During one of my trips to Tokyo Disneyland (in 2010), the Disney Gallery was featuring an exhibit titled, "The Colors of Mary Blair." Among the items being sold in the Gallery was this boxed set of 10 postcards, containing some of Mary Blair's early artwork for Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland.
I've attempted to put the scenes in the order that they appear within the film, with the exception of this first one.
In 2008, a three-dimensional version of Mary Blair's White Rabbit was created, and placed in Disneyland's It's A Small World attraction (along with a slew of other Disney characters). I wonder why they gave him red eyeballs? But then, I also wonder why they destroyed the attraction's "rainforest room" for a tacky-looking "Spirit of America" room, when there had never been a need for such a room in the attraction's 40+ year history at Disneyland? Ah, but I digress!
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For Alice in Wonderland's 70th anniversary, a special "plush" set was created, commemorating Mary Blair's versions of Alice and The White Rabbit. The set sold for $49.99.
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During that same 2010 Tokyo Disneyland tribute, their Disney Gallery was also selling a set of It's A Small World "mini-plush" figures, based on Mary Blair's original designs for the attraction. (I included these images of the dolls in my "Mary Blair Dolls & Small World Days at Disneyland" post, back in 2011.)
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I bought the entire set, including the cowboy (pictured above, but not
below). The doll on the far left is a copy of the "Mary Blair" doll that is featured in Disneyland's It's A Small World attraction. I'm not
sure if the other Disney parks' versions of the ride include the
"Mary Blair Doll" or not.
That particular doll has a different tag, with a photo of Walt Disney and Mary Blair posing with her doll.
Here's a photo that I took at Disneyland in 2011, showing Mary Blair's doll inside the attraction. She can be seen standing on the Eiffel Tower and holding a red balloon.
By the way, happy anniversary to Walt Disney's Alice In Wonderland, which was released 75 years ago this year!
Nice, pleasant, feel-good artwork! I'm unsure if Disney based its movie version of Alice, and the other Wonderland characters, on Mary Blair's artwork, or the other way around? Maybe Ms. Blair had Disney's concept art to work from? Again, I don't know which came first.
ReplyDeleteAlice sure had chubby thighs in those first couple of images! From what I understand, Mary Blair had a troubled life, at least in later years. It's kind of amazing that her artwork doesn't reflect that at all.
Kind of ironic that Disney is celebrating Mary's artwork... after they destroyed her 'magnum opus', the Tomorrowland murals.
Thank you for this post, Tokyo!
Oh, I forgot to mention: White rabbits almost always have pink/red eyes because they are albinos. Other types of rabbits have regular colors of eyes. :-)
ReplyDeleteJB, I wonder if those “fat thighs” are actually supposed to be pantaloons or bloomers??
DeleteI’ll be back, when I have more time to read the post and comment more.
Thanks, TM!
ANYTHING Disney Alice in Wonderland is incredibly popular with Tokyo Disneyland guests. Sue you are right - Alice is shown wearing “leg muttons” a popular petticoat for young girls popular from the 1830’s into the 1860’s … the style came to an abrupt end when adult women tried a similar thing known as a “bloomer” - sort of a anti-response to the hoop-skirt … women were teased and made fun of for wearing the comical looking “bloomers” and they became pase pretty fast. A music play -takes place during the fashion-fad called BLOOMER GIRLS.
ReplyDelete-Mike Cozart
It won’t let me use my name and pictograph (??)
Now it works …
ReplyDelete"Leg muttons"?... They strapped sheep meat to their thighs? :-D
ReplyDeleteJB, I'm not positive, but I think that Mary Blair's artwork was pretty early in the process. I think I've seen her Alice pieces referred to as "pre-production" artwork.
ReplyDeleteYes, those legs are pretty chunky!
Troubled? Didn't the Disney peeps lure Mary down into the basement under Disneyland, so they could turn her into a robot? Oh, wait....that was a series of videos on YouTube, by Jack Plotnick! By the way, I highly recommend those videos, but start at "Part 1"! Okay, I just checked, he has now put all 8 parts together (in order) into one single video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q60B0PVj89Y
I did know about white rodents having red eyes. It's because their eyes lack pigment. Their eyes are actually transparent and the red we see is from light hitting the blood vessels behind the eye! I was just surprise to see that the White Rabbit in It's A Small World wasn't given black eyes, like the one in Mary Blair's artwork. I guess someone was trying to be anatomically correct! Probably the same hack who took a sledge hammer to her Tomorrowland corridor murals, and a wrecking ball to IASW's "Rainforest Room."
Sue, it looks like you were right about why the legs were drawn so "thick."
ReplyDeleteMike, I never would have guessed that was what Mary Blair was trying to depict with her drawings, but now that you've explained it, it makes sense. I guess by the fourth postcard, Alice had lost her bloomers......or leg muttons! :-)
Mike, I knew that "Alice" was popular in Japan, because all the times that I went to Tokyo Disneyland in the month of October, there were always tons of guests dressed up as the characters from "Alice." I even did a short post back in 2008, showing a variety of "Alices":
https://meettheworldinprogressland.blogspot.com/2008/11/alice-alice-everywhere.html
I even remember some years back, when they were considering moving Tokyo Disneyland's It's A Small World attraction, so they could build an Alice In Wonderland dark ride next to their "Queen of Hearts Banquet Hall" and across from their Mad Tea Party ride ("Alice's Tea Party"). They obviously changed their minds about that!
The American room is not bad nor tacky. It just needs a little improvement like make it a little more like the one in the Paris attraction (i.e. dancing cactuses only in 3-D)
ReplyDeleteYeah there have been several plans for Alice themed attractions for Tokyo Disneyland …. And in Fantasyland which is perfect … but I’m so glad they did not “re-locate” the Small World building …. I know it would have been messed up or changed too much in the process .
ReplyDeleteThere have been plans for a new Alice in Wonderland themed area for Disneyland California … I worked on models for a big Fantasyland renovation - expansion proposal that was pretty much placed in the backburner so GALAXYS EDGE could get priority… then the pandemic hit. Many of the elements planned for Anaheim developed further in fantasy springs at Tokyo DL. There has been many proposals to bring back a Jolly Roger ship to California… but it won’t be like the original …. Like the 1998 return of the Moonliner wasn’t the same in size or scope … etc.
Mike, moving It's A Small World sounded so crazy, and so expensive! I am also glad that they didn't do that! Still, I was sad to see them take out their Star Jets attraction. It's too bad they couldn't have built their Beauty and the Beast area, but still left the Star Jets in place.
ReplyDeleteI'm finally back....
ReplyDeleteMary's artwork of the white rabbit is adorable...he looks so sweet. The one in iasw isn't quite as cute. (I'm now creeped-out about the red in the eyes is actually the blood vessels you see in the back.)
I DID NOT REALIZE the rain forest scene was missing! (I must be getting senile.) I loved that scene!
Thank you for this interesting iasw post, TM! It sounds like you have more iasw souvenirs...I'd love to see them...please share more, in a future post.
I think it’s fascinating to see how Mary Blair’s artwork has become so beloved, to the point where she inspired other artists to do their best versions of her style. Nobody does it quite like she does!
ReplyDeleteI remember going to Howard Lowery auctions decades ago - starting in the late 1980s I think - and MB’s art went for a lot, but not for the astronomical sums that it fetched later. I regret not buying a Peter Pan concept painting that I really wanted - but opted to buy an attraction poster instead.
I really dislike the “Spirit of America” room - as you said, why destroy the wonderful “rainforest room” for something so unsuccessfully realized?
I remember being skeptical of the addition of the Disney characters to It’s a Small World, but they did it well, for the most part. It’s not too obtrusive, my guess is that some of the characters aren’t noticed by many guests.
Thanks for another fun post!
I DID NOT REALIZE the rain forest scene was missing! (I must be getting senile.) I loved that scene!
ReplyDeleteSue, the rain forest scene used to fill up what is now the "Hooray For America, Aren't We Soooo Freakin' Great!" room. They took just a few pieces of the Rain Forest sets and wedged them into the scene just before you enter that America room. I guess those are the "South Pacific" scenes that they shoehorned a few of the set pieces into.
I do have a "tin" of postcards (14 in total) containing Mary Blair concept art for It's A Small World. I purchased the tin in The Disney Gallery during an "Art of Mary Blair" exhibit, back in 2011. I will try to get those scanned and posted in the future!
Major, that would be so cool to own an original piece of Mary Blair art! But I can only afford copies! The TDL Disney Gallery did have a few other "loose" postcards that weren't a part of a boxed set like the "Alice" set. There were two postcards with concept art for "Peter Pan," one postcard for "Cinderella," and one for "Once Upon A Winter Time" (from "Melody Time"). They also sold true-to-size copies of Mary Blair's cover artwork for the "Cinderella" Big Golden Book which she illustrated. I will also try to scan all of those items and post them in the future! Maybe I should have included them in this post, darn it!
ReplyDelete"I really dislike the “Spirit of America” room - as you said, why destroy the wonderful “rainforest room” for something so unsuccessfully realized?"
Major, yes! I think they justified it (for themselves, anyway) because they had found one single piece of vintage artwork showing an American scene (a cowboy?). But it obviously was not included in the 1964 version of the attraction OR the 1966 version, FOR A REASON! Maybe Walt was even the one who made that decision. I thought the fact that they only included one cowboy doll and one Native American doll in the "Finale" room, was a very tasteful and subtle nod to America. That was all that was needed! Mike C. explained in the past, that the whole concept was that guests load into their boat in America, sail around the world, and then come back and disembark in America. But the modern-day "designers" seem to disregard most of the intentions of Walt and his team, just so they can "leave their mark" all over the park.
I agree with you about the addition of the Disney characters to the attraction. I wasn't sure about it when I first heard they would be doing that, but I did think the finished product worked. See, I don't hate EVERYTHING new!!!!!! ;-) Ha, ha! I just expect anything new to be at least as good as what they are replacing, or hopefully....even better. Like you, I think the addition of the Disney characters aren't very obtrusive. I'm glad that most of the Disney characters are just represented by costumes that are worn by the "Small World Dolls," instead of trying to stick the obvious characters into all the scenes.
Very cool! I never experienced the rainforest scene, so I can't pass judgment. But I never knew the White Rabbit figure was based on Mary Blair's concept artwork... do you know if any of the other characters were based on her artwork? I realize there are not many characters in the ride that date from her time working for the company.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen that picture of her and Walt before! I also thought her tribute doll was a more recent addition. Clearly I need to read up on my small world history. Do we know if her Eiffel Tower doll was at the World's Fair?
.....I never knew the White Rabbit figure was based on Mary Blair's concept artwork... do you know if any of the other characters were based on her artwork?
ReplyDeleteAndrew, that's a good question! I know Mary Blair worked on some early artwork for "Peter Pan", and both Peter Pan and Tinkerbell were added to It's A Small World (flying above the England scenes), but I don't believe the characters or the style of their costumes are directly related to any Mary Blair artwork.
Do we know if her Eiffel Tower doll was at the World's Fair?
And that's another really good question! I don't know the answer, but I am hoping that someone who does know will comment and give us the answer! I'm also still not sure which other versions of IASW include her doll. I've been on all of the versions multiple times, with the exception of Hong Kong, but I just can't remember which ones had or didn't have her doll. I'm going to assume that her doll is included in TDL's version (although it might not be on the Eiffel Tower), just because they were selling the miniature plush of her doll in their Disney Gallery. I don't think they would have been including it in that line of merchandise, if it wasn't something that guests would be familiar with. I should have also mentioned, that Marc Davis' profile can just barely be seen in that same photo, on the far left!