Special thanks this week go out to Vanessa and Christian who have both sent to me images of their copies of the Walt Disney's Robin Hood Stamp Book.
This is Christian's copy of the stamp book (above and below) which was published in New York in 1955 by Simon and Schuster. The story inside was adapted from Lawrence E. Watkin's screenplay by Willis Lindquist with illustrations by Hamilton Greene (that could be coloured).
But what makes this book a 'must have' for all fans of Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) is the four pages of coloured stamps that were each titled and numbered. The owner had to stick these sixty stamps in the correct places on each page of the book.
Christian's copy has the stamp's still intact and his book is nearly in mint condition.
Readers of the blog will be familiar with most of these images on the stamps, but seeing them in colour like this shows why this wonderful movie was described as the best Technicolor film ever made in England.
It also is another example of Walt Disney's phenomenal amount of promotion and advertising behind his movie production.
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| "BRING HIM DOWN," SHOUTS DE LACY |
Included among the stamps is an image ( shown above) of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Finch) using a bow and arrow with a dead soldier in the foreground. It is stamp number '32' and has the title, "BRING HIM DOWN" SHOUTS DE LACY." This is very interesting as the scene must have ended up on the cutting room floor, because it was never used in the movie.
Vanessa has also very kindly sent me a picture of the Spanish version of the stamp book that is in her collection.
I would like to thank both Vanessa and Christian for sharing with us their much-treasured albums.
A big thank you to Vanessa and Christian for their images of the stamp album.
ReplyDeleteVanessa went to a great deal of trouble to translate the names of the stamps for me. She says they are:
From left to right and from top to bottom, here is the text translation:
> Cover:
> Robin and Marian
> "Keep on singing"-cried Robin
> "God save king Richard!"
> A guest at Robin's table
> They came out of their hiding place
> They burst out laughing
> Their swords blazed
> Robin shot the arrow
> They were receiving donations
>
> Back cover:
> An arrow landed near them
> Provost's expert archers
> The king and he exchanged glances
> In the courtyard of the inn
> The Archbishop blessed them
> They left to the crusades
> "I will whet his appetite"
> "I will brush the sand from you"-he cried
> "Go ahead, good archer"
> Robin's campsite
> Robin killed Red Gill
> Robin beat his adversary
> The pageboy struggled to escape
> "Get him" cried the provost
> The crowd shouted with joy
I do know this stamp book and have one too - however this one looks to be in mint condition. The thing that strikes me is that the picture of Peter Finch with the bow and arrow is just so clear and sharp here whereas the ones I have are more fuzzy. Maybe it has been enhanced - but no matter what it looks great.
ReplyDeleteJust looking back through my stamp book and there is another picture that always intrigues me - the one with Friar Tuck sitting with his back against the tree and the caption is 'Friar Tuck singing to himself'. I have seen this in another book and again the image is not too distinct when blown up - but when you do it almost looks as if Friar Tuck ( James Hayter) is not real. Difficult to explain but if you could enlarge and enhance that picture it would be good. Hope you can Clement. Also it shows him on that wonderfulstudio set but it also looks as though the picture is the wrong way round.
ReplyDeleteHi Neil, Christian says that his stamp album is nearly in mint condition. I too have a copy of the album, but the stamps are stuck in the relevant places. It's in reasonable condition.
ReplyDeleteThe stamp, no.25 in the album showing Friar Tuck against a tree, with his hermitage in the background and a view of an abbey, seems to be studio still. This image is also used in the 'Mickey Mouse Club Book' of Robin Hood which was also produced in 1955.
In both cases the image is fuzzy, but I wonder if this is due to the printing technique of the time.