2013 Snow White "Artist Series" Puzzles

Each year, the "Artist Series" by Mega Puzzles features the work of different Disney artists for their 1000-piece puzzles. In 2013, two Snow White-themed paintings by Toby Bluth were added to the collection.

Portrait of Innocence.

It was spotted in February at Target for $9.09, and in May, it was going for $12.99 at Toys R Us.

Back of box.

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The other Snow White 2013 Artist Series puzzle: Is She Asleep?

Toby's artwork has been used often by Mega Puzzles. See some of his other Snow White puzzles from the series in an earlier post.

"Dopey Loses The Diamonds" Book

Dopey Loses the Diamonds is a 1994 children's picture book illustrated by artist Toby Bluth. The front cover and many of the pages include images of the diamonds enhanced with "glittering faceted foil."

The story begins with the Seven Dwarfs at their mine. They are ready to head home with a surprise for Snow White--a sack full of sparkling diamonds. Dopey wants to carry the bag and starts out at the front of the line. But the load is heavy, and he slowly falls behind until he's trailing at the back. Darkness falls as the night comes on. A twig catches on the diamond bag and tears a little hole.

Page 6: Dopey runs to catch up with the rest of the Dwarfs, unaware of the tear. As the bag bounces, the hole gets larger and the diamonds begin to fall out...

Luckily, the forest animals are there along the path to see what is happening.

Page 11: The Dwarfs arrive home to Snow White.

Dopey shows her what he thinks is a full sack, but the bag is empty. Grumpy is angry at Dopey for losing the diamonds. Then Doc comes to his defense by examining the sack and finding the hole. The Dwarfs and Snow all decide to go out by lantern light and search for the diamonds. They follow the path all the way back to the mine but can't find a one of them. Dopey feels like he's let everyone down.

Page 16 -17: They returned home, and to their surprise, the cottage and trees are all decorated with the sparkling diamonds...

Just as everyone is wondering who could have found the diamonds and decorated their home, the forest animals come out into the clearing. Everyone is happy, especially Dopey.

Page 20: The End.

Book text and artwork copyright Disney/Toby Bluth.

Publisher: Mouse Works, 1994

Pages: 20

ISBN: 157082150x

Retail Price: $8.98 USD

"Snow White's Escape" Book

Front Cover and Spine

Published by Mouse Works in 1994, Snow White's Escape is a beautiful 20-page children's hardcover that tells the story of Snow White's flight through the dark forest, with the aid of moveable pull-tab illustrations and multi-layered leaves. Created by artist Toby Bluth, this brilliantly designed "Slide-N-Show" book is aburst with imagery and a color palate reminiscent of what we see in the original film. Unfortunately the title is no longer in print. Nonetheless, here's a look at several of Bluth's striking and detailed scenes.

On pages 1-2, Snow White is confronted by the Queen's Huntsman. He is seen sliding out from behind a boulder with knife in hand. The clear plastic windows that separate the leaves allow us to see through to not just one, but numerous sections of the book, adding the feeling of a "multiplane" three-dimensional depth.

Turn the page and Snow begins her flight into the dark forest. Looking back, we still see the Huntsman, but looking forward through the menacing trees, a warm light awaits us.

The rest of the book is filled with Bluth's brilliant artwork and clever pull-tab setups.

Text and Illustrations copyright Toby Bluth/Disney. 

The story continues with Snow White meeting her forest animal friends, the journey to the cottage, the clean up, the Dwarfs march home from the mine, and their surprise at finding the lights on inside. It ends with the discovery of the princess upstairs.

Back Cover

Toby Bluth has said that his artwork is influenced by the likes of Gustaf Tenggren and others from the Golden Age. From the look and feel of this little book, there's no doubt about it. Now out-of-print, Snow White's Escape can still be found through numerous online resellers.

ISBN: 1570821534

Original retail price $9.98 (US), $12.98 (Canada)

The "Artist Series" and "Portrait Series" of Puzzles

Snow White has turned up in a couple different sets of jigsaw puzzles manufactured by Mega Puzzles. The Artist Series is a suite of 1000-piece puzzles featuring various Disney characters in filmic scenes as reproduced in the contemporary fine art of commissioned artists. The works of two new artists are added to the series each year.

Watercolorist Toby Bluth's Snow White-inspired Tidying Up...

Currently available in stores.

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Bluth's Seven Dwarfs Coming Home and artist James Coleman's A Sweet Goodbye...

UPDATE 2012: Snow White on the Balcony by Jim Salvati. Puzzle Size: 26.75" x 18.9375"; box size: 8" x 8" x 2".

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The second collection is called the Portrait Series and consists of 500-piece puzzles. They differ from those above by paying tribute to the Disney characters in a stylized montage ensemble of both new and vintage artwork.

Currently available in stores.

Blu-Ray Sidebar Art by Toby Bluth

Well before the 2009 Blu-Ray release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, artist Toby Bluth was hired to create a special  border art to accompany the video. When viewers click on the "Disney View” menu option, they can choose to watch the movie in its original 4:3 aspect ratio without the annoyance of the black sidebars. Instead, the space is filled with a set of Bluth's original artwork in the form of theater curtains, columns, pillars, etc. It makes for a beautiful framing of this classic film, but always have the option to turn it off at anytime.

(NOTE: Sidebar art requires a “Profile 1.1” or higher capable Blu-ray Disc Player to display.)

Column and Pillar iimage scans via High Def Disk News.

Included on the Blu-ray is a short film, About Disney View, hosted by the artist who explains why he chose this project and what inspired him. There's also a couple pages of information on his work. To learn more about Toby Bluth, see the previous post.

The Snow White Art of Toby Bluth

Artist Toby Bluth comes from a multi-talented family. His brother Don is well known for his success in animated movies. Toby himself has worked on many a film as well as a wide cross-section of other artistic pursuits including children's books, watercolor paintings, and both on and off Broadway musicals.

His unique abilities were even called upon to help solve the aspect ratio issue for the 2009 Blu-ray home video release of Snow White and the Severn Dwarfs. More on this below.




His Disney fine art portfolio is quite extensive, and he credits Snow White inspirational artist Gustaf Tenggren as being a major influence in his career. Often making use of high contrasting light and shadow, Toby's transparent watercolor compositions create warm striking images. His work can be seen at the Disney theme parks, and limited edition giclee prints on paper are widely sold through fine art dealers.

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Watercolors...

Coming Home
(11" x 15", Edition Size: 95)

Tidying Up
(12" x 18", Edition Size: 95)
Jigsaw puzzles from Toby's watercolors in next post.

Is She Asleep?
(11" x 14", Edition Size: 70)

Portrait of Innocence
(10" x 14", Edition Size: 70)

Portrait of Innocence - Princess Glass Gem Bottle

Let Me Guess
(12.25" x 18.25")

Face of Evil
(11" x 14", Edition Size: 70)

Top of the Stairs
(11" x 14", Edition Size: 95)

Snow White and the Witch
(8.5" x 11")

The Lost Soup Scene 
(11" x 22", Edition Size: 70)

The Sweet Dreams Suite

(6" x 7.5", Edition Size: 50 - series of four)

It All Started With A Mouse

(11" x 22", Edition Size: 195)

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Illustrated Children's Books...

Toby has written and/or illustrated a wealth of children's books including these Snow White titles.

Snow White's Escape
(Mouse Works, 1994. ISBN: 1570821534)

 Dopey Loses the Diamonds

(Mouse Works, 1994. ISBN: 157082150X)

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Interview, circa 2002...

Bluth shares his watercolor techniques, talks about his work with Disney, and explains the role of an Art Director in the making of an animated film.

Video posted by artinsights.