MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

Mickey Mouse, rubber-stamp.

SNOW ON SATURDAYS: Images of Miss White & Co

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

Post card/book mark from The Walt Disney Gallery in Disneyland.

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

SNOW ON SATURDAYS: Images of Miss White & Co

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: one of a series of Disney film-poster re-designed with a minimalist interpretation by freelance graphic designer, Rowan Stocks-Moore.

You can view all Rowan's re-designs here.

And you can also order numbered prints priced at £12.96 GBP. I'm certainly thinking of ordering a couple – if only so as to be able to sing: "Some day my prints will come..."

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

Postcard with press-out stand-up figures from Disneyland Paris Resort.

PASS MARKS

Thirty years ago TODAY, I paid my first-ever visit to the Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, California.



The Mouse on the front, the Cheshire Cat on the back!

What pleasure I got from a small piece of card and – guess what? – somehow, on leaving the studio at the end of an unforgettable day that, for a rabid Disney geek, was a dream come true, I inadvertently managed not to follow the instruction printed in bold!

Curious how such trifling things are often a 'pass' to treasured memories!

However, I have to say, a later pass (2001) isn't quite so evocative...

SNOW ON SATURDAYS: Images of Miss White & Co

Disneyland Character of the Month Collection Christmas Tree Decoration by Peter Emmerich, 2000.

Check out Peter Emmerich's Sketchbook.

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

A Disney Dollar's money-clip.

THE DISNEY ANGLE

in 1958, an article was published in The Wall Street Journal exploring the financial workings of the Walt Disney Company in which its business philosophy was summarised as: 'Dream, diversify – and never miss an angle'.

That quote inspired a radio programme, Never Miss An Angle, that I made in 2001 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walt Disney which is being repeated this evening on BBC Radio 2.



After tonight's broadcast, Never Miss An Angle can be caught up with via BBC iPlayer for the next seven days.

SNOW ON SATURDAYS: Images of Miss White & Co

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

Coasters from the Disneyland Hotel.

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

SNOW ON SATURDAYS: Images of Miss White & Co

Watch produced as a souvenir of the exhibition 'Il Etait une Fois Walt Disney' ('Once upon a time, there was Walt Disney') that was held at Le Grand Palais in Paris in 2006.

The apple is the second indicator so – once every minute – Snow White gets a chance to take a bite!

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

As part of Disneyland's '45 Years of Magic' celebrations, the park ran a 'Character of the Month Program': favourite Disney characters posing for their 'official portraits' in Magic Kingdom locations.

The artist was the talented Peter Emmerich who inscribed and signed this postcard of Alice issued on April 1, 2000...


Did you notice the appearing (or, maybe, disappearing) Cheshire Cat?


Check out Peter Emmerich's Sketchbook.

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

SNOW ON SATURDAYS: Images of Miss White & Co

This note, written by Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White, as intended as a foreword to the book Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & The Making of the Classic Film that I wrote with Richard Holliss in 1987.

The book eventually opened with a letter from Adriana accompanied by a photograph of her and her screen character.

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

PRACTICALLY PEERFECT

A post-script to my tribute to Robert Sherman, here is one of my treasured possessions: the large format Golden Press Mary Poppins film book...



...signed by Bob and Dick when I first met them in 1987; Julie Andrews, following an interview at the Dorchester in 2007...


...and Peter Ellenshaw when I interviewed him on stage at London's National Film Theatre in 1979...


Still hoping to, one day, meet Dick Van Dyke!

WEDNESDAYS IN WONDERLAND

Too much espresso coffee can send you just the tiniest bit mad!

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

ROBERT B SHERMAN (1925-2012)

I was deeply saddened to hear the news of the passing, yesterday, of Robert B Sherman who, with his brother Richard M Sherman, was one of the all-time great showbiz song-writing partnerships.

Their words and music provided the background score to my childhood and to that of many others.

Later, I had the great good fortune to get to know Bob and Dick as friends and have fond memories of conversations (often seated around a piano) about their songs for films, shows and television and, of course, their unique collaboration with Walt Disney.

Rest in peace, Bob.

It's a world of laughter, a world or tears,
It's a world of hopes, it's a world of fears,
There's so much that we share,
That it's time we're aware,
It's a small world after all.

You can read my further thoughts on Bob Sherman here

MICKEY MONDAYS: Manifestations of the Mouse

Cover of WDW Resort map for cast-members, 1990s.