Did one of you purchase those rare photos of the 1941 Disney strike on eBay a few days ago? If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? 

This just in from Leonard Maltin:

[I’ve been sorting and filing movie stills and came upon this shot which I thought I’d send along in case you haven’t seen it: it’s Jack Benny and his wife Mary Livingstone with their friends George Burns and Gracie Allen on the red carpet at the Carthay Circle Theatre for the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was published in a fan magazine at the time.]

The Broadway show As Thousands Cheer (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin) opened on September 30, 1933 and closed on September 8, 1934 after 400 performances. It included a scene called "The Funnies" which featured Mickey Mouse and the Three Little Pigs. Hence this drawing by Al Hirschfeld.

I have seen one photo of that scene in the past and am currently looking for a high resolution version of it.

We all know this famous photo (Ted Sears on the left and Webb Smith on the right). What I just noticed last week, however, is that most of the sketched on this board were drawn by Fini Rudiger (later Fini Littlejohn). I love it when drawings by be attributed with almost total certainty and this is one of those cases. 

This great photo just in from Julie Svendsen:

[Sharing an old photo with you. On the back of the photo my mom wrote, "Detroit Group, 1957".  Pictured are from left: Mrs. Clemmons, Betty Kimball, Ward Kimball, Carol Svendsen, Julius Svendsen, Larry Clemmons.]

UPDATE: Todd James Pierce believes that this might be the "magic highway" research group.

Julie Svendsen was kind enough to send me recently this great photo. From left to right: Disney composer George Bruns, character voice actor Daws Butler and animator Julius Svendsen (Julie's father).

Did one of you buy this rare photo of Mary and Lee Blair on HowardLowery.com recently? If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? I would love to buy a high resolution scan in order to use it in a future volume of They Drew As They Pleased. Thanks in advance.

Help needed

If you read this and bought the above photo on ebay this week, would you consider emailing me a high resolution scan (300 or 600dpi) at didier.ghez@gmail.com? I would be glad to share part of the buying cost.

Thanks in advance.

Disney artists Art Stevens and Charlie Downs clowning around. Courtesy of Julie Svendsen.

A great 4th of July to all of you! Enjoy the weekend.

Found on Facebook...

Is there a better way to start the new year than with some never-seen-before photos of Disney artists, courtesy of Julie Svendsen and John Emerson?

Above: Julius Svendsen and Bill Peet.

Below: Ward Kimball and Julius Svendsen.

Below: Carletta Clemmons, Betty and Ward Kimball, Carol and Julius Svendsen and Larry Clemmons.

Thanks to Joe Campana for identifying everyone.

Happy New Year!

Remembering Diane, one last time this year, thanks to this great photo sent by Jim Korkis.

[The wedding of Diane and Ron on May 9, 1953 in a little Episcopal church in Santa Barbara.]

I love this Mickey Mouse float from the '30s. This is probably part of a parade that took place in Philadelphia. Would anyone of you know more about it?

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[In the photo are horror film actors Lon Chaney Jr., Tor, Bela Lugosi and John Carradine enjoying a Disney comic book.Some further research shows that the photo was probably a publicity shot from the movie THE BLACK SLEEP (1956). The only other major actor in that film missing was Basil Rathbone.]

This great photo of the Disney TV unit just in thanks to John Emerson:

Back row: Julius Svendsen, Art Stevens, Jack Boyd, Elmer Plummer, Jim Swain

Front row: Ham Luske, Jimmy Trout, Joe Hale, Mac Stewart, John Emerson

Secretary: Mary Satterwhite

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[From Ain't It Cool News: I have never seen this color SOTS behind the scenes shot before....you might want to post it on your site.]

Weird photo found on the web last week. No idea who the artist is.

Nice photo of Roy O. Disney and movie critic Jympson Harmon sold recently by Howard Lowery.

Fun photo being sold at the moment by Howard Lowery:

[This is an original Walt Disney Productions black-and-white glossy photograph of an afternoon baseball (or softball) game played by men of the Disney Studio on a nearby lot in 1935. The picture was taken at the studio located on Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood before the move to Burbank in 1940, likely from the roof of a building; one of the men seated at lower right has turned to look up toward the camera, and his features are discernible.

Pasted to the back is a typed carbon WDP publicity caption that reads: "95-38: The national game of America, baseball, comes in for its full share of attention every day on the Disney lot, as its male artists exchange their pencils and drawing boards for bats and gloves." The pitcher has thrown the ball under-handed (indicating softball?), and the batter has swung and missed. This is an original Disney photograph; it is not a reprint or computer-generated print.]

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

[From one of the Spanish - or Mexican - magazines that I bought recently.  However none of them seemed to be complete, so there was no information about the magazine or year of publishing.

WD gets the golden medal from the Venezia Exposition, 1935.]

The caption reads:

[Mr. Dalla Rosa, Vice-Consul of Italy in Los Angeles gives Walt Disney the Golden Medal of the International Cinema Exposition of Venezia won for the short Easter Bunnies.]