The Funny Folk of Disneyland Helping to Build a House
London: IPC Magazines Ltd, 1977. Item #04144
Building a House - The Disney Way
Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, Robin Hood, Merlin, Baloo, King Louie and Friends
Original Walt Disney Artwork for Disney Time No. 4
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS. The Funny Folk of Disneyland Helping to Build a House. Original hand-painted artwork for the double-page center spread of Walt Disney's Disney Time, No. 4. [London: IPC Magazines Ltd.], February 19, 1977.
Original gouache on artist's board. Image size 9 5/8 x 16 3/4 inches (244 x 425 mm.). In fine condition. Matted, framed and glazed.
Together with a copy of Walt Disney's Disney Time, No. 4, dated February 19, 1977, in which the present artwork appeared as the double-page center spread.
A superb and extraordinarily detailed piece of original Walt Disney publication artwork, assembling a remarkable cast of Disney characters for a hilariously unsuccessful attempt at building a house.
The premise is wonderfully simple. Some workmen have gone off for lunch, leaving the construction site temporarily unattended. The “funny folk of Disneyland,” deciding that the builders could use some assistance, take over the job themselves - with predictably catastrophic results.
The enormous ensemble composition brings together characters from numerous corners of the Disney universe. Mickey Mouse, perched on the scaffolding, attempts some bricklaying, while Minnie Mouse, at the far right, appears to be painting. Winnie-the-Pooh, naturally, has abandoned construction altogether in favor of a pot of “Hunny,” while Pluto digs energetically in the foreground.
Characters from The Jungle Book contribute enthusiastically to the chaos. Baloo appears among the workers, while King Louie, true to his reputation as “King of the Swingers,” cavorts high above the building site.
Robin Hood is particularly well represented. Little John struggles with a wheelbarrow of cement; Robin Hood sends bricks flying; Prince John, seated upon his throne, reacts to the consequences; and other inhabitants of Sherwood Forest join the confusion.
At the center-left, Merlin, from The Sword in the Stone, has quite literally “put his foot in it,” stepping into wet cement while Madam Mim looks on. Elsewhere bricks tumble, paint spills, ladders wobble, buckets overturn and characters carry building materials with varying degrees of success.
The original published text explains: “They were all very willing—but not, alas, very able!”
The joke continues with Little John's attempt to fill a wheelbarrow with cement, Merlin's unfortunate encounter with the mixture, and Prince John's painful meeting with a falling brick - possibly, the text mischievously suggests, dropped deliberately by Robin Hood.
As with the other Disney Time center spreads, the illustration doubles as a hidden-object puzzle. Seven objects are concealed within the extraordinary mass of figures and construction equipment: two hammers, two trowels, two buckets and a spade.
The artwork was created for Walt Disney's Disney Time, the short-lived British weekly published by IPC in 1977. The series commenced on January 29 and concluded after only twenty-one issues on June 18, 1977, when it was merged with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland.
This makes the survival of the original center-spread artwork especially appealing. Measuring almost seventeen inches across, the painting is executed in brilliant, opaque gouache, with extraordinarily crisp outlines and a remarkable density of detail. Virtually every part of the composition contains a visual joke, familiar character or miniature incident.
The accompanying copy of Disney Time No. 4 provides the essential publication context and allows the original artwork to be compared directly with its printed appearance.
An exceptionally lively piece of original Disney publication art - a gloriously chaotic construction site populated by an extraordinary cross-section of classic Disney characters, and a wonderful example of the elaborate double-page illustrations created for the short-lived 1977 British Disney Time weekly.
Price: $2,500.00