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Friday, January 11, 2019

Original Production Animation Cel of the Queen & King of Hearts, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, and Five Playing Cards from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951



Original hand inked and hand painted production animation cel of the Queen & King of Hearts, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, and Five Playing Cards from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 41 in ink lower right; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Thirteen Characters: 5 3/4 x 5 1/4", Image 11 1/4 x 15 1/2", Frame 18 1/2 x 24"; Framed with a purple wood frame and fillet, linen mat, and plexiglass.


"There she goes! Don't let her get away! Off with her head!" - The Queen of Hearts

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (commonly shortened to "Alice in Wonderland"), is a 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson who wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. Disney reworked the story to fit with both a younger audience and a time frame suitable for an animated film (it's run time is only 75 minutes).

Kathryn Beaumont, who was born in London England, was just 10 years old when she was chosen for the voice of Alice. Walt Disney personally cast Beaumont after seeing her in the film "On an Island with You," in which the child actress had a small role. Disney was so impressed by her that she was also chosen to be the model for Alice, and would also go on to provide the voice for Wendy in "Peter Pan," 1953. Beaumont has also reprised her voice acting role as Alice in two episodes of the animated series, Disney's "House of Mouse," and as both Alice and Wendy in the video game "Kingdom Hearts." She did not retire as the voice of Alice and Wendy until 2005, when her role for these two characters was taken over by Hynden Walch.

Initial design for the character of Alice was accomplished by Mary Blair during the storyboard phase and also by Les Clark. Alice was animated by Ollie Johnston, Don Lusk, and Marc Davis who animated her for the tea party scene.


Original production animation cel of the Queen & King of Hearts, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, and Five Playing Cards.

The Queen of Hearts was beautifully animated by Frank Thomas and voiced by Verna Felton; and most people, when you mention the Queen of Hearts from "Alice," remember hearing Verna's classic line "Off with their heads!" Ms. Felton not only voiced the Queen from "Alice" but the Fairy Godmother from "Cinderella," Flora and Queen Leah from "Sleeping Beauty," Aunt Sarah from "Lady and Tramp," and several other Disney characters. What is interesting is that all the other characters that Felton voiced are sweet and kind, with the typical grandmother type of voice; but not the Queen of Hearts. The Queen was loud and you never knew exactly when she would lose her temper. The King of Hearts was animated by Ollie Johnston, voiced by Dink Trout, and by comparison with his wife the Queen is meek and timid.

The animator Ward Kimball was a tour de force for the film "Alice In Wonderland," and he animated the following: Alice (one scene), the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Oysters, and the Dormouse. Kimball, was a superb draftsman, and he preferred to animate comical characters rather than realistic human figures. Because of this, "Alice In Wonderland" was the perfect film for him as it was filled with wonderful creatures all acting odd and comical. Animating came easily to him and he was constantly looking to do things in a different way; which lead Walt Disney to call Kimball a genius in the book "The Story of Walt Disney."

The Mad Hatter was voiced by Ed Wynn and he is one of the most memorable voices in "Alice" and a real stand out for the film. Wynn had a long history in Vaudeville and had developed his giggly, wavering voice in 1921 for the musical review, "The Perfect Fool." He had several roles at Walt Disney Studios, including his most famous acting role there as Uncle Albert in the film "Mary Poppins," in 1964.

The March Hare's appearance and mannerisms were modeled after his original voice actor, Jerry Colonna. Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna was an American comedian, singer, songwriter, and trombonist; who is best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in his popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s.


Close up of the original production animation cel of the Queen & King of Hearts, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, and Five Playing Cards.

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are characters originally featured in "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There," 1871; a novel by Lewis Carroll which was the sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The Tweedles are two fat identical twin brothers dressed in school boy uniforms and wearing propeller caps. They're playful, jolly, a little annoying, and take particular delight in reciting poems and songs; and end up reciting to Alice the story of "The Walrus and The Carpenter."

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were animated by Ward Kimball, Cliff Nordberg, and Will Finn. The directing animator for the film was Ward Kimball, and  his animation style made him a perfect fit for a movie as zany as "Alice in Wonderland." James Patrick Francis O'Malley was an English singer and character actor, who appeared in many American films and television programs from the 1940s to 1982; using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley. Walt Disney hired O'Malley to provide voices for several animated films such as the Cockney voice for the "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" sequence in "Mary Poppins," 1964, Cyril Proudbottom, Winkie and a policeman in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad," 1949, and the role of Colonel Hathi and Buzzie the vulture in "The Jungle Book," 1967. However, his most famous role was the many voices he provided for "Alice in Wonderland". J. Pat O'Malley  performed all the characters in the "The Walrus and the Carpenter" segment (besides Alice), including Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Walrus, the Carpenter, and Mother Oyster.

One of the most memorable segments of "Alice In Wonderland" were the two characters The Walrus and The Carpenter. Both of them were voiced by J. Pat O'Malley and they were animated by John Lounsbery, Ward Kimball, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Charles A. Nichols. They were originally created by Lewis Carroll for his book "Through the Looking Glass."

The Walrus and The Carpenter are two hobos whose story was told to Alice by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. The Walrus acts as the leader of the duo and in many ways he is like Honest John from "Pinocchio." They are both conniving moochers who will resort to trickery to get what they want. Finding a job and working is the last thing on The Walrus's mind, regardless of his constant ramblings of "cabbages and kings" (his way of saying that his future will soon be bright). He is also very greedy and tricks The Carpenter into leave the room so that he can eat all of the naive oysters (whom he had convinced to follow him ashore and into a restaurant that The Carpenter built out of left over remnants from a boat).


Framed original production animation cel of the Queen & King of Hearts, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, and Five Playing Cards.

This is an absolutely spectacular original production animation cel of thirteen characters including: Queen & King of Hearts, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Walrus, Carpenter, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum, and Five Playing Cards! This cel occurs following the end of Alice's trial, when the Queen of Hearts says "Off with her head!" Alice begins to run from the courtroom and encounters many of the characters she had met in Wonderland; many of whom end up joining in her pursuit. Alice eventually comes to the small wooden door with the talking doorknob that she had initially encountered when she first fell down the rabbit hole. She pulls and pulls on the door to open it, but the doorknob says "Still locked you know." Alice says that she has to get outside, but the doorknob says she is already out and to take a look for yourself. As Alice peeps through the keyhole she sees herself asleep by the side of a tree and she realizes that she is dreaming. Alice looks behind her to see the characters of Wonderland rushing towards her with a spiral of purple smoke from the Catapillar's hookah whirling about them. The Queen of Hearts yells "There she goes! Don't let her get away! Off with her head!" Alice yells at herself through the key hole to wake up, hoping to finally end the dream. This is an incredible thirteen character cel that includes all the major inhabitants of Wonderland, and is from the dramatic end of the film. Alice is waking up and there is subtle waviness to the characters as Alice's dream comes to an end. A beautiful piece of vintage Walt Disney animation art and a great addition to any animation collection!

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