A Cafe in Sherwood Forest

 

In Sherwood, in a cafe and under a poster of my favourite film. HEAVEN!

The Story of Robin Hood Poster

 

Above is an undated poster I have recently discovered for Walt Disney's live-action movie The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. We now have an impressive collection of these from all over the world and they can be found by clicking on the 'poster' label on this blog.

This recent discovery is very similar to the one below:

Both seem to be from same period, but when was that? 

IMDb state that apart from its first showing in 1952, the film was re-released in the UK on the 28th of July 1957 and the 19th of September 1971.

If anyone can put a date on these two posters, please get in touch.

French Robin Hood Poster

Above is a French poster promoting Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. This was kindly sent in by Christian Roy. The movie was released several times, so it is difficult to date, but Joan Rice’s ranking in the list of stars could reveal it was designed in the 1950’s.

In the side panel of this blog, you will see the label ‘ Posters’. Click on this and you will find a vast and considerably varied collection of art work from around the world, advertising this wonderful Disney film.

I expect many of my readers will have their favourite poster. The one above dates from the films first release in 1952 and remains the choice of Mike Giddens, Neil Vessey and myself. Which one is yours? Please let me know. 

Posters and Lobby Cards

Below is a small sample of the fine artwork used to promote Walt Disney's live-action movie The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men in 1952.

The first image is described by an online auction site, as an Australian Daybill (13'' x 30").

Australian Daybill

Also are two posters (below) that appeared in the media and cinemas. It is interesting to see the differences in design.

The 'Three Sheet' (41'' x 80.5")

I have also included a set of eight very colourful lobby cards, used during the release of the movie at various times. 

Lobby card set of eight (11'' x 14')

There were a vast array of posters used to advertise this film. Down the years I have managed to gain quite a collection on this blog, from all around the world. Including 24 pages of posters and 7 pages of lobby cards. To view them, just click on the links.

Real Actors!

Mexican Lobby Card

Vanessa has recently sent me this image of a Mexican lobby card for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952). The title of the film was changed as Los Arqueros Del Rey which translates from Spanish into English as 'The Archers of the King.'

I do not know when the film was released in Mexico, but it's premiere in Madrid, Spain was on the 17th May 1954.
Vanessa says:

Please note just under the picture of Robin and Marian in blue ink it says "con actores reales" (with real actors). I suppose they wanted to make it clear so audiences knew it was not a cartoon movie for children as most of Disney early movies were.

That is a very interesting observation. I have seen these lobby cards before but never noticed that particular description. It shows how the audiences of the time would have been unfamiliar with the Disney organisation being associated with anything else other than cartoon animation (even though this was their second live action movie picture).

Many thanks Vanessa for sending this to me.

To see a collection of film posters for Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men from all over the world, please click here. There are also various lobby cards here.

Robin Hood by Alexandre Dumas

 

 

 

It is always nice to hear from visitors to this blog and receive their comments and input. So I am extremely grateful to Christian Roy - one of our regular readers - for sending me this image and email.

 

"Dear Clement,

It might be of interest to you to know that a French pocketbook intended for young people (from 14 on), called Marabout Junior, was available in the 50s.

The 2nd issue (of many to follow) was devoted to the novel called Robin des Bois, le Proscrit, which was written by Alexandre Dumas of Three Muskeeters fame. It may be doubtful though it was written by him.

 

Anyway, the cover of the Marabout book is interesting in that it acknowledges the source, that is to say the 1952 Disney RKO Picture.

In its own right, it is also a beautiful colourful depiction of my favourite film of all times!

 

Hope it is a worthy addition to your collection, also to share with fans."
(Christian Roy)

 

Many thanks Christian. The image on the book cover has been taken from the poster that originally advertised the film. We have seen various examples of this happening since this blog started and although this particular book cover had permission by Disney, many products did not. This forced the Disney organisation to later enforce strict copyright laws on all their products.

Le Prince des Voleurs (The Prince of Thieves) was written by Alexandre Dumas and published in 1872 (after his death in 1870) in an edition of his complete works (published and edited by Michel Levy, 1862-89).

 

 

 

French Poster of Disney's Story of Robin Hood

This French poster dates from c.1952 and was used to advertise Walt Disney's live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men which was released on the 13th August of that year.

To see a collection of over 21 posters and advertisements used to advertise this wonderful film, please click here.

Danish Robin Hood and his Merrie Men Poster

I discovered this striking poster  of our film on the web recently. It seems to date from the Danish release of the movie in 1952 and is unlike any of the others I have seen before-the colouring is most unusual.

To see a collection of posters and prints promoting Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, please click here.

Italian Poster

We now have a wide variety of  different posters and lobby cards from around the world, promoting Walt Disney's Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952) on this site. Above is an Italian poster from the 1950's. To see the others please click here.

An Italian Poster

This Italian poster promoting Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood (1952) appeared on Ebay recently. In my opinion it has inferior artwork compared to the many that we have collected on here, but it is interesting none the less. It seems to date from the original release of the movie; although it’s heading ‘Ottobre’ (October) does not fit with IMDb’s date for its release in Italy (6^th November 1952).

There is no mention of Peter Finch - and Joan Rice appears with Richard Todd as the headline stars, which does suggest that the poster was produced for the film’s early release in 1952. Also Friar Tuck (James Hayter) appears as the prominent character in the artwork, which is unusual. 


What do you think?

Scandalous John

I am not sure what year this advertisement appeared and when the Story of Robin Hood accompanied Scandalous John. In fact I had never heard of  Disney’s Scandalous John!

So if any of my blog readers can help, it will be greatly appreciated.

Spanish Poster

Above is yet another poster advertising Walt Disney’s live-action movie the Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. This one is Spanish and may be from the year of the movie’s first release in 1952, as Peter Finch does not appear in the billing.

Robin Hood Flour Promotion

This beautifully illustrated poster was yet another of the many promotions for Walt Disney’s live-action movie the ‘Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men’ (1952).

Included in the promotion of the film were three (?) giveaway small comic books, 7.25 inches tall x 5 inches wide and printed by Western Publishing. The first free comic was ‘The Miller’s Ransom,’ followed by the ‘Ghosts of Waylea Castle', the third is sadly unknown. The comics were written by Don Christensen and illustrated by Tony Sgroi and Russ Manning.

‘Robin Hood Flour' was founded in 1900 by Donald Mclean in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in western Canada. In 1909 the mill was taken over by Francis Atherton Bean of Minneapolis and within two years it was producing over 1,600 barrels of flour a day.

Using the green and red ‘archer’ emblem as a sign of good value and respectability, Robin Hood Flour and its recipes have remained popular for over a century. In the late 50’s and early 1960’s the company even used a jingle made from the theme tune of the classic TV series ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood.’

The Forest Table

This picture was taken one morning, in 'The Forest Table’ restaurant in the Visitor Centre, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire. Sherwood is my spiritual home. There are posters from the many Robin Hood films made down the years, on the walls all around, and this is the owner of this blog sitting next to undoubtedly the best version of them all!

I thought I would take this opportunity to thank some of my regular contributors and visitors for their help and support of my blog. I would especially like to thank Laurence for his recent input and fantastic picture strip, Albie, Neil, Mike, Geoff and Avalon for their regular comments and contributions (it really means a lot!). Also a special thank you to my 24 Google Blog Followers! Together I believe we have helped give Walt Disney’s ‘Story of Robin Hood,’ some of the publicity and recognition it deserves.

Well, I have now reached 525 posts on this blog and had 5,269 visitors last month. Many come to read my articles about the film and its production; others enjoy reading about the legend of Robin Hood and places associated with him. We have travelled many paths in the search for the outlaw and there are a lot more to come!

So if you are a regular visitor to this site or it is your first time  here, it would be great to hear from you. It can be information or a question about the legend, the Disney movie, its production, the actors and actresses, or comments about the blog, please get in touch. I will do my best to answer any questions you might have.

The More The Merrier !!

'All Color Walt Disney Show', Salem, 1952

It’s the summer of 1952 and in Salem, Oregon in the USA at the Capitol Theatre an ‘All Color Walt Disney Show' is advertised. It is the live action ‘Story of Robin Hood’ accompanied by one of the award winning ‘True Life Adventures’ series ‘Water Birds,’ along with the cartoon short ‘The Little House.'

If you look carefully, the posters can be seen in the display cases around the theatre.

Spanish Poster

A big thank you to Mike for sending in this fantastic Spanish poster, (The Archers of the King) from what appears to be the original release of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood in the 1950’s. This is one of my favourites; I particularly like the warm rich colours, design and elaborate detail.

Japanese Poster

This absolutely stunning Japanese poster was sent in by Mike recently. It seems to date from the time of the Story of Robin Hood’s original release in Japan in January 1955.  The lettering and imagery are balanced so well and create a beautiful work of art. Once again we have been treated to yet another view of rare Disney memorabilia from the film.

An 'All Walt Disney' Show

Above is a copy of the advertisement for the American cinema release of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood along with its two accompanying shorts from 1952.

Walt Disney’s Water Birds was released in America on 26th July 1952 along with The Story of Robin Hood. It is basically a 30 minute wild-life documentary written and narrated by Winston Hibler and directed by Ben Sharpsteen. It won an Academy Award in 1953 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries. This is a description of the film by the New York Times on 27th June 1952:

“This time, more than a dozen cameramen, in cooperation with the National Audubon Society and the Denver Museum of Natural History, have trained their Technicolor sights on gannets, fairy terns, pelicans, coots, grebes, snowy egrets, flamingos, curlews and other water fowl to come up with a film document which again both educates and entertains. Especially edifying are such slow-motion shots as gannets plummeting from great heights into the waters below and a mating dance of the Western grebe which is as comic as a Chaplin fandango. And the integration of the musical background and the intelligent and humorous narration by Winston Hibler makes "Water Birds" a treat for both the eye and the ear."


The Little House is a cartoon short directed by Wifred Jackson, based on the book written by Virginia Lee Burton in 1942.It was narrated by Sterling Holloway and tells the story of how a house tries to compete with progress and the encroachment of the big city. It was released on the 8th August 1952.

British 'Story of Robin Hood' Poster (1972)

This poster advertising the 1972 release of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men is the dynamic art-work of Arnaldo Putzu whose mainstay of work was found on British Cinema posters of the 60’s and 70’s.

Arnaldo worked in the chief film agency in Britain, run by one of the un-sung heroes of British cinema-the commercial artist Eric Pulford (1915-2005). In 1943 Rank invited Pulford to set up a design studio which later became known as Pulford Publicity. By 1963 it had evolved into the large London agency Downtown Advertising, which in addition to Rank and its Gaumont and Odeon Cinema chains, later held accounts for Universal, RKO, United Artists, British Lion, Columbia and Disney.

From the mid 1950’s Pulford employed a series of Italian artists and his studio eventually included 44 artists and photographers.

In about 1967 Arnaldo Putzu was brought over by Pulford as an in-house artist at Downtown Advertising and later for Feref Associates. Like the other Italians employed by Pulford, Arnaldo was very quick, normally taking about two days to paint a poster. Critics would probably vote his art work for Michael Caine’s gangster film Get Carter (1971) as one of his best.

During the 1970’s Arnaldo went on to become the regular cover-artist for the teen-age magazine Look-In; these days he is still happily painting in Rome.

Arnaldo’s 1972 poster for the re-release of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood is typical of his flamboyant style. But it borrowed heavily from the original British poster of 1952, which in my opinion was far better. In his version the style is more graphic and the colours are darker; particularly the green. The image of Robin with his bow is far more menacing than the original twenty years earlier and Arnaldo has switched the positions of Robin and Marian which in the 1952 version was a straight copy from the publicity still.

I would be interested to know which you prefer.

Original British 'Story of Robin Hood' poster (1952)

Once again a big thank you goes out to Mike, for sending me a copy of his much-treasured original British poster of Walt Disney’s Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men (1952).

In my opinion this is by far the best artwork I have seen for the movie, it captures beautifully the colour, action and romance of the film. I would love to own a copy of this. Unfortunately I have not found the name of the artist, although it seems to have been produced by Pulford Publicity in London which later became known as Downtown Advertising and Feref Associates. If anyone can help me find a name for the artist, please get in touch at disneysrobin@googlemail.com.