Dopey Does Main Street, 1976

The above image from September 1976 shows Dopey and, based on the costume, a wide-awake Sleepy, in the Disneyland Main Street Emporium Window. The reflection of the marquee lights from the Main Street Cinema can be seen in the upper right hand corner. This was a time before VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra 4K. People had to rely on the every 7-10 year rotation of Disney films to come to theaters if they wanted to catch their favorite animated characters. “Snow White” couldn’t even be seen on TV, either. The movie was re-released in 1975, which makes sense for the characters to be featured in the window for this time period. If you look carefully in the upper left-hand corner, you can see a Raggedy Andy doll. What?!? A non-Disney IP character?!? Below is a 1970s shot of Cruella de vil in a Main Street Emporium window display:



The only other vintage Emporium window display in my collection is this one featuring The Rescuers, from December 1976. This was obviously a teaser as the movie wouldn’t be released until June 1977.



The first Emporium display that I photographed personally is from November 2007, with this scene from “Ratatouille,” which had been released in June. You can see the metal rod going into Remy’s foot, allowing him to rotate around in a circle.



See more Disneyland Main Street Emporium photos at my main website.

Betty Lou Gets A Book

I was recently contacted by a marketing rep about reading the book, The Voice of Villainy: The Betty Lou Gerson Story by Lona Bailey, PhD. Admittedly, Gerson has never really been high on my radar, but I was aware that she was the vocal talent behind one of the most famous animated villains of all-time, Cruella de Vil, from Disney’s “101 Dalmations.” Having recently finished the book, I can’t say I’d recommend it. Clocking in at a little over 100 pages of biographical text (in large print, no less), it reads more like a college term paper, with plenty of gaps of info that unfortunately seem to hit just as the author stumbles upon something halfway interesting. The book also includes a large appendix with chronological listings of Betty’s work; in fact almost half of the book is dedicated to these exhaustive lists. I commend Bailey on her work in digging up the list of vintage radio broadcasts, but can’t applaud her for her writing skills or ability to create a biography that digs deeply into the source material beyond what could be found on Wikipedia.

If you want to learn new information about Betty’s work at Disney (which began with the voice-over narration of “Cinderella”), you’ll be sorely disappointed. In fact, her work at Disney is glossed over with a scant four pages on “Dalmation.” I patiently waded through pages upon pages of background info about Betty’s family history and the abundance of explanatory text of the hurdles women had to overcome because of the societal constraints of the time. In describing Betty’s narrator gig for “Cinderella,” the author states:

No cast or crew member of “Cinderella” knew they were contributing to a legendary film or legendary production company that would become and stay a household name for decades after. It was simply business as usual, though the element of animation was certainly a twist of novelty.

You lost me, Lona. Business as usual? At the point “Cinderella” got the green light, Disney animation was struggling as it hadn’t had a financial hit since “Snow White” (1937). The studio was staying afloat thanks to making Government films during the war. The studio’s financial livelihood and success rested on the shoulders of the animated heroine and her glass slipper. I’m not sure who Lona interviewed for this portion, but it couldn’t have been anyone associated with the Disney Studio. In the few pages she writes about “Dalmatians,” she completely disappoints again, giving very little new info about Gerson’s part in the production. Bailey manages to misspell the name of Mary Wickes, the actress who was used as the live-action reference model for Cruella because Gerson didn’t quite have the physical look that animator Marc Davis was seeking (even though Bailey claims that Cruella was “Gersons’s wicked animated alter-ego”). For me, the book offered few relevatory bits of info, other than discovering that Gerson was an acting coach for a very young Mary Tyler Moore. Even that tidbit was a disappointment as there was no further information about whether the two kept in contact over the years or what Mary thought of her in retrospect.



As far as photos, the cover shot is all you get. Thanks to ebay, I can provide these two images. The shot above shows Betty Lou and her husband, Joseph Ainley. From the accompanying 1936 publicity blurb:

Radio Actress Married In Chicago Photo shows Joseph T. Ainley, Chicago Advertsiing Company official and his bride, the former Betty Lou Gerson, 22 year old radio actress. The couple were married in Chicago April 27, upon Miss Gerson’s arrival from the West Coast where she appeared on a radio program, and the couple kept the marriage secret until April 29. 



Above is a shot from Betty’s 1949 anti-communist film, “The Red Menace.”



Finally, a painting I did a few years back of the most famous character that Betty Lou voiced, Cruella de Vil.



Betty, you deserved better.

See more photos at my main website.

Cruella de Vil

A quick interlude from the West Baden painting to do one for a friend. She is a Marc Davis classic and was fun to do.

For more Daveland art, visit my main website.

"101 Dalmatians" Autographed Key Set

I have 2 special promotional key sets produced in coordination with the upcoming special 2-DVD set of "101 Dalmatians." They are signed by Lisa Davis (voice of Anita) and Alice Davis (wife of Marc Davis, Cruella’s animator). The first TWO people to email me about this key set will win one FREE!

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED! Congrats to Richard in Indiana and Ted in Canada!

Disneyland, October 1966 Pt. 4 & Cruella Cels

It’s Fantasyland Pt. 2 in this October 1966 series, and of course, a photo of the Castle is extremely appropriate. By now, the Disney Family Crest is visible above the entrance. Back in our Square Skyway Buckets, we see Storybook Land; Monstro is about to swallow up another boatload of guests as the Yellow Monorail appears in the distance. Admittedly, it is a little strange to see the Fantasy of Storybook Land with ultra-sleek Monorail so close by.



As we swoop in to view the rest of the Storybook sights, we see the entrance landscaping as well as a nice view of Casey Jr. and the Cinderella Castle:







3 more Storybook shots show Toad Hall (before it was unceremoniously moved to a less prominent piece of real estate courtesy of Aladdin), the Windmills, and Pinocchio’s Village:







A trip to Fantasyland wouldn’t be complete without a few characters shots, so here are Snow White & one of her Dwarves, who appears to be looking for a handout. As always, Snow White’s hair changes again to somewhat reflect the times:





As a bonus for today, here are 5 animation cels of Cruella de Vil from the collection of Alice Davis...with the cigarette intact:











Tomorrow, there’ll be more Fantasyland views, October 1966.

See more vintage & current Fantasyland photos at my website.

Disneyland, October 1966 Pt. 2, Bette Davis, and Cigarettes

It’s October 1966 and we’ve made the first difficult decision: which tunnel do we cross through under the railroad tracks? Looks like our photographer might have chosen the “right” tunnel, and as he exited, who was there but Mickey Mouse! Anybody need to make a restroom stop while we’re here? Our next decision is which land in the hub to choose to visit first...but wait, what’s going on at the House of the Future? Looks like a little lover’s spat between the Space People of the Future! I can just hear the lady on the left, "Children, please don’t look at the funny people in the plastic helmets!”



Even though there may be some problems going on in the future, let’s choose that as our destination today, beginning with this shot of the Moonliner, now sponsored by Douglas and not TWA.



From the Skyway, we have this nice shot which also includes a corner of the Flight Circle and scenic Anaheim in the background; but wait, there’s even more going on here. Our spatting couple can be seen in the detail shot that I have included. They just need to punch out on the time clock and take that stuff out of the Happiest Place on Earth. Actually, it appears that they’ve made up and are ready to sign autographs again.





Speaking of the Skyway, here’s the Tomorrowland Station on the left, with those funny little square buckets sailing through the Matterhorn:



Last two shots show a little Sub action from the Skyway and the Yellow Monorail:





Tomorrow, we’ll follow the Skyway into Fantasyland for some more October 1966 gems. On another note, my painting of Bette Davis in “All About Eve,” which I titled “Copper Bette,” is being used to promote the Lowell Massachusetts Film Festival; I was pretty stoked when they purchased the use of it for this.



Speaking of cigarettes (follow the Bette Davis connection here), I recently received the new “101 Dalmatians” DVD; great restoration and way cool extras on the making of this classic. Never really realized how revolutionary the use of the Xerox was until I saw the documentaries talking about Walt’s displeasure with the new technique. Anyway, back to cigarettes; it is wonderful to see Marc Davis’ animation of Cruela de Vil, parading around campily and waving her pink cigarette with the green smoke. Interestingly enough, the cigarette is kept in the film, but nowhere to be found in the publicity stills or DVD box art; you can tell by the articulation of her hand in this shot that it as been edited out:





See more vintage and current Tomorrowland photos at my website.