WALT DISNEY STUDIOS / PINNOCHIO Jiminy Cricket Signed Dye Transfer Print and Ephemera, 1954.
Dye transfer print showing Jiminy Cricket in the underwater sequence of Pinocchio signed by Bob Moore for Walt Disney, 1954. 203x254 mm; 8x10 inches, matted and adhered to 19x22-inch board. Inscribed "To Mac - Best Wishes - Walt Disney" by Disney Studio publicity artist Bob Moore. In keeping with other dye transfer prints, the name of the production, "Walt Disney's Pinocchio," is calligraphically penciled on the mat below the image. Two photographs (one with Walt Disney) and typewritten captions are attached to verso.
This Jiminy image is an exceptionally rare example with well-documented provenance. A small archive of items on the reverse of the mat reveals its connection to the early days of Disneyland. The piece is inscribed to "Mac"-- L.C. MacGlashan - who was then director of marketing for the ad agency Brooke, Smith, French, & Dorance. Attached to the back are two vintage publicity photos dated July 1954 from a 3-day conference in which Walt Disney, ABC representatives, and advertisers and their agencies (MacGlashan among them) discussed marketing plans for the Disneyland TV show and park. The left photo shows MacGlashan and others with Walt Disney, and the right shows "Mac" inspecting a model of the Disneyland which was still one year away from opening.
The vibrantly colored dye transfer prints (using a technology developed by Ub Iwerks) were produced by Disney in very small numbers as gifts to studio visitors, V.I.P.s, and others who associated with the studio. The mat is beautifully signed "Walt Disney" by Bob Moore, who was one of a scant few studio employees ever authorized to sign on Disney's behalf. Bob Moore was a very talented artist in his own right, and like his predecessor Hank Porter, served from 1951 onward as a "one man art department" for studio publicity.
