It's time for another "Little Golden Book" from my childhood! This one is titled, Mickey Mouse Goes Christmas Shopping. (Last December, I posted another Christmas-themed Little Golden Book, Donald Duck and Santa Claus.)
The title page credits Annie North Bedford for the story. She authored quite a few children's books, including Frosty The Snowman, and Walt Disney's Little Man Of Disneyland.
Credit is also given to Bob Moore and Xavier Atencio, from the Walt Disney Studios, for the illustrations. Bob Moore helped to animate some of Disney's feature films, such as Dumbo. He also designed the Orange Bird mascot for the Florida Citrus Commission (1971), the U.S. postage stamp honoring Walt Disney (1968), and Sam the Eagle, the mascot of the 1984 U.S. Olympics. Xavier Atencio was an artist at the Disney Studios from 1938 to 1965. He then became an Imagineer and is probably best known for writing the scripts and theme songs for Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion attractions.
The book has a copyright date of 1953. However, this particular copy would have been purchased for my brother and me, about 15 years later.
The inside of the back cover, listed other Little Golden Book titles that were available:
And the back cover listed some "activity" books that were also from Golden Press.
Happy holidays, to all!
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12 comments:
I love the Little Golden Book illustrations. Especially the vintage books. And I do collect them in re-issues and gently used.
I believe this story appears in "Walt Disney's Storyland 55 Favorite Stories".
Didn't know they did books for Toby Tyler, Pollyanna, Ludwig Von Drake and Big Red. I'll have to be on the lookout for those.
My favorite part was Mortie and Ferdie falling asleep on the "Quick Trip to the Moon" spaceship. Another nice article which I enjoyed. And I actually read the story.
Thanks, and Happy Holidays, TM!
Ken, there is something very special about the Little Golden Book illustrations. I loved them as a kid and I still love them, today.
And you are right about this story appearing in "Walt Disney's Story Land." I had forgotten about that until you mentioned it. I have that book, but I haven't looked at it for a while. It was a childhood birthday present to me, from my mom.
As for that rocket ride, I wonder if there were any department stores, back in the day, that had such a thing. Maybe the storytellers were taking liberties, and "borrowing" from such things that existed at some amusement parks of the time?
Happy Holidays, Ken!
“…Uncle Mickey and Aunt Minnie…”. But Mickey and Minnie aren’t married, so the only way that would work is if…uh-oh…
I love Little Golden Books, too. We have Walt Disney’s Storyland, but for some reason, this isn’t a story that stands out in my memory. Not sure why - it has Christmas and toys and a rocket ship and getting locked in a department store after closing, all things that would have made me love it at a certain age. It’s certainly on my radar now.
Thanks again for taking the time to scan and post these every year. I hope you and all your readers (and especially you, Ken) have a wonderful Holiday Season!
Thank, Chuck! I hope you and the family have a wonderful holiday season too.
Chuck, I see your point. And just who are Mortie and Ferdie's parents? Maybe Minnie went away on "vacation" for several months, to give birth secretly, to Mortie and Ferdie. Afterwards, she returned to the limelight of Hollywood and her fans were none the wiser. Hey, Loretta Young did it (sort of), so Minnie could have done it too! How scandalous!
Happy Holidays to you and yours, Chuck!
Chuck, oh my gosh! I just realized that Mortie and Ferdie bear a striking resemblance to Clark Gable. Just look at their ears!
I love these old Little Golden Books; the look of the illustrations is quite nice - not unusual for those Little Golden Books, as they often hired some of the best artists. Cool that X. Atencio was involved! And Bob Moore is a legend.
I wonder why the book was “prepared under the supervision of Mary Reed, PhD”? Just in case a Christmas story with Mickey Mouse might inadvertently do psychological damage to kids? “Ferdie displays Communist leanings!”.
When I saw that the two mice fell asleep in the rocket, I sort of hoped for a “trip to the moon”, but hey, they got to meet Santa. And not some smelly fake Santa, but the real guy! I would have painted Morty holding Santa’s wallet, but maybe this is why Golden Press never replied to my queries for a job.
Thanks for the fun post, and happy holidays (or even Merry Christmas) to you!
Major, that is kind of odd about the supervision of a PhD. I don't ever remember seeing something like that in a Little Golden Book before. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Wouldn't that be great if Bob Moore and X. Atencio incorporated all sorts of subliminal subversive messaging into their artwork, which got past Dr. Mary Reed? Messages like, "DON'T eat your vegetables!" "DON'T wash behind your ears!" and "Hey kids, go take those funny little green pieces of paper out of your mom and dad's wallets, and mail them to us at the Walt Disney Studios."
Speaking of "trips to the moon"....my brother and I had/have a "Big Golden Book" with a story about Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Mr. Jinks, and Pixie and Dixie, all going on a simulated trip to the moon. I'll have to post that one, too.
Merry Christmas, Major! And a Happy New Year to you, too!
TokyoMagic, this book is sweet. I love the illustrations, but find the one of them driving in the snowstorm to be ridiculously unbelievable. Happy and smiling while driving on snow-packed icy roads. Obviously drawn by some lucky southern Californian who has no idea what it's really like. ;o)
Another thing that jumped out at me was the sentence, "Every street corner was a-tinkle with the sound of Santa's helpers' bells." A-tinkle?? Really. Definitely a new word to me. Or maybe I don't read enough.
Also, "Z-z-zoop! Up they went in an elevator, straight to the Toy Floor." Zoop. Cute word. Again, I obviously don't read enough.
Thank you for sharing this fun book, Chris. I also wish you and everyone "Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!" Am looking forward to the new year and more fun posts from you!
Sue
Sue, I just checked....Bob Moore was born in Los Angeles, so he must not have grown up experiencing snow-packed icy roads. Xavier Atencio was born in Colorado, but it looks like he was working for the Disney Studios by the time he was 19, so he either didn't have much experience with driving in the snow, or he soon forgot what it was like. Ha, ha! They could have at least drawn some chains on the tires of the cars! ;-)
I've also never heard the term a-tinkle, but on the old game show, "Match Game," they used the word "tinkle" all the time. I guess that means something completely different, but it would be funny if Santa's helpers were "tinkling" on every street corner! :-O
"Z-z-zoop" is also a new word for me. Maybe it's a combination of the words "zoom" and "shoop" (as in "The Shoop Shoop Song").
Merry Christmas, Sue!
What a fun book, Tokyo! You are lucky to have it, thanks for sharing it.
I found some of my old Christmas books and scanned them. I’ll have to share those.
Chuck, those family relationships have caused me to postulate the existence of a heretofore unknown brother of Mickey who married a heretofore unknown sister of Minnie, whose offspring are Morty and Ferdie. Eh, could happen.
Sue, the “zoop-zoop” sound is made in “Cinderella” by Gus-Gus as he and the other mice dash around getting things set up for Cindy’s ball gown. I think it is a mouse culture thing they are taught in childhood since Morty and Ferdy also know it.
Mrs. G has adopted it after years of bombardment by that Cinderella video soundtrack, when she drives her MINI in a hurry, “get in John, zoop zoop zoop!” I’m sure you can imagine that.
JG
JG, maybe Mickey's brother was Mikey, and Minnie's sister was Maxie? (My great grandfather's sister was named Minnie, and she married someone with the last name of Maxey, so she became "Minnie Maxey." True story!)
I had forgotten about Gus from Cinderella, saying "Zoop zoop!" I wonder if Bob Moore or Xavier Atencio were responsible for any of the dialogue in Cinderella?
I hope you and your family had a Merry Christmas, JG!
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