If you'd like to explore the locations that feature in this series, drop me a line to enquire about tour availability – you can book a one-hour tour (ideal for kids) or a two-hour version of the tour. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these reposts…
Panel 8: Disney
Disney has long loved London. Here's a still from Basil the Great Mouse Detective…
… and from the opening credits of 101 Dalmatians…
… and from Peter Pan…
In Peter Pan (the 14th Disney animated feature, 1953) the Darling family live in Bloomsbury and the London skyline provides the perfect backdrop for the magical flying scenes. In Basil The Great Mouse Detective, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace take center stage. This was the 26th Disney animated feature (1986) and the very first to use computer animation techniques.
101 Dalmatians was the 17th Disney animated feature (1961) and was the movie that saved Disney as we know it. Following the disappointing box office performance of Sleeping Beauty (1959) it is said that Disney was ready to abandon animated features altogether. 101 Dalmatians went on to be the 10th highest grossing picture of 1961 in North America.
My most memorable London scene In 101 Dalmatians features The Twilight Bark.
In the wake of human failure to locate the missing puppies, Pongo and Perdita take matters into their own paws and send a message out throughout London. Did you think that dogs bark at nightfall for no reason at all? They are, of course, communicating with one another.
Pongo barks from what appears to be Primrose Hill…
… the message reaches Danny the Great Dane in Hampstead (a more imposing specimen of cartoon Great Dane than Scooby Doo, see my earlier post)…
As the message spreads through town, we pan out across the London skyline…
The neon lights of the West End seem to have been relocated to South London in the screen-grab above, but no matter: it allows the artists to give us a lovely view of St Paul's dominating the city skyline – as it would have done 58 years ago when the film was released.
You can buy 101 Dalmatians here: www.disneystore.co.uk/
Here's how to get to Primrose Hill (and nearby Regent's Park where Pongo and Perdita meet for the very first time)…
Tomorrow… Sir David Low
Some recent posts in this reblogged series…
William Hogarth
George du Maurier
Scooby Doo
Daffy Duck & Danger Mouse
Orbital Comics
Über
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If you'd like to explore cartoon and comic book locations in London, book me as your guide for a Cartoon & Comic Book Tour of Westminster – available in both one and two hour versions. Click the email button at the foot of this post to enquire.
If you'd like to catch up with entire series of posts in this series (38 in number as of September 2019) then click here: cartoonandcomicbooklondon.blogspot.com
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