From The Pages of Sketches: Babes In Toyland

From the 2006 Fall Issue of Sketches, the Official Magazine of the Walt Disney Collectors Society, here's a holiday treat: a behind-the-scenes celebration of Walt Disney's Babes in Toyland (1961). Starring Disney darling Annette, this colorful musical-fantasy has become a Christmastime favorite of those who overlook its flaws in favor of its delights. Sketches is sent only to Members of the Walt Disney Collectors Society. You can find more information about becoming a Society Member here.

A Classic Yet Ever Contemporary Recording

In these quieter days following December 25 (otherwise known as the 12 Days of Christmas) I really enjoy listening to Christmas music, especially the gentler, more reflective selections. Gentle and reflective definitely apply to one of my favorite holiday albums, the soundtrack music from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Featuring the now classic but eternally contemporary jazz score by the great Vince Guaraldi, the album was first released in 1965, the year of the TV special's debut (appropriately enough on the Fantasy jazz label, the home of Guaraldi's earlier jazz recordings), and the recording has never been out of print since. It's only too bad that the proclamation of the Gospel of Luke's account of the angel's announcement to the shepherds ("That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown") by Chris Shea as Linus was not included. (How differently might faith be lived if scripture was proclaimed as simply yet passionately in our churches as it is in this animated cartoon?) But here, from the 2006 re-mastered CD release, is Fantasy's re-do of the original 1965 LP cover complete with the original art drawn by Charles M. Schulz himself (he later redrew the art for a newly redesigned cover, apparently for the mid-1980s issue of the album on compact disc) also including the original liner notes from the album's back cover.

Another Christmas Comic Book Treat

As we can tell from this holiday-centered cover art (pencils by Francisco Rodriguez Peinado, inking by Enriqueta Perea), there are still some surprises under the Christmas tree. This comical cover is from issue no. 697 (October 2008) of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories (still available wherever fine comics are sold), and is a delight as Donald (wearing his nightshirt complete with some not-too-hidden Mickeys) is caught trying to guess what's inside his gift box. The issue itself is bursting with fun Christmas stories, including a tale starring Bucky Bug. Speaking of guessing what gifts are in store, issue number 700 of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories is coming up in 2009. What surprises are in store in what will surely be a special issue of Disney's long-running flagship comic book? Perhaps if David Gerstein or someone else at Gemstone is reading this, they could drop a hint or two...

A Little King Christmas

According to the old Christmas carol, Good King Wenceslas set out on his miraculous mission of mercy on the Feast of Stephen, which is today, December 26. In honor of that good king, here's some good art featuring the Little King, the cartoon monarch created by Otto Soglow, first in the pages of the New Yorker and then in his own comic strip and comic book. The Little King never spoke but always acted with a gentle childlike nature, giving the comic its own special air of quiet humor. Here's some Yuletide artwork from a 1951 Christmas card for you to enjoy while the snow is deep and crisp and even. The silent sovereign was also the star of several animated cartoons produced in the 1930s by the Van Buren Studios and you can enjoy the Little King's Christmas cartoon at the excellent Cartoon Brew blog. Perhaps the Little King's humorous humility will lift our hearts to another Good King, whose birth we supposedly memoralize during this season of the year.

The People Who Walked In Darkness Have Seen A Great Light

I post this in the darkest hours of Christmas Morning, 2008, so to help scatter the darkness, here is some resplendent art by Alice and Martin Provensen (Martin was a former Disney artist, in case you didn't know it) that opens their 1953 Giant Golden Book, The Golden Bible: The New Testament. (Please click on the image for a larger view of the art.) Isaiah 'twas foretold it, indeed. Merry Christmas!

Visions of Sugar Plums...

For the waning moments of Christmas Eve, here is one of my favorite Christmas comic book covers, one of my favorite Disney comic book covers—well, it's one of my favorite comic book covers, period. Created for Dell Giant, Walt Disney's Christmas Parade, Number 7, published for Christmas 1955, this cozy artwork portrays Mickey and Donald trimming the tree and Minnie and Daisy wrapping up some Christmas goodies, while Huey, Dewey and Louie and Morty and Ferdie and Uncle Scrooge snuggily sleep, visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads... or maybe in the case of Uncle Scrooge, it's visions of dollar signs. Whatever visions are dancing through your heads this Christmas Eve, I hope they are very merry indeed.

More Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking

As it gets to be time for you to hang your stockings by the chimney with care, here's a few more surprises stuffed in the Christmas stocking that is Tulgey Wood. These are some of the concluding pages of Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking, the charming little booklet written and drawn by Charles M. Schulz for the December 1963 issue of Good Housekeeping. To put it in perspective, Charles Schulz's holiday entry in his "square little book" series for Determined Productions, Christmas is Together Time, was published in 1964 and the animated special A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted on CBS in 1965, so this little stocking-stuffer of a book was Schulz's first true non-strip exploration of the Christmas theme. (For the first few pages of this delightful little booklet, please visit here.)

Uncle Scrooge and Christmas

Uncle Scrooge really should be the Christmas comic book poster child, as he was of course originally created for the 1947 Donald Duck comic story, "Christmas on Bear Mountain." Since then Scrooge has appeared in more than a few Yule-themed comics over the years, as celebrated in Duck artist Don Rosa's art, which served a salute to the 70th anniversary (which was acti of the World' Richest Duck. Here from Issue 383 (November 2008) is a Christmas "poster" (the front cover, also by Don Rosa, is seen here too) celebrating the Yule roots of Scrooge McDuck.

A (Rarely Seen) Charlie Brown Christmas

Over the next few days I hope to post a few pages of a rare Yuletide treat: A Charlie Brown Christmas Stocking by Charles M. Schulz. Very much in the spirit of Schulz's classic Peanuts "little square books" such as the first and most famous title, the bestselling Happiness is a Warm Puppy, this delightful little volume was created expressly for the December 1963 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, and was never published again, so today most people don't even know it was ever created. The little yellow book, printed on paper just a notch or two above newsprint in quality, was bound in the middle of the magazine's semi-glossy pages as the publication's Christmas present to it's 12 million readers. (I have the feeling the magazine's current circulation is not quite that high.) I won't be publishing all of the book's 16 (counting the cover) pages but I will feature the highlights. Here's the beginning of A Charlie Brown Christmas Stocking, in which Charlie Brown finds out his friends' (including the seldom-seen [or remembered] Shermy) views on the contoversial subject of hanging up a Christmas stocking...

Speaking of Searle: Sing A Song Of Gladness And Cheer

Back here I mentioned Ronald Searle, so I thought I'd post a few screen grabs from the main titles of the 1970 musical film version of A Christmas Carol entitled Scrooge (no exclamation mark). British illustrator and cartoonist Ronald Searle created the very Dickensian but also Searlesesque pen-and-ink-and-watercolor illustrations for the film's main titles, as well as drawings for the elaborate program issued for purchase at theaters screening the film. One of those illustrations is featured here, but if you want to see the program and all of Searle's main title art—plus plenty more of Searle and his illustrations (including his TV Guide Christmas covers) visit Matt Jones' terrific blog, entitled Perpetua: Ronald Searle Tribute.