24 Gorgeous Vintage Glass Slides Based on Sir John Tenniel’s Original Drawings for 'Alice in Wonderland'

Created as a set of 24 slides based on Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations for the Lewis Carroll classic but altered to avoid copyright conflicts, these gems were meant for viewing on a magic lantern, or Laterna Magica — a primitive projector dating back to the 17th century, consisting of a concave mirror in front of a light source. Though the exact year is unknown, the slides were created sometime between 1910 and 1925.

See more»

Behind the Scenes at Disney Studios in 1953

The Disney studio is big (it covers 51 acres) and resembles a huge and complicated machine. Up to 400 draftsmen, editors, artists, cameramen, musicians, idea men, special effects men, all kinds of technicians, are required for even the shortest cartoon. There are inventions of great complexity and ingenuity... But being Disney’s, the special stamp of this machine is that it careens along looking as if every screw inside were loose. The wanderer through the studio will come across animators making faces in mirrors to get ideas for the looney animals they are drawing.

Quartet known as The Mello-Men bays in harmony before screen showing four canine characters whose voices they represent in the forthcoming Disney feature cartoon, The Lady and The Tramp. (Photos: Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Behind the scenes at Disney studios, 1953. (Photos: Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Voicing a character for the feature cartoon, The Lady and the Tramp. (Photos: Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Walt at work gives animated version of what he thinks action ought to look like as he directs story conference on his forthcoming Sleeping Beauty. (Photos: Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Jim MacDonald, Disney's sound effects expert, blows across top of jug while other experts make murderous music out of bazooka, disembodied piano and assortment of strings, pipes, hinges, chains. (Photos: Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

See more»

Funny Pictures of Disney Animators Study Their Reflections to Draw the Proper Facial Expression in the 1950s

As talented as the illustrators at Disney and Warner Brothers are, even they cannot draw their expressive characters out of thin air. They, and other professional animators, often use mirrors to model for themselves as they draw their characters’ frowns and grins.

See more»

28 Fascinating Photos of Behind the Scenes With the Muppets From the 1970s

The Muppets are a group of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created in 1955 by Jim Henson, they are the namesake for the Disney media franchise that encompasses films, television series, music recordings, print publications, and other media associated with The Muppet Show characters.

The Muppets were the stars of multiple television series and films, including: The Muppet Show (1976–1981), The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). After Henson's death in 1990, The Muppets continued their presence in television and cinema with Muppets Tonight (1996–1998), a series continuation of The Muppet Show, and three films, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets From Space (1999), the former two were co-produced with Disney, who sought to acquire the characters since the late 1980s.

In 2004, The Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to The Muppets, and later formed The Muppets Studio, a division created specifically for managing The Muppets franchise. Below is a collection of 28 interesting color photographs of behind the scenes with the Muppets from the 1970s.

See more»