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This original production drawing of the March Hare from Walt Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland offers a wonderful glimpse into the development of one of Wonderland’s most eccentric characters. Executed in graphite, the drawing presents the March Hare in a characteristically animated pose, with his enormous ears extending dramatically above his head, his hands held outward, and his oversized feet planted in an almost exaggerated stance. His slightly narrowed eyes, prominent cheeks, buck teeth, whiskers, and broad grin give him a wonderfully mischievous and slightly unhinged personality. The handwritten “FOLO ACTION” (short hand for follow-through action) notation near his ears is particularly interesting, revealing the animator’s attention to movement and indicating that the ears were intended to participate in the character’s action rather than remain static. The numbered “10” in the lower corner further identifies the drawing as part of the animation production process.
The March Hare originates in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland), the 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. For Disney's animated adaptation, the story was substantially reworked to appeal to a younger audience and to fit within the constraints of a feature-length animated film; the finished picture has a running time of only 75 minutes. The March Hare becomes particularly memorable during the famous Mad Tea Party, where Alice encounters him alongside the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse. Their nonsensical conversation perfectly captures Disney's interpretation of Wonderland as a place where ordinary rules of logic have completely broken down.
During the tea party, the March Hare immediately establishes his peculiar personality when he joins the Hatter in questioning Alice's presence. When Alice attempts to explain herself, the Hatter asks, “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”—a question that becomes one of the film's most famous examples of Wonderland nonsense. The March Hare enthusiastically participates in the chaos, and when Alice objects to their behaviour, the Hatter declares, “If you don't think, you shouldn't talk!” The March Hare's animated reactions, gestures, and increasingly manic behaviour help turn the tea party into one of the film's most memorable comic sequences.
The character's design is especially fascinating because 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 was best known as the exceptionally zany sidekick of Bob Hope on his popular radio programs and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. Colonna's distinctive appearance—with his enormous moustache, expressive face, and eccentric comic persona—provided an ideal inspiration for the March Hare. Disney's animators translated those qualities into the character's enormous ears, facial expressions, physical gestures, and frantic comic timing.
The animator most closely associated with the March Hare was the legendary Ward Kimball, whose contribution to Alice in Wonderland was extraordinary. Kimball animated the March Hare as well as the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Oysters, and the Dormouse, along with one scene of Alice. Kimball was a superb draftsman who particularly enjoyed animating comical characters rather than realistic human figures. Alice in Wonderland was therefore an ideal project for him: Wonderland was populated by extraordinary creatures who were constantly behaving in strange, exaggerated, and unpredictable ways. Kimball's approach to animation was famously inventive, and he continually sought new ways to make his characters move and perform. Walt Disney himself recognized Kimball's extraordinary talent, calling him a “genius” in The Story of Walt Disney.
The drawing's loose, expressive construction demonstrates precisely why Kimball's work was so effective. Rather than simply illustrating what the March Hare looks like, the drawing captures how he moves. The extended hands, bent knees, enormous feet, tilted head, and especially the long ears create a sense of motion even though the image is completely static. The handwritten instruction “FOLO ACTION” reinforces this emphasis on movement. It is a fascinating production detail because it allows the collector to see beyond the finished film and into the animator's process—the careful planning that transformed individual drawings into the lively performance seen on screen.
Kathryn Beaumont's performance as Alice provides an equally important element of the scene. Born in London, England, Beaumont was only 10 years old when she was selected to provide Alice's voice. Walt Disney personally cast her after seeing her in On an Island with You, in which the child actress had a small role. Disney was so impressed with Beaumont that he also selected her to serve as the live-action reference model for Alice. She would later provide the voice of Wendy in Peter Pan (1953), establishing her as the voice of two of Disney's most beloved young heroines. Beaumont eventually reprised Alice in two episodes of Disney's House of Mouse and voiced both Alice and Wendy in the Kingdom Heartsvideo-game series. She continued in those roles until her retirement from voice acting in 2005, after which Hynden Walch assumed the characters.
This drawing is therefore much more than a simple image of the March Hare. It represents the work of Ward Kimball, the influence of Jerry Colonna, and the elaborate animation process that transformed a graphite sketch into one of Disney's most memorable comic characters. The notation, expressive pose, exaggerated anatomy, and wonderfully loose line work make it especially appealing as a piece of original production art. It captures the March Hare at the heart of what makes Disney's Alice in Wonderland so distinctive: characters who don't merely inhabit Wonderland's nonsensical world—they seem to embody its complete disregard for ordinary logic.
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