Disney Christmas Story

Disney Christmas Story is an American Disney comic strip that appeared each year in the weeks before Christmas, beginning in 1960.[1] The strip ran Monday to Saturday for the three to four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, and often promoted the latest Disney release or re-release.[2] The strips were usually not published on the newspaper's comics page; they appeared at the bottom of the page somewhere else in the paper, so that the reader would have to hunt for it, and not-coincidentally pass by some of the Christmas advertising.[3] The strip appeared every year until 1987.

Disney Christmas Story
Author(s)Frank Reilly, Carl Fallberg, Floyd Norman
Illustrator(s)Manuel Gonzales, Chuck Fuson, John Ushler, Floyd Gottfredson, Guillermo Cardoso, Mike Arens, Cliff Nordberg, James Swain, Tom McKimson, Lorna Smith, Larry Mayer, Willie Ito, Tony Strobl, Mike Royer, Steve Steere, Bill Langley, Keith Moseley
Current status/scheduleConcluded annual Christmas strip
Launch dateNovember 28, 1960
End dateDecember 24, 1987
Syndicate(s)King Features Syndicate

In 2017, the Christmas stories were collected in a hardback volume, Disney's Christmas Classics, published by IDW Publishing.[4] The collection includes all of the Christmas stories except for 1986's story based on Song of the South.

Development

Unlike most Disney comic strips, Disney Christmas Story actively mixed characters from different Disney films -- for example, in 1962, Ludwig Von Drake saved Princess Aurora from Maleficent's spell, and in 1976, the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio helped Santa Claus foil an evil plot hatched by Captain Hook, the Big Bad Wolf and Honest John to steal his toys and hold them for ransom. The 1963 sequence was the only comic strip appearance of the popular Disney comics character Li'l Bad Wolf,[5] and the 1971 story features a rare comic-strip appearance by the Beagle Boys.[2]

The strip was written by Frank Reilly from its inception in 1960 until 1975, and then by Carl Fallberg from 1976 to 1984. Floyd Norman wrote the 1985 and 1986 sequences, and Fallberg wrote the last story in 1987.[1]

When Norman was given the assignment to write the Christmas Story in 1985, he was bothered by the way that the stories mixed up characters from different films. He recalled in a 2013 blog post, "I couldn't help but find this approach somewhat bizarre. Mickey and Pluto didn't fit in the same world as Dumbo and the seven dwarfs certainly didn't mix well with Jaq and Gus Gus from Cinderella. I decided if I was going to write a holiday story the characters used would have to be consistent... No more of this wacky 'mix and match' approach to Disney storytelling."[6] Norman's first story featured only characters from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and his second characters from Song of the South.[7]

In 1992, the strip returned as Disney Holiday Story, telling more straightforward tales starring the characters from the most recent Disney animated release. This strip lasted for six years, until 1997.[6] All six storylines were written by Floyd Norman (with Karen Kreider on the first year), and illustrated by Richard Moore.[1]

Disney Christmas Story

Title Dates Characters Writers Artists INDUCKS
link
Peter Pan's Christmas Story 1960
(Nov 28-Dec 24)
Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Tinker Bell, the Seven Dwarfs Frank Reilly Manuel Gonzales CS 1
Pinocchio's Christmas Story 1961
(Nov 27-Dec 23)
Pinocchio, Geppetto, Jiminy Cricket, Stromboli, Honest John, Gideon & the Blue Fairy Frank Reilly Chuck Fuson & Manuel Gonzales CS 2
Sleeping Beauty's Christmas Story 1962
(Nov 26-Dec 24)
Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip, the Good Fairies, Maleficent & Ludwig Von Drake Frank Reilly John Ushler CS 3
Three Little Pigs Christmas Story 1963
(Nov 25-Dec 24)
The Three Little Pigs, the Big Bad Wolf & Li'l Bad Wolf Frank Reilly Floyd Gottfredson
CS 4
Cinderella's Christmas Party 1964
(Nov 23-Dec 24)
Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drizella, Gus, Jaq, & the Fairy Godmother Frank Reilly Manuel Gonzales CS 5
Bambi's Christmas Adventure 1965
(Nov 29-Dec 24)
Bambi, Flower & Mr. Stork Frank Reilly Floyd Gottfredson CS 6
Snow White's Christmas Surprise 1966
(Nov 28-Dec 24)
Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs & the Evil Queen Frank Reilly Mike Arens CS 7
Dumbo and the Christmas Mystery 1967
(Nov 27-Dec 23)
Dumbo, Timothy Q. Mouse, Mad Madam Mim, Maleficent & the Seven Dwarfs Frank Reilly Mike Arens CS 8
Santa Claus in Neverland 1968
(Nov 25-Dec 24)
Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, the Lost Boys, the Indian Girls, the Mermaids & the Pirates Frank Reilly Cliff Nordberg & Manuel Gonzales CS 9
The Quest for Christmas 1969
(Dec 1-24)
The Seven Dwarfs, Who from Planet Galaxia, the Good Fairies Frank Reilly James Swain & Manuel Gonzales CS 10
Santa's Christmas Crisis 1970
(Nov 30-Dec 24)
Maleficent, her raven & the Goon Frank Reilly John Ushler CS 11
The Christmas Conspiracy 1971
(Dec 6-24)
The Beagle Boys, Gus, Jaq & Mr. Stork Frank Reilly Mike Arens CS 12
The Magic Christmas Tree 1972
(Dec 4-23)
Merlin, Mad Madam Mim Frank Reilly John Ushler CS 13
A Castle for Christmas 1973
(Dec 3-24)
Mr. Stork, Bambi & Thumper Frank Reilly John Ushler CS 14
Santa's Crucial Christmas 1974
(Dec 2-24)
Timothy Q. Mouse, the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Robin Hood, Little John, the Three Little Pigs, Gus, Jaq, Merlin & the Big Bad Wolf Frank Reilly Tom McKimson CS 15
Santa and the Pirates 1975
(Dec 1-24)
The Seven Dwarfs, Gus & Jaq Frank Reilly John Ushler CS 16
Captain Hook's Christmas Caper 1976
(Nov 29-Dec 24)
The Three Little Pigs, Br'er Bear, Missus Bear, Honest John, the Big Bad Wolf, the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio & Archimedes Carl Fallberg Lorna Smith & Larry Mayer CS 17
No Puppets for Christmas 1977
(Dec 5-24)
Peter Pan, Gepetto, Stromboli, Honest John & the Fairy Godmother Carl Fallberg Willie Ito & Larry Mayer CS 18
The Day Christmas Was Banned 1978
(Dec 4-23)
Prince John, the Sheriff of Nottingham, Mr. Stork, Dumbo, Skippy & the Robin Hood Kids Carl Fallberg Tony Strobl & Larry Mayer CS 19
Madam Mim's Christmas Grudge 1979
(Dec 3-24)
Mad Madam Mim, Merlin & Wart Carl Fallberg Tony Strobl & Mike Royer CS 20
Santa's Magical Christmas Helpers 1980
(Dec 1-24)
Pinocchio, the Big Bad Wolf, Br'er Bear & the Good Fairies Carl Fallberg Tony Strobl & Mike Royer CS 21
Cinderella's Christmas Crisis 1981
(Nov 30-Dec 24)
Cinderella, Lucifer, Anastasia, Drizella, Gus, Jaq & the Fairy Godmother Carl Fallberg Tony Strobl & Steve Steere CS 22
The Mysterious Christmas Spell 1982
(Nov 29-Dec 24)
Merlin, Wart, the Seven Dwarfs & the Evil Queen Carl Fallberg Tony Strobl & Steve Steere CS 23
Christmas Comes to Neverland 1983
(Nov 28-Dec 24)
Peter Pan, Wendy, the Lost Boys, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, the Pirates & the Crocodile Carl Fallberg Willie Ito & Bill Langley
CS 24
A Christmas Present for Mister Toad 1984
(Dec 3-22)
Ratty, Mole, Honest John, Gideon & the Coachman Carl Fallberg Tony Strobl & Steve Steere CS 25
Cruella's Very Furry Christmas 1985
(Dec 2-24)
Cruella De Vil, Pongo, Perdita, Jasper & Horace Floyd Norman Willie Ito & Mike Royer CS 26
A Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Christmas! 1986
(Dec 1-24)
Uncle Remus, Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Bear & Br'er Fox Floyd Norman Keith Moseley & Larry Mayer CS 27
Snow White's Sinister Christmas Gift 1987
(Nov 30-Dec 24)
Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen & her raven Carl Fallberg Keith Moseley & Bill Langley CS 28

Disney Holiday Story

Disney Holiday Story
Author(s)Floyd Norman, Karen Kreider
Illustrator(s)Richard Moore
Current status/scheduleConcluded annual Christmas strip
Launch dateNovember 30, 1992
End dateDecember 27, 1997
Syndicate(s)King Features Syndicate

The tradition was revived in 1992 to publicize contemporary Disney feature animated films. All six storylines were written by Floyd Norman (with Karen Kreider on the first year), and illustrated by Richard Moore.[2] These stories only included the cast of the featured movie; there were no special crossovers with other characters.

References

  1. Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472117567.
  2. Becattini, Alberto (2016). Disney Comics: The Whole Story. Theme Park Press. p. 27-28. ISBN 978-1683900177.
  3. Korkis, Jim (December 23, 2015). "The Disney Christmas Comic Strips". MousePlanet. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  4. Disney's Christmas Classics. IDW Publishing. 2017. ISBN 1684050065.
  5. Becattini, Alberto (2019). "Disney Beyond Mickey". American Funny Animal Comics in the 20th Century: Volume One. Seattle, WA: Theme Park Press. ISBN 168390186X.
  6. Norman, Floyd. "The Disney Holiday Stories". Mrfun. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  7. A detailed description of Norman's Song of the South story, which was not reprinted in the Christmas Classics collection, is included here: Korkis, Jim. "An Uncle Remus Christmas". MousePlanet. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
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