A Happy New Year, Toyland Style

New Year's Day is a time of new beginnings and new calendars—and since we have been celebrating Babes in Toyland this Christmastime, here's the 1962 calendar from the 1961 Christmas card "from Walt Disney and staff." The fun, cartooney art is just right for the highly stylized live-action film, even though you can't use this calendar for 2012. You can read all about the playful film in the article written by me for D23. As for 2012, put on your best smile, set free your imagination, and come with us into a Happy New Year.

Under The Christmas Tree

What did Mickey and Donald and Pluto find under the Christmas tree for Christmas 1961? Toys, toy soldiers to be exact, marching their way straight out of Babes in Toyland, Walt Disney's big holiday release for that year. This art adorned the front cover of the annual Disney Christmas card for that year, and since we are celebrating all things Babes in Toyland here at Tulgey Wood, I thought I'd include it here in honor of any treat large or small we might have found under our own trees Christmas. For another Yuletide-type treat, don't forget to read my Babes in Toyland article on the free D23 website.

How Beautiful Upon The Mountains Are The Feet Of Him Who Brings Glad Tidings

I have already posted some of the art from the deluxe program for Ben-Hur (1959), Painted by Ben Stahl, the distinguished artist who both wrote and illustrated Blackbeard's Ghost, this glowing artistic interpretation (click on the image for a larger view) of the Nativity adorned the Ben-Hur program, and now here it is to celebrate this Christmas Day. As you enjoy this art, consider the words of the prophet Isaiah: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, "Your God is King!" Merry Christmas.

Have You Seen A Child The Color Of Wheat...The Color Of Dawn?

"Amahl and the Night Visitors" has already been featured here in Tulgey Wood but Christmas calls out for another look at this wondrous TV special. In December 1953, one year after the opera (the first ever to be commissioned especially for television) was presented as the first installment of the Hallmark Hall of Fame, Life magazine ran this spectacular full-color spread. Posted here at the right is a unique glimpse (in color yet) of the original production. Since its first live telecast on Christmas Eve 1951, Amahl had been re-presented on NBC once again, broadcast live with the original cast on Easter Sunday (April 13) 1952. That same month Rosemary Kuhlmann (Amahl's mother) and Chet Allen (Amahl; the boy soprano was proclaimed a star on the historic page-one New York Times review of the original broadcast) reprised their roles in a New York City Opera production, conducted by Thomas Schippers and sets by Eugene Berman (both from the first telecast); it was this stage production of which Life took the photographs for the article reproduced at the right. Enjoy these historical and very rare photos (click on the images for a larger view) of Gian Carlo Menotti's TV opera as a Christmas Eve treat.

Karloff The Uncanny

As mentioned back here, Boris Karloff brought his considerable acting skill to his vocalizations in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which made its debut on CBS this night, December 18, in 1966. The great Karloff was born on November 23, 1887, so the Grinch special debuted less than a month after the master actor's 79th birthday. (By the way, Karloff's star-making triumph, Frankenstein, turned 80 in 2011.) To celebrate Karloff's uncannily good voice performances in this Christmas classic here's the TV Guide Close-Up listing celebrating its December 1966 debut. (Click on the image for a larger view.) It's interesting to note that Thurl Ravenscroft is credited here whereas he is not in the special itself. Both Dr. Seuss and producer-director Chuck Jones felt terrible about this accidental omission so we can assume they made sure Thurl received mention in TV Guide. (And by the way, watch Tulgey Wood for more about Frankenstein—or at least one of its many related productions—sometime in the future.

Just A Toy

Walt Disney's Babes in Toyland (1961)not only inspired toys; it also featured toys such as the pretty doll Annette and Tommy Sands play with in one of the film's loveliest numbers, "Just a Toy." The doll seen in this charming scene was designed by Uneeda Doll Company. A Disney licensee of the time, Uneeda created the doll as both as a prop and as a toy that would be available in retail stores. Crowned with not only with, well, a crown but also with pink (not blonde) hair and wearing a tutu and ballet shoes (for isn't every princess a dancer?), the Princess doll had the same body as the Disney Pollyanna doll Uneeda issued just a year earlier. (Interestingly, the Princess doll hangtag was was designed as an alphabet block, in keeping with the Toyland theme, and the letters shown are "U" (often the only "name" stamped on Uneeda's toys along with the trademark info) and "D" (for "Disney," we can assume). Wonder how many children received the Princess doll for Christmas in 1961? As the Disney Character Merchandising Division said through one of its signature "Hustlegram" news releases, "Every little princess will want to own the 'Princess' doll."

A Babes Premiere

On this day, December 14, in 1961, Walt Disney's Babes in Toyland was released to theaters nationwide. The movie musical played at the "Nation's Showcase" Radio City Music Hall as part of the mammoth theatre's annual Christmas spectacular. To commemorate the date, the D23 website features today in its daily This Day in Disney feature the Babes in Toyland debut. You can read the D23 article above; click on the image for a larger view. And while you're at it, don't forget to read the article I wrote for D23 all about Walt Disney's first live-action musical.

Toyland, Toyland!

When Walt Disney's Babes in Toyland was released in 1961, it was accompanied by what the Disney Character Merchandising Division described as "the best co-ordinated merchandising effort that we have ever staged at Christmas"—and no wonder, for Babes in Toyland is all about, well, toys. The promotional campaign for the musical fantasy started in September with $718,000 with of TV commercials publicizing the film, including those broadcast as part of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (then its first season on "the color network," NBC). There were 367 separate Babes in Toyland playthings and other merchandise manufactured by 45 companies in what Disney called "the giant Christmas promotion." These licensees included Dolly Toy Co., Parker Brothers, Louis Marx and Company, and Hassenfeld Brothers (now known as Hasbro). Colorforms was also in on the action, presenting an Annette Dress Designer Kit (available in two sizes, including the deluxe version seen here). The spread at top from the 1961 Sears "Wish Book" Christmas catalog also boasts some Toyland toys (naturally Sraers was part of the big push), including the classic Gund hand puppets. To read more about Walt Disney's Babes in Toyland check out my article on the D23 website.

Classic Christmas Cards From Hallmark

In yesterday's post I mentioned Christmas cards as big business, and there's no bigger greeting card business than Hallmark. The Hallmark website has a slide show of some charming Christmas cards featuring Santa Claus —not the one here, from 1945 featuring a feather for Santa's beard, but an amazing se;action from the 1920s through 2010. See them here—and for vintage Hallmark cards you can actually obtain vintage Hallmark cards here, the website at which I found the Santa card pictured here.

A Fortune Magazine Christmas Cover

We may not think of beautiful covers when we think of Fortune, but years ago, the famous finacial magazine featured elaborate covers that were often art for art's sake. Here's a seasonal example from Dcember 1936 by influential designer and illustrator Erik Nitsche. Though the Fortune holiday covers often have nothing to do with Christmas, this one more than qualifies, as Christmas cards are big business.