Friday, February 28, 2014

Snow White Anti-Drug Billboard in Taiwan

A billboard ad for an anti-drug campaign was seen in 2006 in Chungho City, Taiwan. Not a Disney-licensed endeavor, though the Snow White illustration clearly impersonates the proprietary princess. The dwarfs and witch, not so much.

Photo by Catherine Daigle.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

'Snow White Archive' Fan Art

One of the nice benefits of writing the Filmic Light blog is being able to connect with other Snow White fans. So many marvelous and generous people have supported the site--through their comments and sharing of information, with images from their own collections, and even with one-of-a-kind artwork.

Maxime Lansmans lives in Belgium. Like myself, he and his brother Alexandre are great admirers of Walt Disney's first feature-length film. I was honored the other day when Maxime sent this image he'd created as a tribute to the Snow White Archive.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

1997 Disney Villains Trading Cards

A set of 25 Disney Villains trading cards was released in 1997 exclusively at Walt Disney World. Included in the collection are the Evil Queen and the Old Witch. Cards measure 3.625" x 2.625".

Card #3 Queen.




Card #4 Witch.


Queen and Witch images from the Filmic Light Collection.


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The set of 25...



1 Pete (Steamboat Willie) 2 Big Bad Wolf (The Three Little Pigs) 3 The Queen (Snow White) 4 The Witch (Snow White) 5 Gideon (Pinocchio) 6 The Headless Horseman (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad) 7 Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Druzilla (Cinderella) 8 The Queen and King of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) 9 Indian Chief (Peter Pan) 10 Captain Hook (Peter Pan) 11 Si and Am (Lady & the Tramp) 12 Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) 13 Cruella De Ville (101 Dalmatians) 14 Madame Mim (Sword and the Stone) 15 Shere Khan and Kaa (The Jungle Book) 16 Prince John & Sir Hiss (Robin Hood) 17 Snoops and Medusa (The Rescuers) 18 The Horned King (Black Cauldron) 19 Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective) 20 Ursula (The Little Mermaid) 21 Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) 22 Jafar (Aladdin) 23 Scar (The Lion King) 24 Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) 25 Hades (Hercules).



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Packs of five could be found for sale at theme park shops. Fantasia's Chernabog was on the foil wrapper.



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The cards were also issued in uncut sheets. Limited edition of 500.



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At the 1997 Official Disneyana Convention, which was held at the theme park, a special limited edition of 3600 was made available. They included the convention text printed along the bottom front.



The set was packaged and sold inside a collectible round tin with the convention logo on the lid.


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

1980s Snow White Ceramic Figures

These Snow White and Seven Dwarfs figures are made of glazed ceramic. Snow measures 5.5" high, the dwarfs approximately 3". Bottom imprint reads, "© Walt Disney Productions Japan". The figurines were available at the theme parks in the 1980s.









The complete set was listed in the Fall 1987 Walt Disney Family Gift Catalog. Original retail $29.95. (Also pictured was a 8" musical figurine for $34.95.)

Catalog courtesy of the François Monferran Collection.

Monday, February 24, 2014

"The 7 Dwarfs and King Arbor's Crystal" by Romano Scarpa (1986)

Well-known Italian comic book artist Romano Scarpa began his long career creating comics for Disney and publisher Arnoldo Mondadori Editore with a 1953 story, Snow White and the Green Flame (Biancaneve e Verde Fiamma). Over the years, he did several tales involving our favorite princess, some with Guido Martina, another well-known Italian comic book writer.

The 7 Dwarfs and King Arbor's Crystal (I 7 Nani e il Cristallo di Re Arbor) is one of Scarpa's later pieces. Published in Italy on January 5, 1986, this comic first appeared in the Mickey Mouse Magazine (Topolino) No. 1571. The 33-page story was both written and drawn by the artist.

In 1989, the comic was re-issued in Finland (by Sanoma Osakeyhtiö) as King Puukkelin's Crystal. It appeared in an Uncle Scrooge (Roope-Setä) comic book, No. 124.

The front covers from the original Italian version and the Finnish reprint...


Later reprints also occurred in Brazil (1994), The Netherlands (1996), and in Portugal too. Plus all of Scarpa's comics are currently being re-released in Italy today.


King Arbor's Crystal is a sequel to the Snow White film and picks up with the Old Witch tumbling off the cliff. Let's have a look at a few pages...



The Finnish title page.



With the help of some branches and bushes, the Witch survives the fall, and we have ourselves a story. She is rescued by her royal guard.



When returning to her castle, she finds that the Huntsman is burning it. Her laboratory and library are gone and so she's unable to turn herself back into the Queen.



In desperation, she travels to King Arbor (Puukkelin), one of her biggest admirers.



There she learns that Snow White has survived the poison apple. Angry and jealous, the Witch conceives a plan to use a magic crystal device to switch her body with Snow's.



The Witch has her royal guards kidnap Dopey (Cucciolo) and Bashful (Mammolo) so she can test the crystal on them.



With their bodies switched, the royal guards now as the two dwarfs go to Snow White. They lead her out of the castle and to the Witch.

But before the Witch can switch bodies with Snow, the other dwarfs come to the rescue. The princess gets away, Dopey and Bashful are changed back to their own bodies, the crystal devise is destroyed, and the Old Witch's plan is foiled.



This 1986 story of The 7 Dwarfs and King Arbor's Crystal would not end there but was continued later that same year in Topolino No. 1622. The new tale (possibly released only in Italy) was entitled The Seven Dwarfs and the Wonderful Fountainhead (I Sette Nanni  e la Fonte Meravigliosa). It was one of  Romano Scarpa's last Snow White-themed works. Maybe we'll have a look at it in a later Archive entry.

Image scans for this post are courtesy of the Nunziante Valoroso Collection and the Titania Collection. Also special thanks to both for providing additional information about the Italian and Finnish versions.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

2012 Snow White Magnetic Paper Dolls

This Snow White Magnetic Paper Doll set was purchased at Toys-R-Us in August 2012. Retail price $5.49. The shrink-wrapped package includes a tin container and a magnetic sheet of die-cut paper clothes, animals, and accessories.



It's a clever design with the Snow White and Prince "dolls" printed on the two sides of the tin container.



Once the clothes, animals, and accessories are removed from the sheet, they can be stored inside the container.



The magnetic pieces, of course, stick to the outside of the tin, giving Snow and the Prince their unique look.



Also inside the package is a perforated card with "Snow White's Chores," giving young ones things to do while traveling with their magnetic doll set.



Markings on the sides of the container indicate that it was manufactured by the Tin Box Co., Dongguan, China. Production date: 01/01/12. Distributed by Lee Publications of Louisville, Kentucky.




The set is seen here on display at Toys-R-Us in August 2012.

Images from the Filmic Light Collection.