Original Production Animation Drawing of The Queen of Hearts from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951

Original production animation drawing of the Queen of Hearts in graphite pencil from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 31 lower right; Size - Queen of Hearts: 6 1/4 x 7 1/2", Sheet 10 x 12"; Unframed.

To purchase this drawing or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!

"Off with their heads!" - 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.

Close up of the original production animation drawing of the Queen of Hearts.

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.

Eric Larson, one of Walt Disney's master animators known as his Nine Old Men, supervised the scene in which this drawing was used. This is a very lively and expressive animation graphite drawing of the Queen of Hearts and it is from the scene after her "Who's been painting my roses red?" tirade. The Queen glares down at three heart playing cards and Alice. The deuce, trey and ace shift the blame from one to another, quickly exhausting the Queen's patience. "That's enough!", she declares. This eyes and mouth open drawing is from the very next scene in which the Queen delivers her signature line for the first time: "Off with their heads!" This is an absolutely beautiful piece of vintage Walt Disney animation art and a great addition to any animation collection!

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Original Production Animation Drawing of Cinderella Dancing with Prince Charming From "Cinderella," 1950

 
Original production animation drawing of Cinderella dancing with Prince Charming in red, brown, and graphite pencils from "Cinderella," 1950, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 141 in pencil lower right; Size - Cinderella & Prince Charming 6 3/4 x 4 1/2", Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

To purchase this drawing or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!

The 1950 Walt Disney feature film "Cinderella" was based on the French version of the tale by Charles Perrault, entitled "Cinderella" and written in 1698. The film was the second in the series of great Princess films developed by Disney, the first being Snow White in 1937. The character of Cinderella is usually front and center in the pantheon of Disney Princess merchandise, perhaps because she is the only Princess not to be of a noble blood line who ended up marrying a Prince and becoming royalty.

Cinderella was animated by both Marc Davis and Eric Larson, however the two animators had different perceptions of the character, with Davis preferring elegance and Larson opting for simplicity. This actually worked in the film's favor, resulting in Cinderella being a much more complicated character than her predecessor Snow White. As with other Disney films, the studio hired actress Helene Stanley to perform the live-action reference for Cinderella. She would later return to the studio for the characters of Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty," 1959 and Anita Radcliffe in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," 1961.

Close up of the Cinderella and Prince Charming production drawing.

According to Christopher Finch, from his book "The Art of Walt Disney":

"Disney insisted that all scenes involving human characters should be shot first in live-action to determine that they would work before the expensive business of animation was permitted to start. The animators did not like this way of working, feeling it detracted from their ability to create character. The animators understood the necessity for this approach and in retrospect acknowledged that Disney had handled things with considerable subtlety."

About 400 women and girls auditioned for the voice role of Cinderella, but the role ended up going to Ilene Woods. Woods, who at the time worked on the radio and did not know anything about the audition, was asked one day by her colleagues Mack David and Jerry Livingston to sing a song from Cinderella. Without her knowledge, her recording was given by her friends to Disney Studios. After listening to the material Walt Disney immediately decided that he had found the voice with which to speak and sing the character of Cinderella and contacted Ilene.

Prince Charming was animated by Eric Larson, who according to Andreas Deja "Confessed to some of us newcomers that he felt kind of embarrassed about the stiffness in his performance." The Prince was voiced by William Phipps, and after Phipps's initial audition; the studio was so impressed with his performance that Walt Disney himself offered him the role. William Phipps is perhaps best known for his roles in dozens of classic sci-fi and westerns, both in films and on television. It is a little known fact that Mike Douglas (yes of "The Mike Douglas Show") provided the singing voice for Prince Charming for the song "So This Is Love,"as the Prince and Cinderella danced together at the Grand Ball.

A bit of trivia, not only is the name of the Prince never revealed, he is never actually referred to as "Prince Charming" in "Cinderella." His name was mentioned only in merchandise and, more recently in the various films and TV appearances of the character. Prince Charming was the first Disney Prince to participate in a duet with his respective love interest, the first Prince to be featured in a wedding celebration, and the first to  dance with his heroine just after they met.

It does not get any better than this; an original production animation drawing of Cinderella dancing with Prince Charming for the first time at the Grand Ball! Both Cinderella and Prince Charming are full figure and Cinderella's eyes are open. An absolutely beautiful drawing, from the most loved scenes in the entire film. The veteran Walt Disney animator Marc Davis supervised the animation of this scene.

 

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Ten Original Production Animation drawings of Captain Hook, Mr Smee, Thermometer, & Special Effects from "Peter Pan," 1953

Ten original production animation drawings of Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Thermometer, & Special Effects in red, green, blue, and graphite pencils from "Peter Pan," 1953, Walt Disney Studios; Production numbers and extensive notes throughout the sheets; Size - Captain Hook & Water Bottle: 9 x 8 1/4", Mr. Smee: 7 1/2 x 6 1/2", Sheets 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

To purchase this set of drawings or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!

You know, there's trouble
brewin' on the island.
Women trouble.
I wouldn't want this
to go any farther, but...
the cook told me that
the first mate told him...
that he heard that Pan
has banished Tinker Bell.
Whoa!

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=peter-pan

 "You know, there's trouble brewin' on the island. Women trouble. I wouldn't want this to go any further, but... the cook told me that the first mate told him... that he heard that Pan has banished Tinker Bell." - Mr. Smee

The author J. M. Barrie first used Peter Pan as a character in a section of the adult novel "The Little White Bird" in 1902. He returned to that character with his stage play entitled "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," which premiered in London on December 27, 1904. The play ran until 1913, and it was later adapted by Walt Disney for the animated feature film entitled, "Peter Pan," in 1953.

Captain Hook was animated by legendary Frank Thomas and voiced by Hans Conried. Conried was also the voice of George Darling, which is consistent with the roles of "Peter Pan" for the stage. Conried was also an accomplished actor, appearing on "I Love Lucy" where he played an English tutor as well as playing the character Wrongway Feldman on "Gilligan's Island." His voice was so distinctive and so memorable that he was perfect for the role of Captain Hook; as he had a wonderful way of conveying both the rough gruff pirate role as well and the sly calculating villain.

Original production animation drawing of Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

 

 Original production animation drawing of Mr. Smee.

 

 Original production animation drawing of Captain Hook.

The legendary Frank Thomas animated Captain Hook, and his first sketches were much more menacing than the final product. Walt Disney felt the character was going to be too frightening for children and so Thomas toned down his drawings. The result is a wonderful villain and always rated as one the top male villains in the Disney film world.

 

 Original production animation drawing of Captain Hook's red face.

 

 

 Original production animation drawing of Captain Hook's green eyes.

 

  Original production animation drawing of thermometer.

From Disney animator Andreas Deja:

Many of you would agree that Captain Hook is one of Frank Thomas' best creations. To some Frank is the best animator who ever lived. - He used live action reference for a number of his characters. In this case it was character actor Hans Conried who provided the voice and acting reference for Hook. Frank was very critical about the way other animators used live action. To him the acting ideas were all you needed, but you still had to pass judgement on the footage and interpret what the actor gave you. His animation never has that roto, floaty feel to it. For one thing Frank was way too talented and smart to let that happen."

 Original production animation drawing of thermometer effect.

 

 

 Original production animation drawing of smoke effects.

 

  Original production animation drawing of explosion effect.

Mr. Smee was animated by Ollie Johnston and voiced by Bill Thompson. Smee was a wonderful pirate henchman sidekick for Captain Hook and the remarkable friendship that existed between Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, which is well documented; may account for why the villainous pair seemed to work so well together. Of course the voice talent of Bill Thompson was also a fantastic addition. Thompson was well known already at MGM for his voice of Droopy and of Droopy's nemesis Spike.  At Walt Disney studios he would have a long career as the voice of the White Rabbit and the Dodo in Alice in Wonderland, of course Mr. Smee (and some of the other pirates) in Peter Pan and King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty. Bill Thompson's largest showcase for his voice skills was in Lady and the Tramp (1955), where he performed five different dialect parts, as Jock the Scottish Terrier, Bull the Cockney bulldog, Dachsie the German dachshund, Joe the Italian cook, and the Irish policeman in the zoo.

 

 Original production animation drawing of broken thermometer.

 

  Original production animation drawing of thermometer effect.

After battling Peter Pan at Skull Rock, Captain Hook loses the fight and his chased off by the crocodile Tick Tock. Hook ends up back on his pirate ship the "Jolly Roger," with a hot water bottle on his head, his feet in a warm water bath, and a blanket around his body. He is being attended to by Mr. Smee, who leans over and whispers in Hooks ear: "You know, there's trouble brewin' on the island. Women trouble. I wouldn't want this to go any further, but... the cook told me that the first mate told him... that he heard that Pan has banished Tinker Bell." As he is speaking to Hook, the kettle full of hot water that he is holding pours into the Hook's foot bath raising the thermometer temperature and causing Hook to let out a "Whoa!" This is an amazing and rare ten drawing set of Captain Hook, Mr Smee, the thermometer, and Hook's bulging green eyes, and multiple special effects! An amazing addition to any animation art collection!

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