TIN BOX FROM BELGIUM WITH BIG BAD WOLF

This wonderful tin box is currently being offered on ebay. The Netherlands-based seller identifies it as being from Belgium and from the "1930s". Based on the characters depicted, a more precise estimate can be 'late 1930s'.

THREE LITTLE WOLVES ON GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Above image is of the illustrated text adaptation of the cartoon short Three Little Wolves (1936) from a compilation of similar adaptations originally published in the American magazine Good Housekeeping. The 12-page (including covers) compilation, titled simply as Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, was published by Whitman on linen-like paper.

THREE LITTLE PIGS RE-RELEASE POSTER

This poster, promoting an undated re-release of Three Little Pigs by Buena Vista, is currently on sale at ebay.

VINTAGE EUROPEAN MOVIE POSTERS

Among an amazing lot of vintage European movie posters currently on sale at ebay by a Spanish seller are three Silly Symphony posters with Big Bad Wolf. Perhaps the most interesting is the above Swedish poster. The seller dates it from 1933, but the illustration features characters from not only Three Little Pigs (1933), but also from The Wise Little Hen (1934) and The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934). It is being offered for 7,000 US dlrs!

The below French poster for "The Joyful Hour of Mickey Mouse" directly highlights The Three Little Pigs. It is incorrectly dated as 1930 by the seller. It was released in France in 1934. It is being offered for 21,000 Us dlrs!!!...

The below French poster features cartoons from the late 1930s, including The Practical Pig (1939). This compilation was released in France in 1940.

BIG BAD WOLF POCKET WATCH

This obscure Big Bad Wolf pocket watch (reportedly in semi-working condition) was recently sold on ebay for 300 US dlrs. The seller promoted it as being from 1934 and by Ingersoll, the clock company which had acquired a Disney license in 1933 and flooded the US market with watches with illustrations of major Disney characters. When questioned about the source of this date attribution, the seller said the estimate was provided by an antique watch expert.

While it is known that Ingersoll did produce an array of Big Bad Wolf & Three Little Pigs watches in 1933-34, this particular item with a solo image of the wolf is not listed in any sources. Based on the style of the illustration, it seems to me that it would more probably date from 1936 or onwards. I even doubt that it's an Ingersoll watch.

BIG BAD WOLF COVER ILLUSTRATION FROM 1939

Above scan is of the bottom-left corner of the cover of no. 161 (dated Mar. 4th, 1939) of Britain's Mickey Mouse Weekly. Big Bad Wolf had been frequently featured on the covers of MMW in 1936, but this appears to be his first appearance after 1937.

RED RIDING HOOD CUTOUTS

Based on cartoon short Big Bad Wolf (1934), these cutouts were give-aways of a cereal.

RED RIDING HOOD BOARD GAME

This board game, manufactured by Salem-based Parker Brothers Inc. and based on the cartoon short Big Bad Wolf (1934), was recently sold on ebay for 47 US dlrs. The item was undated.

RE-LETTERED AND RE-WORDED BIG BAD WOLF

The above scan is from the color central pages of no. 525 (dated June 3rd, 1950) of Britain's Mickey Mouse Weekly and features a reformatted edition of a Big Bad Wolf gag from the back cover of a one-shot 3 Little Pigs comics magazine (dated March 1949) from the US (below scan). Note that during the course of re-formatting of the British edition, speech balloons have been re-lettered with altered wordings of dialogue. The new lettering appears to be the work of British artist Basil Reynolds.

MORE BIG BAD WOLF COVERS FROM BELGIUM (1951-58)

Earlier in this blog (on March 8th), I had posted the scan of my all-time favorite Big Bad Wolf cover, which was from Belgium's French-language Mickey Magazine and promised to post the scans of other BBW covers from the same magazine. Above is the first BBW cover of MM, no. 51 from 1951. The art is by an unknown artist who seems to have drawn only a few covers in 1951, at least i this rather unusual painting style. Below are the remaining BBW covers of MM: no.'s 186, 194, 198, 209, 211, 226, 230, 249, 295, 401 and 412. The artist of the first three covers below is known to be Tenas. It seems BBW was most popular in 1954 as six of the total of 13 BBW covers from MM's run in the 1950s is from that year. Most of the illustrations are derived from situations depicted in comics.

LATEST BIG BAD WOLF COMICS

The above image (taken from the outducks archive) is of the first page of the latest Big Bad Wolf comics, published in no. 2010-14 (dated Apr. 9, 2010) of Netherlands' Donald Duck comics magazine. The script is credited to Jan Kruse.

BRITISH-MADE LI'L/BIG BAD WOLF COMICS (1948)

A series of Li'l Wolf gag comics were briefly run in Britain's Mickey Mouse comics magazine in 1948. The above scan, featuring the Big Bad Wolf alongside his son, is from no. 468, dated June 26th.
This apparently British-made gag series had been preceeded by the serialization of a redraw Li'l Wolf comics of America origin (see post dated Nov. 5th, 2009 in this blog).

BIG BAD WOLF IN BRITAIN'S MICKEY MOUSE (1947)

The above scan is of the cover of no. 448 (dated Sept. 20th, 1947) of Britain's Mickey Mouse magazine and marks the first-ever cover appearance of Li'l Wolf anywhere in the world, as well as the first re-appearance of Big Bad Wolf in the cover of a British publication in the post-war era.
In 1947, the Big Bad Wolf also appeared in some illustrated text stories in Mickey Mouse. The first one, titled as 'The Mystery of the Missing Pig' and published in 431, is very interesting due to its un-typicality. One of the pigs is missing and Mickey and the gang take the Big Bad Wolf to Disneyville's police as the usual suspect for interrogation where he is cleared of blame.

Eventually, it turns out that the Practical Pig himself had unknowingly locked up his own brother in a coal shed!.. The Big Bad Wolf also appears in 'Sergeat Duck, Sir' published in no. 450 where he takes part in war games organized on Mickey's birthday:

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE BIG BAD WOLF COVER

In most covers, the Big Bad Wolf is shown either being outsmarted by the pigs or his son or in cunning poses. This one of the very few covers in which he is shown in a dignified manner. Not only is his pose defiant, but in a very cool way. The amazed looks on the faces of the Li'l Wolf ad the Br'er Bear is also priceless. The bear is exposed as the bully he is while the Li'l Wolf is reduced to a spectatorship role.
It is the cover of no. 173 (dated Jan. 29th, 1954) of Belgium's French-language Mickey Magazine -which I have framed in my living room. The art is attributed to Ténas (Louis Santel), who also acted as the editor of the magazine.
The Big Bad Wolf appeared in about a dozen more covers of Mickey Magazine throughout the 1950s, which will collectively be the subject of the next post in this blog.

THE LATEST BIG BAD WOLF COMICS

Above image (from the outducks archive) is of the first page of the most recent Big Bad Wolf comics, published in no. 2010-02 (Jan. 15th, 2010) of Netherland's Donald Duck comics magazine. Note that Big Bad Wolf nowadays has a refrigerator at home! This 3-page Big Bad Wolf comics was scripted by Herman Roozen, but the artist is unknown. I find the artwork pleasing and more than decent enough.

HENNY PENNY AND THE BIG BAD WOLF (1978)

I recently acquired this children's book published by Random House, as part of the 'Disney's Wonderful World of Reading' series, which happens to be the US edition of a Danish book titled Honsine og himlen der faldt ned published by Gutenberghus of Copenhagen (writer and artist unknown). It is an adaptation of the fable 'The Sky Is Falling' in which the cunning fox's role is taken by the Big Bad Wolf:

In the original fable, the fox does get to devour the chicken!.., as was the case in the Disney cartoon short adaptation Chicken Little (1943).

VINTAGE BIG BAD WOLF BOARD GAME AND OTHER EBAY ITEMS

This interesting looking and somewhat rare board game, manifactured by Boston-based Marks Brothers Co., with license from WD Enterprises, was recently offered on ebay.


Below is a puzzle by Jaymar, said to be from 1960s:


And this tea set piece is part of the set whose tray was the subject of post on Nov. 15th, 2009:

MCDONALDS BIG BAD WOLF FIGURINE

Above image is of the Big Bad Wolf figurine distributed as part of the set of 'Disney's 100 Years of Magic' Happy Meal giveaways by McDonalds in 2002.

BIG BAD WOLF IN JAIL!

The above scan is of a full-page illustration from the Brazilian comics Os Viloes [The Villains], the no. 52 (sept. 1980) of the 'Disney Especial' series published by Abril. The artist is unknown.

The scan was recently uploaded to outducks.org by outducks user Dagoberti.

SILVERPLATED BIG BAD WOLF

This silverplated Big Bad Wolf spoon, produced by Reed & Barton Silversmiths and distributed by New England Collectors Society in 1987, was recently offered on ebay.

THE FIRST KNOWN PRINT APPEARANCES OF THE BIG BAD WOLF IN TURKEY (1937-38)

The earliest known appearance of the Big Bad Wolf in a Turkish publication was in the serialization of the illustrated story adaptation of the Three Little Wolves (1936) cartoon short in the children's suplement of the Ulus newspaper in 1937. However, of the illustratios in this four-part story, he appears only in one, in the first part in no. 5, dated Dec. 11st, 1937 -and he is in drag in there!
Next, what appears to be a rendering of the Big Bad Wolf by an unknown Turkish illustrator was printed in the cover page of no. 23, dated Apr. 23rd, 1938, along with several other Disney characters:


In the central pages of the same issue, another figure of the Big Bad Wolf appears (again alongside other Disney characters):


Proper comics featuring the Big Bad Wolf would begin to be reprinted in Turkish comics magazines only in early 1950s.