Last time, I shared one of my childhood Christmas traditions of opening presents on Christmas Eve. One of my other traditions is pulling out and re-reading the Disney comic books with a Christmas theme.
The stories and artwork are great any time of the year, but, somehow during December, they seemed to have more impact. They especially bringing back fond memories of receiving comic books as a present from my two brothers when we were very young and had limited gift budgets.
It wasn’t until I was a tween that I discovered superhero comics and, even then, I kept my well-read Disney comic books in a separate box. The Disney comic books were created by Western and distributed by Dell.
Western Printing and Lithographing (the parent company of Whitman Publishing and Simon & Schuster, Inc.) signed a contract in 1933 to use Disney characters in its publications. In 1937, they took over the production and publication of the popular Mickey Mouse Magazine.
That magazine evolved into Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories, which premiered in October 1940. Walt Disney's Comics and Stories holds the distinction of being the highest-selling comic book title of all time, with a circulation of more than 3 million copies per month at its peak in 1953.
In a special June 1954 ceremony, Walt Disney himself purchased the 2.5 billionth Dell comic for $0.10. The 1955 output of Dell comics represented more than 50 percent of all comic books printed that year.
“Dell Comics Are Good Comics” was the motto, and the company’s attention to quality and good taste allowed it to survive during the comic book witch hunt during the 1950s.
Dell Publishing financed and distributed the books while Western was in charge of producing the material. Western created a ton of Disney comics, story books, coloring books, sticker books, puzzles, games and more from 1940-1962 when it broke with Dell and created its own imprint, Gold Key comics.
It continued producing Disney comics through 1980 and then through 1984 under its Whitman imprint.
Where did Western get the money to make the break? Disney had just bought out Western’s investment in Disneyland. In 1954, Western Publishing’s $200,000 investment (a considerable amount in 1952 dollars) in Disneyland equaled 13.8% of the total money used to build Disneyland.
In exchange, Western got the rights to produce Disneyland press kits, guide maps, brochures, menus, premiums and more, as well as continually updating that material.
It opened a store, the Arcade Bookstore, near the Crystal Arcade at Disneyland’s Main Street where it sold an assortment of Western’s books, including not only Disney comic books, but ones featuring Little Lulu, the Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, Lassie, and other licensed characters.
Between 1955 and 1960, Dell/Western produced 10 Disneyland comic books containing nearly 1,000 pages of new, original material with the Disney characters having adventures themed to the different lands of the park.
To learn more about Western Publishing, I highly recommend a newly released book by legendary Disney and animation historian Michael Barrier titled Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books.
Over the decades, Western was also involved in the creation of some special Disney comic books.
The first comic in the series: “Firestone Presents Comics by Walt Disney”
The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company was a pioneer in the production of car tires. Its rival was the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
To bring children’s parents into their stores and increase sales, Firestone issued seven free Disney promotional giveaway comics from 1943 to 1949 during the Christmas season. Each comic was 7.25 inches by 10.25 inches (roughly the size of a regular comic book) and contained 20 pages (counting covers).
The 1943 and 1944 issues were filled with reprints, while following issues presented new material (an eight-page Donald Duck story and an eight page Mickey Mouse story).
These comic rarities were produced by Western Publishing that already had the writing and artistic staff necessary to create them. In addition, those people were already producing stories featuring the characters.
The first one in the series was titled Firestone Presents Comics By Walt Disney, while the other six issues were titled Donald and Mickey Merry Christmas from Firestone Dealers and Stores. Notice that Donald’s popularity was so high in the 1940s that he receives top billing over Mickey Mouse.
The book featured toy advertising on the inside front and back covers as well as the back cover itself. Cover artwork by Carl Buettner (1945, 1946), Tom McKimson (1948), Jim Pabian (1949) and three other unidentified Western Publication artists who drew Disney comic books.
Contents for the Firestone Giveaways:
1943: Ten-page reprint of Donald Duck story (written and drawn by Carl Barks) from Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories No. 32. Four Mickey Mouse Sunday newspaper comic pages from 1941 written by Merrill de Maris and drawn by Manuel Gonzales. Two Little Hiawatha Sunday newspaper comic pages from 1941 written by Hubie Karp and drawn by Bob Grant.
1944: Ten-page reprint of Donald Duck story (written and drawn by Carl Barks) from Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories No. 35. Three Mickey Mouse Sunday comic pages from 1941 written by Merrill de Maris and drawn by Manuel Gonzales. Two Little Hiawatha Sunday newspaper comic pages from 1941 written by Hubie Karp and drawn by Bob Grant.
1945: Donald Duck’s Best Christmas (written and drawn by Carl Barks). Mickey’s Christmas Mix-Up with artwork by Don Gunn.
Firestone issued seven free Disney promotional giveaway comics from 1943 to 1949 during the Christmas season.
1946: Donald Duck in Santa’s Stormy World (written and drawn by Carl Barks). Mickey’s Christmas Trees with artwork by Don Gunn.
1947: Donald Duck in Three Good Ducks (written and drawn by Carl Barks). Mickey Mouse’s Christmas Story with artwork by Gil Turner
1948: Donald Duck in Toyland (written and drawn by Carl Barks). Mickey Mouse in A Day With Santa with artwork by Harvey Eisenberg.
1949: Donald Duck in New Toys (written and drawn by Carl Barks). Mickey Mouse’s Christmas Surprise with artwork by Bill Wright.
Without spending a fortune, it is possible to read some of these stories that existed in these limited edition publications that were often discarded after the holidays.
In 2009, Boom! Kids reprinted six of the Firestone Disney Christmas stories in a hardcover titled Walt Disney’s Christmas Classics. The stories reprinted were “Donald Duck’s Best Christmas,” “Santa’s Stormy Visit,” “Three Good Little Ducks,” “Mickey’s Christmas Mix-Up,” “Mickey’s Christmas Trees,” and “Mickey Mouse’s Christmas Story.”
In addition, this book also includes “Santa Claus’s Visit,” a Donald Duck story drawn by Disney Legend Jack Hannah for a 1943 Sears giveaway comic, as well as other Christmas themed Disney comic stories and artwork.
As an interesting side note, Disney was not the first choice for a Firestone giveaway comic book. A year earlier in 1942, Firestone produced Famous Gang Book of Comics.
The cover featured Bugs Bunny, Porky and Petunia Pig, Elmer Fudd, Mary Jane and Sniffles, and Cecil Turtle. Stories featured Porky Pig (with cameos by Groucho and Harpo Marx, James Cagney, Jimmy Stewart, and Leon Schlesinger himself); Bugs and Cecil in the classic “Tortoise Beats Hare”; and Sniffles and Mary Jane doing a version of Little Red Riding Hood. It was 32 pages and also produced by Western Publishing that had licensed the rights to the Warner Brothers characters for a series of comic books.
Disney giveaway comic books were done over the decades for Mobil, Cheerios cereal, Wheaties cereal, Canada Dry, the American Dairy Association, Admiral television and appliances, Pacific Gas and Electric, Weatherbird Shoes, American Can Company, Sears, and the Australian breakfast cereals called Weeties and Kornies among many others.
It would be prohibitively expensive to try and get an entire set in good condition, and I don’t even know if there is a complete listing of all the Disney giveaway comics that were produced.
Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade was released in November 1949 and it was the first of the Dell Giant comic books that sold for a quarter rather than a dime. This issue was 132 pages long with Christmas themed stories of Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Bambi and Thumper, the Seven Dwarfs, Dumbo, and many more.
The giant format of more pages for more money proved to be very popular, and books featuring a variety of other characters and topics were produced. For the funny characters, there were released issues devoted to summer fun and back-to-school.
Dell published the Christmas Parade title for nine years and later it was taken over by Gold Key and Gemstone often using reprints from the original issues. In 1957, Dell printed a 100-page giant titled Walt Disney’s Christmas in Disneyland where the Disney characters visit Disneyland.
Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade was first of the Dell Giant comic books that sold for a quarter rather than a dime.
The artwork was done by some of the finest artists working at Western Publishing including Al Hubbard, Tony Strobl, Jack Bradbury, Paul Murry, Carl Barks, Phil DeLara, Bill Wright, and Gil Turner.
I was in a discussion lately with a friend who plays Disney Infinity and he loves the fact that you can mix the different Disney universes and characters. I used to teach a class on character integrity for Disney clients like Feld Entertainment on how Disney worlds are separate, so you shouldn’t mix them. Each have their own individual reality and set of rules.
That concept of keeping Disney worlds separate from each other broke down with the introduction of the Disney Princess brand, where every Disney princess knew each other and often had adventures together despite living in different countries and time periods.
To be honest, the mixing of Disney universes really began with the Dell comic books, especially the larger ones that required more stories. So it was not unusual to see Uncle Scrooge teamed up with Snow White or Mickey Mouse sharing a story with Peter Pan. For instance, Brer Bear had an adventure with the Seven Dwarfs in Christmas Parade No. 4
Listed below are the contents for the Dell issues of Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade comic book. Some stories had titles while others did not. Each issue contained anywhere from 10 to 24 pages of games, puzzles, songs, activities, ornaments, etc. in addition to the comic stories.
Issue No. 1 (1949): “Letter to Santa” (Donald Duck story written and drawn by Carl Barks); The Seven Dwarfs in “Dopey’s Birthday”; “Bambi and Thumper”; “So Dear to My Heart”; “The Flying Mouse”; Pluto in “The Postman”; “Mickey Mouse’s Bargain Balloon”; “Cinderella” (before the film was even released); “The Country Cousin”; “Dumbo” (with Pablo Penguin); Cookieland; and The Li’l Bad Wolf.
Issue No. 2 (1950): “You Can’t Guess” (Donald Duck story written and drawn by Carl Barks); Pluto in “Runs an Errand”; Li’l Bad Wolf in “Pop’s Easy Money”; Mickey Mouse in “The Sweet Patootie Mine”; Pluto in “Pluto’s Sweater”; Gus and Jaq in “The Castle Caper”; Grandma Duck in “The Thief”; Cinderella in “White Christmas”; Ambrose the Robber Kitten; Broken Toys; and Mickey Mouse in “The Plant Doctor.”
Dell published the Christmas Parade title for nine years and later it was taken over by Gold Key and Gemstone often using reprints from the original issues.
Issue No. 3 (1951): Donald Duck in “Presents for All”; “Li’l Bad Wolf”; Mickey Mouse in “Minnie’s Christmas Tree”; “Three Little Kittens”; “Pluto”; Cinderella in “Avalanche”; “The Impatient Elf”; The White Rabbit in “The Magic Watch”; Goofy in “Joins the Army”; Grandma Duck (with Gus and Jaq) in “The Orphan”; Bucky Bug in “Build a House”; Little Hiawatha in “Ice Cream”; “Pluto”; and Minnie Mouse in “The Stork.”
Issue No. 4 (1952): Donald Duck in “Uncle Scrooge’s Generous Deed”; The Li’l Bad Wolf in “Christmas Turkey”; Mickey Mouse in “Postman’s Puzzle”; Brer Rabbit in “Monsters of the Deep”; “Pluto”; Grandma Duck in “Ice Skating”; Minnie Mouse in “Strange Ornament”; The Seven Dwarfs (with Brer Bear); Bucky Bug in “Dream Boat”; “Dumbo and Timothy Mouse”; and Minnie Mouse in “Fingers Fagin.”
Issue No. 5 (1953): Donald Duck in “White Christmas”; Li’l Bad Wolf in “Snowman”; Cinderella in “Instant Winter”; Bucky Bug in “Engine No. 9”; Mickey Mouse in “The Stupidosaurus”; “Grandma Duck in Hollywood”; Goofy in “City Cat Catcher”; “Santa’s Stowaways”; Little Hiawatha in “Heap Big Hunter”; Pluto (with Lucifer the cat); and Huey, Dewey and Louie in “Lucky Rabbit’s Foot”.
Issue No. 6 (1954): Donald Duck in “The Big Switcheroo”; Li’l Bad Wolf in “Fountain of Youth”; Pluto in “Christmas Bone”; Mickey Mouse in “Ivory Treasure”; Cinderella in “Serenade”; Grandma Duck in “Meets the Dodo”; Goofy in “Vacuum Cleaner”; Minnie Mouse in “Movie Mad”; Huey, Dewey and Louie in “The Horse Laugh”; and Pluto in “Goose Attack.”
Issue No. 7 (1955): Donald Duck in “Dinner at Grandma’s”; Mickey Mouse in “The Big Christmas Tree Mystery”; Huey, Dewey and Louie in “Curious Kids”; Cinderella in “Santa’s Pack”; Li’l Bad Wolf in “Turkey Trouble”; Uncle Scrooge in “Santa’s Unexpected Visit”; Pluto in “Substitute Reindeer”; and Minnie and Clarabelle in “The Good-Deeders.”
Issue No. 8 (1956): Donald Duck in “Reindeer Roundup”; Mickey Mouse in “The Mystery of the China Santa”; Jiminy Cricket in “Outfoxing the Wolf”; Huey, Dewey and Louie in “Guaranteed to Please”; Cinderella in “Tree for Free”; Gyro Gearloose in “Grandma’s Present”; Minnie and Clarabelle in “Operation Wildlife”; and Li’l Bad Wolf in “Pop’s Accidental Good Deed.”
Issue No. 9 (1958): Donald Duck in “Christmas in Duckburg” (art by Carl Barks); Mickey Mouse in “Merry Christmas Mix-Up”; Scamp in “The Generous Pup”; Li’l Bad Wolf in “The Missing Package Puzzle”; The Seven Dwarfs in “The Diamond Dust Dilemma”; Pluto in “Up a Tree”; Cinderella in “Tough Sledding”; and Daisy Duck and Grandma Duck in “The Old Fashioned Way.”
You’ll notice that an issue was missing for 1957. For that year Dell published the 100-page giant Walt Disney’s Christmas in Disneyland.
That issue contained: Donald Duck in “Volcano Island” (written and drawn by Carl Barks); Mickey Mouse and Goofy in “The Iron Horse to Lonesome Gulch”; Scamp in “The Xmas Present”; Li’l Bad Wolf in “Accidental Good Deed”; and The Seven Dwarfs in “Dopey’s Good Deed.”
I would love to see a couple of thick affordable trade paperbacks reprinting some of the Dell comic book stories to be able to put on my book shelves rather than carefully handling my old comic books that despite my best care are suffering the ravages of time. Many of those comics were bought second hand from people who did not treasure them as much as I did.
For now, while you are reading this column, I am re-reading some of these gems, including Four Color No. 26 (1959) and No. 39 (1960) that were Dell Giants featuring Christmas stories with the Disney characters with titles like Brer Rabbit and the Bear Claus, The Christmas Cha Cha, The Bewitched Dolls, and an eight-page feature drawn by Al Hubbard about Christmas Around The World.
A Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you go back into the MousePlanet Archives to read some of my previous holiday columns.
