Queen Of Hearts #79 (from ‘Alice In Wonderland’, 1951)

An original production drawing from Alice In Wonderland, 1951

Based on the classic Alice book series by Lewis Carroll, Walt Disney’s animated adaption Alice in Wonderland  was initially released in 1951. Although it was not an immediate success, the re-release of the animated film in 1974 received far more critical acclaim and has since become a cult classic. Disney’s artistic interpretations of key characters such as the Cheshire cat and Queen of Hearts is, for many of us, how we visualise and recognise the characters despite the many other adaptations that have emerged. They are perhaps only surpassed by the 2010 live action adaptation by Tim Burton who himself, trained as an animator at Walt Disney studios and no doubt was inspired by the historic studio. Disney’s colourful, dynamic and hilarious adaptation represents the authentic artistry at the heart of Walt Disney Productions. 

Displayed on its original, beautifully aged paper, this drawing showcases the artistic nature of the early animations and their warmly expressive forms. Following the initial script-writing and storyboarding, lead animators would draw – by hand – each of the 24 frames per second of animation. These drawings formed a flip-book that would be held in place with pins on the animators’ desk before they were hand-copied onto celluloids and filmed in colour.

Find out more about the different types of Disney art on our .