James Hayter as Friar Tuck

This colourful publicity still of James Hayter as Friar Tuck in Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952) was sent to me by Neil.

He said:

“The picture I have, is scanned from an Australian book called the Little Golden Book with a copyright of 1973 - twenty one years after the film release.
As someone in business myself over many years where marketing plays a very important role, I am so impressed and surprised by the marketing ability of Walt Disney on a world scale, long before the internet days which have made things easier in that regard.”

He continues:

“I have been away in Dorset for a week or more and in one shop browsing through the 'Films on Video' books I looked up one of the comments on this film. It stated among other things that this film must lay claim to being the finest Technicolor film ever made in England. I would agree with that.”

And I would second that Neil!

At the beginning of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood, a book opens to reveal an illustration of Huntingdon Manor; from that moment on, we are treated to a film that is beautifully painted with a sparkling array of Technicolor hues. Every scene has a sumptuous picture-book quality that is perfectly demonstrated in the scene above.

To read more about the actor James Hayter or the legend of Friar Tuck, please click on the labels below.