PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE

Here's a special holiday treat. In one post, a comprehensive collection of digitally re-assembeld background art from PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE (1952).

Here's the main title card- without the title! Note the Christmas card in the front...

The camera pans in... to this very merry house exterior...

Here's a re-created pan of Mickey's front door. Snow effects too!

A winter playground for Pluto, and Chip and Dale...

A"stage" for Chip and Dale (acorn: cel overlay)...

A re-created pan with characters included...

More snow!

a very long left to right pan B/G (Chip and Dale are in the last frame of the pan, so they stay...)

A snowdrift (snow bits are cel overlay)...

Chip and Dale's tree, soon to be "PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE" ( and Mickey's too, of course)...

Inside the tree. Looks cold,doesn't it?

a snowy landscape...

Mickey stands on the ladder to decorate the tree. This sequence features a fade in, and the one "cel" ornament is in place before the fade ends. I actually hand-painted some Photoshop restoration to complete the ladder!

Inside the tree, in Mickey's living room!

Next, a series of views of the tree, inside and out!













A huge left-to-right pan across Mickey's living room. The last frame of the segment includes Mickey on the right.

Here's a closer look at the left side of the pan.

Even though unfinished, I had to share this magnificent tree art. The angle was inspired! The black area is what's left of Mickey... this area is never revealed. Even incomplete as it is, there's lots of beautiful detail to admire...

Another pan, including the beautiful tree on the right...

Anyone else grow up with a living room that looked like this in the 1950s?

another pan B/G...

and a closer look at the gorgeous tree...

Near the fireplace mantle...




The tree top...

And finally, the yuletide rubble left behind after the skirmish with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale!

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE Master Pan B/G

Tonight I had an epiphany.

I was going through Holiday B/G art, and I stopped to look at PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE. It's my absolute favorite Christmas cartoon, and one of my all-time favorite Disney shorts. I distinctly remember the first time I saw it... I was awestruck at how the inside of the tree perfectly captured the magic of Christmas in a distinctly Disney way - with the ornaments, Christmas lights and sparkling tinsel amidst the evergreen branches... dazzling. Disney background artist Thelma Wittmer outdid herself here. Spectacular!

Well, some thirty years later, tonight, as I'm looking at the pieces, I notice something I'd never seen before... it seems like I might have bookend artwork for each side. Sure enough, I was able to piece together the entire master pan B/G!!!

By the way, in case you're curious, here are the pieces used in different camera setups, roughly sized and placed together sequentially. You can see how they overlap.

Here are the dazzling segments. Be sure an click on them to see the festive detail!



Together, again... for the very first time. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE Part Two

These dazzling (digitally recreated) B/Gs by Disney artist Thelma Wittmer exude oodles of Yuletide cheer!

Is your tree up and decorated yet?

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE

Background art attributed to Thelma Wittmer.

Isn't this utterly fantastic??!!!

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE part two

This is the interior of the pine tree Mickey chooses, then chops down, little knowing Chip and Dale are inside!

This is a beautifully composed B/G. Note the the dark splay of needles on the edges, and the bright "lighting" at the center, all contributing to a beautiful stage for the animation to play out.

Then there's the "background within a background," with its delicate palette of yellows and greens.

Lovely!

And there's more to come...