70th Anniversary of The Story of Robin Hood

I have many favourite stills from Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) and this is one of them. Richard Todd as Robin Hood puts his protective arms around Maid Marian played by the beautiful Joan Rice. Do you have a favourite?

This movie had a huge influence on me. I was already a huge Disney fan, but I can remember sitting in my local Granada cinema when I was a teenager, being transfixed by the visual feast before my eyes. The glorious Technicolor, the wonderful characters, the visual effects and of course I fell in love with Joan Rice.

As we approach the 70th Anniversary of the start of filming at Denham Studios, I can't help wishing Disney would release an anniversary DVD of The Story of Robin Hood, containing extras and behind-the-scenes footage. Wouldn't that be a fitting tribute to this wonderful film and the vast amount of talented people that were involved in creating this masterpiece?

Advertising the Story of Robin Hood

 

One of the many things I have learned, since writing this blog about the Story of Robin Hood, is the huge amount of advertising and promotion that Disney used for his films. We have seen in previous articles the images of the shop displays in many of the major stores in London, completely decked-out with 'Robin Hood' toys and memorabilia in 1952. Click the link ‘Film Premiere’ to see more.

In my last blog post I showed, with the help of Janet VanMeter, how Walt Disney and Robin Hood Flour combined to promote his newly released live-action movie. Available with a purchase of Robin Hood Flour, were posters, cookie cutters and free comic books - all linked to the movie.

Above is another example of Disney's advertising campaign. This full page (above) was kindly sent in by Neil and shows Robin Hood Flour alongside an extraordinary collection of companies, all promoting the Story of Robin Hood.