary stages of planning an animated Alice in Wonderland, a Hollywood artist and designer, David Hall produced some outstanding illustrations and paintings that were shelved away in the Disney archives. When the studio went into production in 1948, Hall's remarkable illustrations were not used. Some of these "forgotten" pictures can be viewed by clicking in the images in the left.

As the Alice In Wonderland story became more popular there were all kinds of products produced featuring Alice and the other characters. The following pages show many other Alice products that have been produced since. Click on the link at the bottom of this page to take a tour of the Alice collection of books, images and products..
Here's a biscuit tin produced in 1911. The tin was produced by the brother of one of Dodgsen's friends from the University. Dodgeson wasn't too pleased with the idea that he could be seen as though he was endorsing a brand of biscuits. At the time, the manufacturer sent out several hundred tins to Dodgsen's young friends and aquaintances.

This cover is from an Australian edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and was printed in Melbourne by Oxford University Press in 1945.

Unfortunately the publishers failed to print the name of the illustrator in the book and the only other pictures inside are very small black and white illustrations.

Right: Early Australian edition from the 30s with a cover illustrated by Marjorie Hann..

A mystery! The John Mystery "Alice" illustrations are signed simply "C.L".

Above: Melbourne artist Nan Fullarton illustrated this cover. Nan is now a costume designer for the ballet. In 1949 Nan produced a comic strip Alice that appeared in the very first edition of the Sydney Sunday Herald.

Robert Capes is a Melbourne lawyer with a passion for tapestry (and for Lewis Carroll and Alice).
Like Carroll, Robert Capes has his birthday on 27th February. Here we see the Court Scene from Alice in Wonderland created in 1985. This piece and others are featured in a craft book on embroidery and tapestry written by the artist.

Above: Artwork for a Melbourne theatre production during the depression painted by Dorothea Francis (Melbourne 1903-1975)

Above: This photograph is from the Lindsay Kemp production of Alice as it first appeared in Barcelona, Spain before touring internationally.
The stage design and 65 costumes were by
Silvia Jahnsons, an Australian designer.

Above: Detail of a sculpture by Margaret Sail (born 1940, Melbourne)

Above: Walt Disney's Queen of Hearts as she appeared in the animated feature.

The famous Christmas windows at the Myer Store in Burke Street Melbourne have twice featured Alice in Wonderland. Here's a designer's sketch of a window (one of six) from 1961 by Lloyd Gibson.

The collection of Alice-inspired items seems to be never-ending. Click on the picture above
to see the collection..