Showing posts with label Clement's Collection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clement's Collection. Show all posts

Robin Hood in Mickey Mouse Weekly



Part of my collection of memorabilia from Walt Disney's movie the Story of Robin Hood are two copies of Mickey Mouse Weekly. This was a weekly tabloid comic that ran from the late 1930s and was first published by Willbank Publications and later Odhams Press in London. It was the first British comic to use the expensive colour photogravure process.

The two copies that I own date from the time of the release of the live-action movie in 1952.  But sadly I am not sure who the artist was that illustrated the strip (it could have been Jessie Marsh). So perhaps my readers might be able to help?


The colourful strip featured below appeared on the back page of Mickey Mouse Weekly weekending July 12th 1952. 





There is a lot more information on the various comic strip versions of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood here.

Rare German Promotional Leaflet


This leaflet from my collection, was used as a promotional piece for the release of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in West Germany in 1952. As we have seen before in these early advertisements Joan Rice (Maid Marian) gets a high billing.

Joan Rice meets Walt Disney

Because I will not be posting for a fortnight I have decided to leave you with my favourite publicity still from Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).


It is from my own collection and shows Walt Disney meeting Joan Rice (Maid Marian) with Richard Todd (Robin Hood) looking on. This must have been a breathtaking moment for the young actress, who had only recently worked as a waitress in a Lyons Corner House.

It is a Reuters image and on the back it has:

“In The Greenwood-

Master of fantasy Walt Disney meets Maid Marian (his newest star Joan Rice) and Robin Hood (Richard Todd) on location at Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, for Disney’s all-live Technicolor production ‘Robin Hood.’

Disney visited both location and floor units of the film, which is produced by Perce Pearce at Denham Studios.

June 24th 1951 PAR 24808-1 (PNR-G)”

As always I would be pleased to read your comments about this picture or about anything else on this blog. Thank you for your continued input and support and I will be posting again soon.

Joan Rice at the Premier



Joan Rice at the premier of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men at the Leicester Square Theatre on Thursday 13th March 1952.

Hodd by Adam Thorpe


Occasionally I would like to review a book that has links with either the legend of Robin Hood or Disney’s live action movie. The book that I have chosen today is without doubt one of the best tales about the outlaw I have ever read. Hodd is the ninth novel written by British author, Adam Thorpe, who is described by The Times as ‘one of our most fiercely intelligent and intellectual writers'- and I can see why.

Thorpe’s novel uses the earliest surviving ballad of Robin Hood, the ‘talking of the munke and Robyn Hode’ as its base, which is dated at some time after 1450. (You can read this ballad by clicking on the Label ‘Robin Hood Ballads' below). But upon this base we sample amongst the many layers of medieval pastiche, the testimony of the pious monk, Matthew, who as a young minstrel boy describes his encounter on empty heathland with the half-crazed bandit ‘Hodd.’ This, the reader soon discovers is not the romantic merry outlaw portrayed in the modern media, but a ruthless brigand who follows the thirteenth century principles of the ‘heresy of the Free Spirit,’ and believes himself above God and beyond sin.

Matthew is 14 when he encounters Hodd. An orphan serving as a page in a monastery, he’s travelling with his master, a monk, when Hodd’s men rob them at knifepoint, relieving them of £100 and Matthew’s beloved harp. The two should be grateful that they manage to escape with the clothes on their backs and all their limbs intact, but the misguided Matthew is determined to reclaim his harp. His identity is tied up with the instrument, which he stole several years earlier from his first master, a beach-dwelling hermit who taught him Latin.

Back at the monastery, Matthew decides to sneak into Hodd’s camp and retrieve the harp. That he’s caught is no surprise. What is unusual is that unlike Hodd’s other prisoners, who are tortured, murdered or made to dance naked together-not only is Matthew’s life spared after they hear him compose and sing songs in praise of Hodd’s actions - but he becomes Hodd’s favourite confidant. The outlaw gives the young minstrel the nickname Moche (Much).

14 year old Matthew (Moche) is horrified by their lawless ways and, in particular, by the fact that his new master seems to place himself above God. Hodd is a psychopath with mystic moments, a drunk having trouble mumbling through his crooked teeth, who conceals his branded forehead and protuberant eyes under the hood that gave him his name. He is anti-Church, anti-establishment, and clings to a heretical belief in the individual that chimes interestingly with the modern age. "He told me, not that he was God, but that he was more than God" and that "God is merely an invention.... 'There is no sin,' he repeated, his words blurring deliciously [suaviter] inside my head.’ The one who is perfect, who has attained perfection, cannot sin even if he wished to, for everything he does is necessarily perfect.'"

Later, after Matthew has escaped from the malign influence of Hodd and his henchmen, he is appalled to find that his light-hearted ballads about 'Robbing Hodde’ have somehow turned the common felon into a sentimentalised folk hero and have become extremely popular. So although age has buckled his fingers he takes up his goose feather pen in a last attempt to lighten his burdens and correct the popular myth of this outlaw.

It is the translation of Matthew’s Latin manuscript, that has been recovered by a British army officer from the crypt of a bombed out church on the Somme during the First World War, which forms the central theme of Thorpe’s novel. The officer takes it upon himself to translate and annotate the “bulky, stained and occasionally illegible manuscript, stitched crudely together with gut.”

But we also have frequent interjections from the fictional translator and other unknown sources amongst the 408 footnotes. This make the book feel like a genuine source text, especially when concerned with Latin translation or similar and possibly becomes tedious for some readers.

But after a while this all adds to the total authenticity of the experience, and on reflection it wouldn’t be the same book without the academic trappings.

I found Thorpe’s Hodd a thoroughly refreshing and enjoyable experience and recommend it to anyone with an interest in the legend of England’s famous outlaw.

Hodd is written by Adam Thorpe and published by Jonathan Cape in London.

Richard Todd and Joan Rice Postcard


I thought I would share with you this postcard from my very own collection. This was the first piece of memorabilia I ever bought.

Joan Rice at Middle Pond



This is my first-and much treasured- picture of the gorgeous Joan Rice as Maid Marian, taken at Middle Pond at Burnham Beeches possibly during the filming of the Whistle My Love sequence for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952), sometime between April/June 1951. Below is the picture of the same area taken on my visit there on 30th April 2009.

Blondel's Song by David Boyle

From time to time I will recommend books that have helped me to understand the complex legend of Robin Hood and historical events that have helped inspire his myth. An historical person who has, since about 1521 been continually linked with the outlaw, is of course King Richard I of England (1189-1199).

I have already begun to chronicle the early days of his reign and his association with the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn, near Nottingham Castle and over the years I have read many books on the lionhearted monarch. But none have come as close as Blondel’s Song in explaining his capture, imprisonment and ransom.

Many of us know the legend of Blondel and how this faithful minstrel made his way through Germany and Austria in search of the missing King Richard the Lionheart, singing hopefully under each castle wall. It culminates when, one quiet night under a tower, Blondel’s song is taken up and echoed by a familiar voice inside. That of Richard himself.

Blondel’s Song sheds new light on one of the most interesting periods in medieval history. Providing new perspectives on the lives of Richard and Blondel, as well as an insight into the courts of love, the Holy Grail and Europe in the turbulent aftermath of the Crusades. As one of our most famous medieval kings, Richard the Lionheart’s rule encompassed some of England’s most colourful and enduring legends- Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the discovery of King Arthur’s grave. None however match the untold story of Blondel, Richard’s faithful minstrel and reputed saviour.

Centered around the monarch’s imprisonment, Blondel’s Song uncovers the real story behind Richard’s secret journey back from the Crusades across the Alps in winter, his arrest and subsequent discovery through a minstrel’s song and the effects of his gigantic ransom.”

The author of Blondel's Song is David Boyle and the book is published by Penguin.

The Boys' And Girls' Cinema Clubs Annual


Regular contributor Neil Vessey has reminded me of an article about Walt Disney’s 'Story of Robin Hood' in ‘The Boys’ And Girls’ Cinema Clubs Annual’ of 1952. For six shillings this was the fifth edition of an annual for youngsters up and down the country who were members of Saturday Morning Clubs such as Grandiers, ABC Minors, Odeon, Empire Rangers and Gaumont Children’s Cinema Club. This was during an era when twenty five million people went to the ‘pictures’ every week!

It was printed by Juvenile Productions Ltd. of London and was packed full of various articles on the latest stream of movies being released for mainly the younger audiences of the time. Films such as Abbot and Costello in ‘Jack and the Beanstalk,’ Roy Rogers and Trigger in ‘The Golden Stallion’ and Disney’s ‘Lambert the Sheepish Lion.’

But also included were sections on new Hollywood blockbusters of that year, including ‘Ivanhoe’ with Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Taylor, ‘The Crimson Pirate’ starring Burt Lancaster and ‘The African Queen’ with Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Along with all this are some fascinating behind-the-scenes pieces on how the movies were being made at the time and how The Children’s Film Foundation was formed in 1951.

Pages 8-11 outline Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood with eight stills from the movie including four in colour. But what is interesting, is the inside note from the editor-Robert Moss- on two youngsters who visited Denham Studios during the making of Robin Hood:

"Early one bright summer morning I called for Peter Green, a member of the Odeon Children's Cinema Club, at his home in South Norwood, London, and took him across London to the flat where ABC Minor Lavinia Baily lives. Then the three of us went on to Denham Film Studios, in Buckinghamshire, where we were introduced to Richard Todd, the star of Walt Disney's Robin Hood, and to lovely Joan Rice, the Maid Marian of the film, and other members of the cast.

We spent interesting hours on the set watching scenes in the film being shot and discovering some of the secrets of film making: then Richard Todd, resting between shots, called Peter and Lavinia over and told them the story of the film. Whilst he was doing this, we took a photograph of the three of them - and this is the lovely coloured photograph, you see on the front of this annual.

Wasn’t that exciting? You can guess how thrilled Peter and Lavinia were. Later on, we lunched with members of the cast, who were still in costume, so Peter and Lavinia can really claim to have feasted, not only with Robin Hood and his merry men, but with Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and all! "

Disneyland High Fidelity Record




This is the original Disneyland High Fidelity LP soundtrack from the motion picture The Story of Robin Hood DQ-1249. The dramatic sleeve was printed in the U.S.A and is © 1963. On the back of the LP are five stills from the film.
The first shows Richard Todd as Robin sending a signal arrow to his men. Next we see Friar Tuck, Robin Hood and Little John, three companions in defence of righteousness and good King Richards name. The third picture shows Friar Tuck as he, becomes the unhappy beast of burden for the fun loving Robin Hood. A dramatic still from the fight scene on the bridge, between Little John and Robin is described as a rousing jousting match with the giant stranger (Little John) who will not let him pass. And lastly a publicity still, showing Robin and the lovely Maid Marian, described as being well rewarded for their services to the king.
Included below is the impressive detailed description of the album given by the seller.

"Long before Walt Disney Productions released its 1973 animated all-animal re-telling of the English classic Robin Hood, Walt Disney had already personally told the tale as a live-action feature film.

The Story Of Robin Hood was filmed on location in England, and released theatrically in 1952. A stellar cast was assembled: dashing Richard Todd was Robin Hood, lovely Joan Rice portrayed Maid Marion, James Robertson Justice appeared as Little John, and, in an early screen role, Peter Finch played the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. This British record, released in 1963, features all of these stars and more in dramatic and musical excerpts from the soundtrack of the motion picture. The adventurous tale is narrated by voice veteran Dal McKennon (narrator of the 1967 Disneyland Storyteller Record of The Jungle Book and well-known to guests of Disneyland in California as the voice telling you to "hang onto your hats and glasses" on the "wildest ride in the wilderness," Big Thunder Mountain Railroad).

Balladeer Elton Hayes, the film's Alan-a-Dale, sings the Eddie Pola - George Wyle song Riddle De Diddle De Day as well as Come Sing Low, Come Sing High and The Ballad of Robin Hood, which he co-wrote with screenplay author Lawrence Edward Watkin (the writer behind Darby O'Gill and the Little People and the Mickey Mouse Club serial Spin and Marty)."

Colliers Magazine Advert

This advertisement for Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood comes from my own collection of memorabilia from the film. It appeared in the fifteen cent American magazine ‘Colliers’ (originally known as Colliers Weekly (1888-1957) on July 5th 1952, alongside an article on traffic jams and how ‘too many secrets spoil the atom!’

With the heading, ‘the romantic adventure of the year,’ this extremely lively and colourful page describes the movie as: ‘an all live action picture….starring Richard Todd and introducing the exciting new screen personality, Joan Rice. You’ll feel it’s excitement-live its high hearted romance as adventure’s favorite outlaw strikes at tyranny! Only Walt Disney could capture in one great picture such tumultuous fury of exciting action. Whatever your age, Walt Disney’s matchless Robin Hood will rob you of your cares-reward you with a king’s ransom in adventure!'

The Chronicles of Robin Hood


Above is an evocative illustration by C. Walter Hodges from The Chronicles of Robin Hood written by Rosemary Sutcliff. This picture does not appear in my edition of her novel from 1955, although his wonderful work can be seen right through the book. But there is full page copy of it, in The World of Literature, a collection of excerpts from classic novels and poems, printed in 1958, as part of the children’s ‘World of…..’ encyclopedias by Odhams Ltd of Watford.

Underneath the illustration, it has, “Take their weapons away lads, but don’t hurt them overmuch!”

Richard Todd and Joan Rice


Merry May Day to all my readers!

Today is the first day of May. A time of great celebration dateing right back to pagan times. Robin Hood became linked with the spring and summer festivals at an early stage and I shall look at this aspect of the legend in the future. In the meantime, here is the lord and lady of May, Robin Hood and Maid Marian (Richard Todd and Joan Rice).

'Whistle My Love' Music Sheet


This is the music sheet of 'Whistle My Love' from my own collection, sung by Elton Hayes in Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood (1952). It originaly cost one shilling. The song was composed by Eddie Pola and George Wyle and copyrighted as early as 1950.


(To see all posts about Elton Hayes please click on the label marked Elton Hayes in the right-hand panel or below).

Gold Key: Walt Disney's Robin Hood



This is a Gold Key comic based on the Disney live-action film and was published in 1965 (originally printed as Dell 4 Color in 1952) by K.K. Publications, Inc., Poughkeepsie, New York, in cooperation with Golden Press, Inc. It was designed, produced and printed in the U.S.A. by Western Printing and Lithographing Company. I own the third printing 10163-506. The illustrations are good and the comic does mainly follow the original screen play, although Alan a Dale, (pictured on the back cover)and Little John, (illustrated on the front cover) do not appear in the comic strip.

The cover has a full colour picture of Richard Todd as Robin Hood and on the inside cover are some small, black and white photos of Joan Rice as Maid Marian, Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham, James Robertson Justice as Little John, Hubert Gregg as Prince John and Patrick Barr as Richard the Lionheart.

Also on the inside cover is an introduction to the story:

During the reign of Richard the Lionheart a great crusade was fought in the Holy Land. While Richard strove against the Saracens, his brother, Prince John, ruled in his place.
Prince John had neither the kindliness or the fighting spirit with which Richard ruled the land. The usurper trampled on the rights of the simple people. Ever jealous of his great brother, grasping after gold and power, Prince John ruled with a mailed fist…….always plotting against his brother’s hoped for return to England and the Throne.
But when his tax collectors and game wardens entered Sherwood Forest, they encountered the Merry Men and their famous leader, Robin Hood. Then, as never before, did Prince John begin to doubt he would ever be the King.

The comic consists of 32 pages in colour. The inside back cover has a good quality film still of Maid Marian (Joan Rice) being rescued from the dungeon with the Sheriff (Peter Finch) being led at knife point by Robin (Richard Todd) . On the back is a full cover still of Allan-a Dale (Elton Hayes) with Little John (James Robertson Justice) and Scathelok (Michael Hordern).

The comic script is by Gaylord Du Bois and Morris Gollub. Pencils by Jon Small and Morris Gollub. Inks by Jon Small.

Robin Hood And His Merrie Men


“Mother!” called a small lad, as he came into the house after a morning’s wandering in the forest.
“Is dinner ready?”

So begins the book, Robin Hood and his Merrie Men published by Dean & Son Ltd. of Ludgate Hill, London, printed sometime in the mid to late 1960’s by Purnell And Sons of Paulton in Somerset. It does not identify an author. But this was the first book I owned and was the start of my life long interest in the legend.

With Richard Greene’s series, The Adventures of Robin Hood, shown weekly on our old black and white television-along with regular airings of Errol Flynn’s classic movie version and Robert and Elizabeth Taylor in Ivanhoe- this young outlaw spent many happy summer holidays with his friends, camping in the local woods, re-enacting sword fights with wooden sticks and dustbin lids for shields. And, of coarse, organising archery contests, with some rather primitive looking bows and arrows!

A few years later The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men was shown at my local Granada cinema, accompanying The Love Bug. I will never forget sitting there completely enthralled with Disney’s live-action version of the outlaw tale. The colour- the story-the characters– the action and of course Joan Rice, totally captivated me. When I got home I begged my parents if I could have some more money to go and watch it again! They eventually relinquished and so began my love of the film and my research into the fascinating legend that inspired it.

Under the label Clement's Collection I will start to list some of the books that I have acquired over the years for my research into the Robin Hood legend and recommend to the reader. Books from Disney’s Story of Robin Hood will eventually be in the Memorabilia section.