DONALD Sunday - June 20, 1937

Roy's Draft card and Walt's Passport application

 Also on Flickr, Roy's draft card above,  from 1917 and Walt's 1918 passport application below. NOTE: Walt's fake birth date.

Walt's census records

Sometimes it's quite amazing what one stumbles across on the internet. I found these on Flickr. They are the 1910, 1920 and 1930 census records.
I should point out in the 1920 census Edna Francis and her family are listed seven family names above the Disneys.

Walt in Kansas - 1922 (follow up)

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of what I believed was Walt filming the Cowles children, I recieved the following comment:

Anonymous said...



I have this photo and others. this and other photos were taken at my granfathers home The childern are Minnie Jeanett Cowles ( my mother) John V. Cowles 11 and Virginia Cowles. My Grandfather Dr. John Vance Cowles took the photo of Walt & Rory Disney

This was really exciting for me and a few well known Disney historians, I am writing this post in the hope that the anonymous reader please get in contact with me, I know a few people who would really like to speak to you.

Filming MARTHA - 1922

I've been browsing the Baron Missakian collection in the University of Missouri Digital Library. This photo really interests me, here is the description:

Anywhere in record ; Box # 5; Number of Copies = 1; 192[3?]; "A group of people filming the song-o-reel ""Martha"""; 7x5; Laugh-O-Gram Films/Disney Studio; 011; "Kansas City, Missouri"; ; ; UMKC Special Collections; missakianic


Location "Kansas City, Missouri"

Box Number Box # 5

Publisher UMKC Special Collections

Date 192[3?]

Photo ID 011

Copy Number of Copies = 1

Event Laugh-O-Gram Films/Disney Studio

Description "A group of people filming the song-o-reel ""Martha"""

Dimension 7x5

First, I'd say the photo was taken in 1922. Now - who are the people? I have no idea, but zooming in on the carriage  the man in the carriage looks very much like Walt.
 
Barron Missakian was the photographer husband of Nadine Miassakian (seen below with Ub and Roy) who occasionally did some bookkeeping for Walt at Laugh-O-Grams.
 

DONALD Sunday - June 13, 1937

DONALD Sunday - May 30, 1937

DONALD Sunday - May 23, 1937

As I continue posting some of the Silly Symphony Donald Duck Sunday strips, I am struck by how well they are drawn and just like the Mickey strips of the 30's in some way resemble the Donald of the shorts. I wonder how much of that was because the strips were drawn at the Disney studio. Maybe one day Al Taliaferro will get a collection.

Don't get me wrong I love Carl Barks' work, but I think the Donald strips are an important part of Donald's comic history which is usually just glossed over. They don't tell serial adventure type stories and the characters are not terribly well rounded as in the later comic books, but they are a good example of a gag strip.

Walt and the King of the Leprechauns

Here's a fun little piece to start the weekend with, from the February 1959 issue of Walt Disney's Magazine.

Of course Walt didn't write the article, in fact it reads like a virtual transcript from his TV segment titled I Captured The King Of The Leprechauns which can be seen as a special feature on the Darby O'Gill and the Little People DVD.

I have something of a soft spot for this Disney live action film and from this vantage point in time it's a bit odd seeing 'James Bond' singing. OK Sean Connery's first apprearance as Bond was still about 4 years away.

Here's a bit of trivia, Walt was apparently friends with Albert R Broccoli, the producer of the Bond films. He also reportedly went to Walt for advice when he was producing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

DONALD Sunday - April 11, 1937