Draw 50 Princesses

Front Cover

Draw 50 Princesses is, as the title suggests, a how-to book on drawing Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, and a host of other princess folk. That's not all. The learn-through-visuals style book also contains a royal court of other mythical characters including kings, queens, wizards, dragons, fairies, magic wands, goblets, and even Romeo and Juliet.

 Title Page

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Artist Lee J. Ames got his first job at Walt Disney Studios when he was eighteen. That was back in 1939. He won a contest that Disney was running to find new artists. Lee headed to Los Angeles and worked "in a minor capacity" on Fantasia and Pinocchio. He missed his home, however, and after only three months, moved back. Yet, that was just the start of his drawing career. 

Ames worked at animation, comics, advertising, teaching, and illustrating. He also authored over 35 books, mostly the Draw 50 series which to date have sold more than two million copies. He says in his bio...

"All [these] have helped me happily avoid facing reality."

A happy free spirit, Lee passed away in June of 2011 at the age of 90.

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Introduction

The Snow White pages...

Dwarfs...

Magic Mirror...

Poisoned Apple...

Warlock (could easily be transformed into the Witch)...

Castle...

Draw 50 Princesses: The Step-by-Step Way to Draw Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Many More. Publisher: Watson-Guptill (2008), 64 page, ISBN-10: 9780767927987.

Brazilian Journal Advertisement

With the tag line: "Know the two sides of the story," the Brazilian Novo Jornal used fairytale characters in non-traditional ways to promote their publication in an October 2010 advertising campaign. The result was interesting but a bit off color. Snow White, in her very distinctive Disney dress, shows a side of herself that we don't normally see...

Advertising Agency: ArtC Comunicação, Natal, Brazil
Creative Director: George Wilde
Art Director: Flávio Jatobá
Copywriter: Rafael Paulino
Illustrator: Pedro Dantas
Digital painting: Flávio Jatobá


Other ads in the series included the darker sides of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs...

Images via Ads of the World.

Jim Korkis Article - 'Happy Birthday Snow White'

Check out Disney historian Jim Korkis' recent MousePlanet article in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As usual, Jim comes through with some great little known facts and anecdotes about the making of the film.

Jim Korkis image via Larry Lauria at Animation World Network.

Learn more about Jim's 2010 book, The Vault of Walt, in an earlier post.

1938 Snow White Handbags

1938 Snow White child purses manufactured by Banner Bros. of New York. Made of celluloid over cardboard with leatherette sides and accent trim. Handsome Tenggren-inspired lithographed image applied to one side. Each purse is accented with a brass-plated metal top frame and a snap-clasp closure along with a chain handle. They also include a small mirror attached to a hang strap.

Black design measures approximately 4.5" x 5".

Red "tear drop" reaches 6.25" x 6.25" at its farthest points.

Images courtesy of Disneyana Vintage Collectibles 4U.

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2016 UPDATE: This brown variation went up for sale at Van Eaton Galleries. According to the auction description, the purse measures 4.5" x 5.25" and was produced in 1938 by King Innovations.