BIG BAD WOLF IN MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE ISSUES FROM 1937

The vol. 2, no. 6 of Mickey Mouse Magazine, dated March 1937, features a very interesting 3 and a half pages long story titled 'Home, Sweet Home!'. The lead character is Little Red Riding Hood, who had also appeared in the cartoon short Big Bad Wolf (1934). The story kicks off with the little girl getting fed up with getting continuously scolded by her parents, which also includes getting a light slap on her face. When she protests that she doesn't like home anymore, her father literally tells her to pack her stuff and leave... Once on her own, she meets Big Bad Wolf who is surprisingly kind to her! Eventually, we are told (by her parents) that Mickey and the gang were secretly following the wolf and the reason of his kindness was that he was aware he was being watched... It is a very well-written story which enables the readers' to enter the mindset of the little girl completely. In addition, the unexpected behavior of the Big Bad Wolf does evoke a perfect aura of uncannines. This story would make a perfect subject for psychoanalitic scrunity. I will not go into it at length here, but cannot refrain from noting that the German (the native language of Freud, mind you) for 'uncanny' is umheimlich which literaly means home-like but not home. The behaviour of Big Bad Wolf whom she meets outside home is the polar opposite of Red Riding Hood's parents at home. He appears as everything she wants to see at home, but he is not of home. Anyway...
The same issue of MMM also includes this one-pag gag-comics with Big Bad Wolf, with inferior-quality art:


The subsequent issue, vol. 2 no. 7, dated April 1937, features even more material with the Big Bad Wolf, even though none are as interesting as the 'Home, Sweet Home!' story in the previous issue. The story titled '$500 Reward' is set in the wild west and has bounty hunter Mickey on the trail of the Big Bad Wolf.




'April Fool Candy' has Big Bad Wolf forcing the Busy Pig to invite him over to a party, only to have trick played on him.


'The Moo-Maid' is the best of the lot in this issue. Here, Clarabella Cow has been designated as the lifeguard of a beach frequented by the folk of Disneyville. The part where she spends so much time on taking care on how she looks before comingto the drowning Big Bad Wolf's rescue is hilarious.
In additon to the illustrated text stories, the Big Bad Wolf, together with his sons, also appear in the below gag:


The next Big Bad Wolf appearance among the MMM issues available in my collection is in vol. 2, no. 11, dated Aug. 1937, where his face (in an awful drawing) appears on a balloon in a piece titled 'Let's Have A Picnic':


With this long post, I round up my coverage of Big Bad Wolf appearances in Mickey Mouse Magazine till I get more issues to my collection. For coming posts, I intend to go back to covering post-war Li'l/Bad Wolf comics, so stay tuned on.

BIG BAD WOLF POEM AND OTHERS IN MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE FROM 1936

The above scan is of the first page of a two-page poem, titled 'A Tale of the Sea', published in vol.2 no.2 of Mickey Mouse Magazine, dated Nov. 1936. The same poem would also be published in UK's Mickey Mouse Weekly in 1939 albeit with different illustrations (see below post on Sept. 20 for a scan from the British edition). The plot of the poem is about the little pigs being kidnapped by the Big Bad Wolf and rescued by Mickey Mouse.
The same issue of Mickey Mouse Magazine also includes this gag-panel (with very inferior-quality art!) featuring the Big Bad Wolf:

In addition, the Big Bad Wolf is also mentioned in an illustrated text story titled 'Laugh, Hyena, Laugh' in which Donald Duck fights a hyena. The wolf is mentioned in the text as an associate of the hyena in question, but he is not depicted in any of the pictures illustrating the story.
On the other hand, Big Bad Wolf's sons are co-featured with Donald in this single-page irregular-format mini-comics in the same issue:

BIG BAD WOLF IN MICKEY'S PARTY (1939)

The above scan is from the first Donald Duck Annual published in the UK by Collins Clear-Type Press in 1939. It's the illustration of a two-page story titled 'Games to brighten a Party: The Thought Reader'. The Big Bad Wolf isn't mentioned in the text itself.

PS: In the coming days, I intend to cover Donald Duck Annual and other obscure annuals by Collins in my other blog at http://kayaozkaracalar3.blogspot.com/

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

The above page had been offered on ebay sometime ago as a "comic sheet." The seller didn't know the source of the publication it came from, but I think it is from the American magazine Good Housekeeping which had published illustrated story adaptions of Disney cartoons from 1934 onwards till early 1940s.

The story in this particular page is an adaptation of the cartoon Big Bad Wolf (1934) which had also spawned two books, one hardcover, the other softcover, in the same year. A close analysis of the illustrations in the magazine page and the books show that they feature revised forms of the same art material (by Tom Wood). For example, the figures on the illustrations on the middle row are identical to the two illustrations in the books, albeit being decouped from their backgrounds:

More interestingly, the first picture on the first row is composited together from three illustrations from the book (or vice versa?):

On the other hand, while the first picture on the third row of the sheet is similar to but not identical to one of the illustrations from the book, the remaining two pictures of the sheet do not have their matches in the book.

NEW BLOG RE DISNEY COMICS AND BOOKS IN GENERAL

Please note that I've started a new blog on Disney comics and books at http://kayaozkaracalar3.blogspot.com/

Needlessly to say, I will also continue this blog on Big Bad Wolf, I've got still a lot to share re him.

CAN YOU FIND THE THREE PIGS BEFORE BIG BAD WOLF DOES?

The above scan is from the vol. 4 no. 7 of Mickey Mouse Magazine dated March 1939. Honestly, I myself can not spot any of the pigs in the picture... If you do, please tell us where!

The same issue also featured the poster of the cartoon short The Practical Pig, which was released in the previous month, on its back cover:

BRITISH BIG BAD WOLF GAG COMICS FROM 1950

The popularity of the 'Li'l Bad Wolf' comics initiated in Walt Disney's Comics & Stories would soon tempt the editors and artists of Disney comics magazines around the world to produce their own Li'l / Big Bad Wolf comics themselves in addition to the imported American material. One of the first (if not the first) to do so appear to be the staff of Britain's Mickey Mouse Weekly, as exemplifed in the above scan of the cover of issue dated Oct. 14, 1950. As far as I can ascertain, it does not appear to be a redrawn version of an American gag and hence possibly an original British production (If anyone knows otherwise, please correct me). The artist is unknown to me, but likely candidates are Ernest Richardson, Ronald Neilson and Basil Reynolds who are known to have worked at MMW in that era. Incidentally, the idea for this gag would later be used in a Donald Duck daily strip in the US in 1962.

Other non-American Big Bad Wolf comics will eventually be also covered in this blog, so please stay tuned on..

PS: I am sorry to have neglected this blog for some time; this time around, the unfortunate reason is the world-wide economic recession which has began to hit the shores here as well, prompting me to spend some of my extra time in trying to find ways to make ends meet in the face of devaluation of our currency.

BIG BAD WOLF AS DONALD'S OBJECT OF ART

This cross-word puzzle was published in vol.5 no. 1 of Mickey Mouse Magazine dated Oct. 1939. The illustration of accompanying the puzzle was actually a modified version of one of the illustrations in the School Days in Disneyville book published by Heath in the same year:

The same issue of Mickey Mouse Magazine also utilized one other illustration featuring the Thee Little Pigs from the same book in its contents page. Aside from appearing in Donald's drawing, Big Bad Wolf himself also makes several appearances in person in School Days in Disneyville, as covered in an earlier post in this blog on May 28th.

VINTAGE BIG BAD WOLF GLASS

A vintage glass set featuring illustrations of the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs was recently sold at an ebay auction for 104 US dlrs.

The precise production year of the set is unknown, but it is believed to date from circa mid-1930's. From a flyer published in a Tomart's Disneyana Update magazine, we learn that this set (together with an Elmer Elephant glass) was manifactured as give-away to promote dairy products.

BIG BAD WOLF MASK

These photos of Big Bad Wolf full-head latex masks were kindly e-mailed to me by blog reader Daniel. He says it was manufactured by Don Post Studios in 1992. At his suggestion, I am posting them on occassion of Halloween.

Thanks again, Daniel..

UNUSUAL BIG BAD WOLF BEER GLASS

I don't quite understand the context of the image on this beer glass, but it is interesting simply because it is unusual. A web search shows that the same image/logo was also used on a 2006 pin (that's probably where it originated from) as well as on t-shirts. If anyone knows more about it, please let us know.

TURKISH BIG BAD BROTHER SQUEEZE ON TURKISH BLOGGERS

While it is true that I had myself slowed down my rate of making new posts on this blog since August (that is since I began to devote some of my spare time to indexing my Disney comics collection), the fact that no new posts at all were made in the past 10 days has got nothing to do with me... For the past week, all blogspot/blogger access to Turkey was halted due to a Turkish court order! The case was apparently instigated by a Turkish tv channel (Digitürk) who had license to broadcast some soccer matches and was dismayed by video streamlining of the games in question at some blogs. Hence, for some reason unfathomable by neither me nor countless Turkish bloggers, all blogspot/blogger access was ordered shut down in a draconian manner...
Anyway, the ban is suspended as of now, so I am back. Of course, there is always the option of using proxys, but they are slower and of questionable safety and I hope I won't have to resort to that backdoor in the future.

BIG BAD WOLF IN FICTIONAL ACCOUNT OF DISNEY'S FIRST TV TEST

The above scan is of the illustration of a one-page story about Disney's first tv test, in which the Big Bad Wolf makes a last moment appearance, published in vol. 4 no. 8 of Mickey Mouse Magazine, dated May 1939. This short story is very interesting for being a relic of a precise moment in history where this new medium was still largely unknown to the larger portion of the population and yet was on the verge of kick-off.

The story starts with Walt Disney calling on all the Disney characters to attend a "television test". Mickey is clueless as to what that means and Minnie even speculates that they are being summoned to a check-up of their eyes! However, Clara Cluck who had "picked up no end of gossip" clears up the "mystery":

"Why haven't you heard," she clucked. "Everyone is talking about this wonderful machine. It takes your picture just like a camera, a movie camera, only it travels through the air."

A short overview of the history of television in the US is necessary for putting this story in perspective. While limited television service had technically started in the US as early as 1928, these low-def broadcasts had not become widespread beyond experimental stations run by universities. Only after 1936, when hi-def broadcast became possible, did the new medium really began to get kick-off. NBC, which had began regularly scheduled broadcasts on April 30th, 1939, aired Donald's Cousin Gus on May 19th, making it the first film cartoon to be televised in the US. Hence, the short story covered in this blog post was published on the eve of this historic event.

Source on history of tv in the US: wikipedia

BIG BAD WOLF IN DRAG

In the cartoons of the 1930s, Big Bad Wolf was portrayed as a master of disguises and his attempts to capture the three pigs quite frequently involved female impersonations as well. In the last pigs vs wolf cartoon, titled Practical Pig (1939), he would even cross-dress as a mermaid... A four-page illustrated story adaptation of this cartoon was published in vol. 4 no. 8 of Mickey Mouse Magazine in May 1939 and the mermaid scene made its cover (*):


Below are scans of the wolf-ish illustrations from this story:



It should also be noted that the plot (and title) of the same cartoon had also formed the basis of a Sunday newspaper comics continuity serialized in 1938 before the cartoon's release. In the Sunday comics version, Big Bad Wolf cross-dresses as a female gypsy rather than a mermaid and that scene had made the cover of an Italian comics album in the same year:

And below is the cover of a 1939 French edition of Practical Pig:

In the US, there also appeared three different editions of Practical Pig books in 1939-40, none which I have seen myself so far, but one (according to A. Beccatini) appears to be based on the comics version and hence presumably replaces the mermaid scene with the gypsy scene.

(*) I am sorry for the poor condition of the cover I had scanned, but MMM issues are very expensive items in the collectors market and I could afford only a "fair-condition" copy of this issue.. :-(

BIG BAD WOLF IN ITALIAN HORROR COMICS

Above scan is of the cover of the Turkish edition of an Italian horror comics titled Dylan Dog. The Big Bad Wolf does indeed appear in the story featured in that issue, but, alas, only revealed as a hallucination. The cover art is by Angelo Stano and the story by Tziano Sclavi, the original creator of Dylan Dog, a private detective often dealing with the supernatural (note his face is modeled on actor Rupert Everet).

Note: While this story was printed as no.20 in the series' latest Turkish edition as seen in the scan, its original number in Italy was 56, first published in 1991.

BIG BAD WOLF MEETS MICKEY MOUSE

In earlier posts from previous weeks, I had noted that artist Gil Turner had introduced well-known Disney characters as guest stars into a succession of 'Li'l Bad Wolf' stories in 1950. The first of such encounters had come in Walt Disney's Comics & Stories no. 112 (dated Jan. 1950). In this Christmas story, Li'l Bad Wolf had requested Santa Claus to bring him a puppy as a present:

Big Bad Wolf's attitude in the above panel is a very good depiction of his dismissiveness towards what he apparently deems as loftiness. And yet, fate plays a trick on him as a stray Pluto, chasing a cat, falls down the chimney:

The Big BadWolf is understandably upset with this turn of events:

However, he eventually realizes this is the lost dog of Mickey Mouse who had set up a reward for him:

Nevertheless, as always, the cunning Practical Pig is determined to spoil it all for the Big Bad Wolf in the end...

I am uneasy with these kind of stories where Big Bad Wolf seeks monetary gains which seem to me to to be not very compatible with his overall persona. However, the story is very memorable for Turner's rendering of Mickey Mouse is excellent, on par with the best Mickey artists in my opinion.

BIG BAD WOLF POSTCARD FROM DENMARK

The artwork on this postcard from Belgium, which was recently offered on ebay, is quite lousy, but I find it mildly noteworthy for the presence of Li'l Bad Wolf.

MAGAZINE FROM 1933 WITH BIG BAD WOLF COVER ART

This magazine was recently offered on ebay. It came to my notice from this blog post:
http://disneybooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Ebay

BIG BAD WOLF FOOTBALL GAG STRIP FROM 1939

The above scan (click on the image to view it in larger size) is from Britain's Mickey Mouse Weekly no.202. I find the pig's facial expression in the first two pictures as priceless. Also, the fact that the wolf is depicted with its gaze turned towards the readers is very interesting -and in line with a feature frequently seen in his appearances in Sunday comics in the pre-war era.

BIG BAD WOLF POEM SERIAL FROM 1939

Above scan is of the illustration accompanying the last installement of a three-part poem-story published in Britain's Mickey Mouse Weekly in 1939. The story is about the pigs being kidnapped by the wolf ona sea voyage and then being rescued.

Update from Dec. 7th: I have now realized this poem was earlier published in Mickey Mouse Magazine of the US in 1936 albeit with different illustrations; see post above on Dec. 7th for scan of the original American edition.

BIG BAD WOLF WAR INSIGNIA (1943)

The below set of war insignia from the 2nd World War era, one of which feature the Big Bad Wolf 's as above, were published in no. 30 (dated March 1943) of Walt Disney's Comics & Stories.

By the way, readers interested in comics'/cartoons' role in the war effort in WW2 are urged to chech out this blog: http://toonsatwar.blogspot.com/

BIG BAD WOLF IN MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE (1937)

The forerunner of Walt Disney's Comics & Stories was Mickey Mouse Magazine published between 1935-40. Besides non-comics material, it largely reprinted US newspaper daily and Sunday comics. Today, this is a relatively rare publication and is yet sparsely indexed. Via ebay, it has come to my notice that 1936's 'Silly Symphony' Sunday comics serial which featured Big Bad Wolf's first appearance in the comics medium had been reprinted in Mickey Mouse Magazine in 1937, albeit in a reformatted manner to fit standart magazine page format.

Note that, in a series of posts in previous months in this blog, I had provided a detailed overview of this Silly Symphony continuity, with extensive scans from its reprint in Britain's Mickey Mouse Weekly which had ran it in a form identical to its original format.

BIG BAD WOLF MEETS DONALD DUCK

In a below post in late August, I had noted that artist Gil Turner had introduced well-known Disney characters as guest stars into a succession of 'Li'l Bad Wolf' stories in 1950. In this post, I will cover Big Bad Wolf's encounter with Disney comics' arguably most celebrated star, Donald Duck in Walt Disney's Comics & Stories no. 115 (dated April 1950).
The plot of the story involves Donald Duck taking up an offer of the pigs to swap their country house with his city house for one month. Consequently, Big Bad Wolf unintentionaly kidnaps Donald.

Turner's take on Donald Duck seems inspired by the hot-tempered Donald of cartoons and of newspaper gag strips. Big Bad Wolf's initial reaction to meeting such a personality is very interesting. When faced with someone he is unfamiliar with and especially someone who stands up to him, he initially backs off, which is perhaps somehow typical of (the popular conceptions regarding) the humble attitude of 'the country folks' towards 'the city people'. The realization that he could prey on him as well comes only gradually.
The wolf then enlists yet another one of his disguise tricks to re-capture Donald, unaware that his son had already tipped the duck of his plans..

Note that the very last panel is reminiscent of the finale of the cartoon short Three Little Pigs (1933).
In the coming days, I will post more on Gil Turner's works, so stay tuned on...

BIG BAD WOLF PRODUCTION DRAWING FROM 1934

The above production drawing for the cartoon Big Bad Wolf (1934) was recently sold at an ebay auction for 177.5 US dlrs. Below is that particular scene as it appeared in the cartoon: