Updated 5/12/2008 & 5/7/2008: See corrections/additions in red below
Here is a Christmas card promoting "Fantasia" from Walt Disney Productions in 1940. The picture doesn't capture the beauty of the card. When opened, the card is over 2-feet wide! By the way, in addition to the cast of Disney characters two other "characters" were added. The figure on the left is Leopold Stokowski and on the far right is Robert Benchly, who starred in "The Reluctant Dragon" and NOT Walt Disney.
Update 5/12/2008: DisneyDave made an excellent addition to the information on this card. When I bought the card, the seller indicated that he thought the card was designed by Joe Grant. DisneyDave noted:
That is Benchley and this Christmas card was created by the legendary Hank Porter - Joe Grant did not create any of the art used in the creation of this Christmas card.Update 5/7/2008: I had written that the person on the right was Walt Disney. One reader commented: "To be honest the guy appearing in the far right seems to be Robert Benchley starring in "The Reluctant Dragon" movie. That's why is held by the dragon." I forwarded the card image and the comment to Didier Ghez for his opinion. Didier wrote back: "This is definitely Benchley, not Walt. The two caricatures were probably done by Joe Grant." So, I updated my comment to reflect this new information! Thanks, Didier and "Anonymous."
Porter started at Disney's in 1936. He worked on Snow White, but when the light from the animator's light board strained his eyes, he was soon transferred into the Publicity and Merchandise Art Department.
Walt Disney later referred to Hank Porter as a "one man art department."
Porter created art used in magazine and newspaper articles, publicity art used for film promotion, the Snow White Sunday strip, art found on fan cards, corporate Christmas cards, children's publications including storybooks, paint books, cut-out books and comics, presentation art requested by Walt Disney, and he designed by my calculations around 75 - 80% of the 1,100 combat insignia created at the Studio during the war.
----- DATABASE NOTES -----
1940 Disney Studio Christmas Card, which celebrated “Fantasia.” The card folds out four times it’s length. Printed lower left: "Copr. 1940 by Walt Disney Prod." Near Mint condition [27.5W x 6H] SeqID-1149
To be honest the guy appearing in the far right seems to be Robert Benchley starring in "The Reluctant Dragon" movie. That's why is held by the dragon.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with your observation. I had seen Benchley's photo when doing some research on the movie. But it was difficult for me to believe that Walt wouldn't want his likeness in the card -- especially given the amount of publicity time that he put in on Fantasia. But, I could be wrong. If it looks like Benchley, I'll sure change it. Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDelete-Bob
That is Benchley and this Christmas card was created by the legendary Hank Porter - Joe Grant did not create any of the art used in the creation of this Christmas card.
ReplyDeletePorter started at Disney's in 1936. He worked on Snow White, but when the light from the animator's light board strained his eyes, he was soon transferred into the Publicity and Merchandise Art Department.
Walt Disney later referred to Hank Porter as a "one man art department."
Porter created art used in magazine and newspaper articles, publicity art used for film promotion, the Snow White Sunday strip, art found on fan cards, corporate Christmas cards, children's publications including storybooks, paint books, cut-out books and comics, presentation art requested by Walt Disney, and he designed by my calculations around 75 - 80% of the 1,100 combat insignia created at the Studio during the war.
I want to thank DisneyDave for the additional information on this item. I incorporated the post's information and added his comments to my Database Notes. Thanks, again, Dave!
ReplyDelete-Bob