Christmas 'Round The World With Winnie The Pooh, Part 5

Here's Gopher again and the rest of Pooh's true blue friends too to celebrate Christmas in Germany. I seem to remember hearing the art is by Disney Legend Burny Mattinson, who worked on Walt Disney's original Pooh featurettes as well as the all-new Pooh due in 2011. Come back tomorrow for conclusion of this special Pooh art from the Sears Catalog for the 1972 Christmas Season.

Christmas 'Round The World With Winnie The Pooh, Part 4

Time for a small smackeral of something sweet for Christmas, and that must mean Winnie the Pooh. Feast your eyes on this sweet treat that takes us to Christmas in Sweden. (Click on the image for a larger image.) I like how the artist incorporated some of the smaller characters, such as Piglet ( A Very Small and Timid Animal, indeed) to let the catalog reader know there's more. In Part 1, back here, we even had Gopher, that Disney-created critter who was included in the catalog even though he's not in the book, you know. Stop back tomorrow for another Yuletide sweet treat from Winnie the Pooh.

Christmas 'Round The World With Winnie The Pooh, Part 3

Today we follow Winnie the Pooh and his friends to Italy for more Christmas celebrations. In the introduction to this sweet-as-hunny artwork, the Sears Christmas Catalog for 1972 stated that the childlike Pooh characters are a perfect match for the wonder of Christmas, and I think you'll agree. Come back for Part 4 tomorrow, and in the meantime click on the image for a larger view.

Christmas 'Round The World With Winnie The Pooh, Part 2

Here's Part 2 of that splendid Winnie the Pooh art created especially for the 1972 Christmas catalog. Sears was the first Disney licensee to create Pooh merchandise, and their agreement with Disney was exclusive for many years. Sears occasionally ran Pooh art but it was usually just a spot illustration here and there. To my knowledge, Sears never before or after published anything as spectacular as this Pooh Christmas art. Part 2 covers Christmas in Spain, so enjoy, and remember to click on the image for a larger view.

Christmas 'Round The World With Winnie The Pooh

Back in July I promised more about that very special Christmas art featuring Winnie the Pooh, and starting today, I will post it all for Christmas. This rarely-seen Disney artwork was created for the Sears catalog for "the 1972 Christmas Season," and is a holiday delight as I'm sure you will agree. Here's part 1, all about Christmas in Holland. Be sure and click on the image for a larger view... and be sure and check back for the next five days so you can feast your eyes on all six Pooh views of Christmas customs and traditions 'round the world.

Sweet Tweets From Disney

Disney has officially started tweeting from its Twitter account, @Disney, yesterday, December 5, 2010, in celebration of Walt Disney's birthday. And that's appropriate because the tweets are to be very Walt-centric. Disney's tweets are planned to include links to, art, video clips and photos. Disney started its tweets with a look at Walt and his Tomorrowland (ready for a rare color image of Walt playfully interacting with GARCO the robot?), and soon will segue to Christmas. If you hook up with only one Twitter account, make sure you sign up with Disney's. To celebrate @Disney on Twitter, here (above) is a detail from a piece of Retta Scott Worcester's exquisite art for the 1950 Cinderella Big Golden Book, immortalizing the second Disney princess's bluebird friends. After all, a bluebird is the symbol of Twitter, promising tweets that offer the sweet treat that only Disney can deliver.

Happy Birthday, Walt: A View On Art

To honor Walt Disney on this, the 109th anniversary of his birth, here's a rarely-seen 1964 photo from the Los Angeles Times of Walt visiting an early version of the California Institute of Arts (CalArts), the famed arts school founded by Walt. 1964 was also the year Walt threw the Hollywood premiere of Mary Poppins on August 27, 1964, as a benefit for the burgeoning school, at which Walt screened a short film entitled The CalArts Story. In 1966, Walt had this to say on the subject of the Disney Studio producing "art": "An artist who consciously goes about producing art can become inhibited. It's always easier to talk about art, or to strike a beatnik pose, then it is to create. My artists are asked to 'let go'. We encourage a free-flow of ideas. It is always interesting to me how many people can vividly recall a sequence from a favorite Disney film—they can even tell you the colors! This may be nostalgia, or it could be that these films and their creative ideas are becoming a part of art history."

Fascinating Fantasia

Christmastime is "Nutcracker" time so here's some unique Disney art from a 1963 release of "The Nutcracker Suite" as conducted by Stokowski and performed by his 100 Men, the Philadelphia Orchestra from Fantasia (1940). Back here I said I'd announce some Fantasia writing I'd been working and now, in honor of both the 70th anniversary of Fantasia (it debuted on November 13, 1940) and also its release on Disney Blu-ray, "15 Fascinating Facts about Fantasia" is now live on the D23 website. Be sure and visit D23 (it's free) and read all about Walt Disney's Fantasia in this article written by Jim Fanning.

Archie Gets Wrapped Up In Christmas

As always, we can turn to America's Favorite Teenager for some good old fashioned Christmas fun...and by that, we mean slapstick. Entangled in wrapping and ribbon (maybe he tripped over the ubiquitous and ugly UPC code), Archie effortlessly steals the scene even when he's on the cover of Betty and Veronica's title. (Actually, Jughead is really the one who's the scene stealer by underplaying it.) At least Veronica gets the punchline, which proves you can always rely on Archie and his Pals and Gals for some timeless Yuletide yocks. This cover is from Betty and Veronica Christmas Spectacular (Archie Giant Series # 489) December 1979, and was penciled by Dan DeCarlo and inled by Jim DeCarlo. There will be more Archie fun later this month so check back and see if you agree with Veronica as she says (and Betty obviously concurs),that nobody gets as wrapped up in Christmas as Archie.

Christmas Comic Covers: Dennis vs. Donald's Nephews, Halos For Hoops

Let's kick the month of Christmas off with a holiday-themed comic-book cover showdown between some master mischief-makers. Both Dennis the Menace and Donald Duck (and his nephews) regularly celebrated Christmas in their comic books, so perhaps it was just a matter of time before they ended up sharing a seasonal situation, as in Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine Christmas Special #87 1970 (drawn perhaps by Ron Ferdinand) Walt Disney's Comics and Stories # 207 October 1957 (drawn by Paul Murry). Rather than call this a swipe, let's assume that it's a case of great minds thinking alike.