Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales

[tert...@gmail.com]

Does anybody remember this classic strip that used to run in Sunday newspapers? This used to feature classic Disney movies that were in theaters at the time. Most stories would take about 3 months to tell. I recently browsed some microfilm at the Boston Public Library and found out which newspapers had it and for how long:

Boston Advertiser (a Hearst paper, with a Puck Comic Weekly section) (1952-1965); From 'The Story of Robin Hood' (the very first story) to 'The Monkey's Uncle' (this paper actually dropped it midway through this story, since the paper converted its sunday comics section to a tabloid size).

Lowell Sun (1965-1987); From 'The Monkey's Uncle' to 'Tramp's Cat-Astrophe' (the very last story).

The (South) Middlesex News (Framingham, MA) (1970-1972, 1973-1980, 1981-1987); From 'The Aristocats' to 'The Legend of Lobo' (they dropped it almost a year, skipping 'Snowball Express', 'The World's Greatest Athlete', 'Cinderella', and 'One Little Indian'); From 'Robin Hood' to 'The Last Flight of Noah's Ark' (they dropped it again for the next 2 stories, skipping 'The Devil & Max Devlin' and 'Condorman'); From 'The Fox & The Hound' to 'Tramp's Cat-Astrophe' (from 1981 to 1984, basically from 'The Fox & The Hound' to 'Dumbo, the Substitute Stork' the Disney Treasury strips were about three weeks behind the other strips.

Has anybody else seen it in old newspapers from the past, maybe on microfilm?

[Brian Henke]

It took 21 more years until Disney had a Robin Hood movie (with anthromorphic characters).

Cincy...@aol.com

-------

Judge Parker, One Big Happy, broadsheet newspapers

- Name three things that used to be in Cincinnati tou can now find in Atlanta

[tert...@gmail.com]

The first Robin Hood movie from 1952 I was referring to was actually the live action version starring Richard Todd, Joan Rice, and Peter Finch. Although, they actually did the animated version twice; once when it first came out in 1973 (which ran from October 1973 to January 1974), and again in 1984 (as the original story 'Robin Hood in Rich John, Poor John', which ran from April 1984 to June 1984).

[John W Kennedy]

I know it was in one of the NYC papers in the 50s--but there were six
then, not counting the Times, since it didn't have comics, and I can't
recall which. (My grandmother used to buy them all and send the Sunday
comics to us in Maine, because we didn't have a Sunday paper.)

--
John W Kennedy
Read the remains of Shakespeare's lost play, now annotated!
http://www.SKenSoftware.com/Double%20Falshood

[John W Kennedy]

Not so. Due to postwar UK financial laws, Disney was required to spend
all the money they made at the UK box office in the UK. Instead of
building a British animation studio, they decided to make live-action
movies with British actors. (This was now Disney got into live action,
in fact.) The first four were "Kidnapped", "Treasure Island", "The
Sword and the Rose" (based on the novel "When Knighthood Was in
Flower", later broadcast under the older title as a "Disneyland" TV
serial), and "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men", starring
Richard Todd (not to be confused with the TV series starring Richard
Green).

--
John W Kennedy
"Compact is becoming contract,
Man only earns and pays."
-- Charles Williams. "Bors to Elayne: On the King's Coins"

[Pat O'Neill]

I'm pretty sure this strip ran--at least occasionally--in the old NY Journal-American. It was distributed by King Features (as were all the Disney strips back then) and the J-A was a Hearst paper.

I also seem to recall it running in the Staten Island Advance (the sole remaining borough-specific paper in NYC) in the 1960s. I specifically recall reading the adaptation of "The Black Hole" with art by Jack Kirby.

[tert...@gmail.com]

I never knew it was in the Staten Island Advance, I did know it was in the New York Journal American from the beginning of the strip in 1952 up until April 1966, when the Journal American shut down (they were right in the middle of running 'Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.', which starred Dick Van Dyke).

[D.D.Degg]

tert wrote:
> Does anybody remember this classic strip that used to run in Sunday newspapers?
>

> Has anybody else seen it in old newspapers from the past, maybe on microfilm?

The San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle
used to run the strip in its Examiner comics section
(Back then: Examiner = Hearst; now: Chronicle = Hearst)
during the sixties and seventies (at least).
I'm sure they stopped running it before Jack Kirby's
The Black Hole ran, I don't remember reading it there.

I do remember reading The Black Hole, with Jack Kirby art,
in The Lake County News Herald Comic Book.
http://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=593131
or see:
http://www.nemsworld.com/newspaper_comicbooks/
Unfortunately I do not remember reading Russ Heath's
adaptation of Condorman, so I must not have renewed
my subscription to that paper around 1980/81.

Sydney Australia got the strip:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/12641353

D.D.Degg

[tert...@gmail.com]

Update: I did see it in the San Francisco Chronicle microfilm at the Boston Library. Unfortunately, I only saw it in their 1976 microfilm reels. The only ones I saw were 'No Deposit, No Return' and 'Gus'. They actually dropped it in the middle of 'Gus', and they also dropped their other Disney strip, Donald Duck, around the same time.

On a side note, they also featured the Winnie the Pooh comic from 1978 to 1981.

[Jimmy Delach]

What general newspapers (in all) are in the Boston Public Library? Which ones have you looked at?

Thanks to Google News archives, the Tampa Bay Times did run the Disney Treasury strips. So did the Tampa Tribune (thanks to a goof one time when I ordered microfilm from 1983 and wound up with 1963). Not sure of the exact run in either newspaper.

As for Winnie the Pooh, the Times ran Pooh everyday from 6/19/1978 until March 1979 when the daily Pooh strip was replaced by Star Wars. Pooh continued to run Sundays only until 1984. Pooh also started in the Tribune on 6/19/1978 (both Tampa Bay area newspapers coincidentally dropped "Best Seller Showcase" to make room for Pooh and his buddies) but its' run was all too brief. I can't remember the Tribune end date off hand.

[tert...@gmail.com]

As far as the Boston library's offerings for newspapers, they have almost every single Massachusetts newspaper (daily & weekly). I've focused my research on just the time frame with the Disney Treasury strip. The Boston Advertiser had all 5 Disney strips, like the other Hearst papers (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Scamp, Uncle Remus, and the Disney Treasury), up until 1965, when they dropped Scamp and the Disney Treasury, in the middle of 'The Monkey's Uncle'. They dropped Uncle Remus in late 1969. When the Boston Advertiser merged with the Herald, they brought Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck with them. Donald Duck was dropped at some point in 1975, and Mickey Mouse was dropped at some point in 1976. When the Herald-Advertiser became the Herald American, they did get one other Disney strip in 1978, Winnie the Pooh. It ended being dropped the following year (I believe it was replaced by Drabble).

The Middlesex News had started their Sunday comics with 2 Disney ones (the Disney Treasury, and Scamp) in 1970. Both were dropped in 1972 and reinstated in 1973. They added Donald Duck to their lineup in 1975. They also added Mickey Mouse to the lineup in 1976.

The Lowell Sun had the Disney Treasury starting in 1965 and ending in 1987.

The Worcester Telegram had no Disney comics.

The Springfield Republican had Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the 1960s. I'm not sure for how long, but I do know they were gone by 1971. They also had the Winnie the Pooh strip for a short time.

The Standard-Times (New Bedford) had Scamp, and they also had Winnie the Pooh for a short time.

The other Massachusetts dailies from cities like Brockton, Fall River, Attleboro, didn't have Sunday comic sections before 1980.

The library also had non-Massachusetts papers like the Hartford Courant (which featured Uncle Remus until 1965; and the Disney Treasury until 1969, when it was dropped after 'Hang Your Hat on the Wind'); The NY Daily News; The Providence Journal (which, again, had a short run for the Winnie the Pooh comic); The Burlington Free Press; San Francisco Chronicle; Los Angeles Times; Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Chicago Tribune (only the 1973 papers had Donald Duck); Washington Post (the only Disney comic featured in this paper was Donald Duck); The New Hampshire Union Leader

That's all I really know from browsing hundreds of microfilm.

[tert...@gmail.com]

After looking on the Google News Archive, I knew that the (Tampa Bay) St. Petersburg Times had the Disney Treasury from 1952 to 1959 (dropped after 'Darby O'Gill'). How long did the Tampa Tribune have it?

[Jimmy Delach]

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014 11:17:33 PM UTC-4, tert...@gmail.com wrote:
> After looking on the Google News Archive, I knew that the (Tampa Bay) St. Petersburg Times had the Disney Treasury from 1952 to 1959 (dropped after 'Darby O'Gill'). How long did the Tampa Tribune have it?

I need to go to USF to find out. It was in one 1963 microfilm that I looked (in fact I plan to do a Comic Strip Index on that soon).

Do you have a list of NY Daily News and Providence Journal strips (also Boston Herald)? That could go in a separate post if you'd prefer.

[tert...@gmail.com]

I'm working on one right now for November 27, 1977, that's one that I have the most for.

[Jimmy Delach]

BTW here's the entire series of "Treasury of Classic Tales" per Wikipedia

The strips ran from 7/13/1952 through 2/15/1987

1952
The Story Of Robin Hood (7/13 - 12/28)

1953
Peter Pan (1/4 - 6/14)
The Sword And The Rose (6/21 - 10/25)
Ben And Me (11/1 - 12/27)

1954
Rob Roy (1/3 - 5/30)
Peter & The Wolf (6/6 - 7/25)
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (8/1 - 12/26)

1955
Lady And The Tramp (1/2 - 7/10)
The Legends Of Davy Crockett (7/17 - 1/8/1956)

1956
The Littlest Outlaw (1/15 - 3/26)
The Great Locomotive Chase (4/2 - 7/29)
Lambert The Sheepish Lion (8/5 - 9/30)
Westward Ho, the Wagons! (10/7 - 1/27/1957)

1957
Gus & Jaq (2/3 - 3/31)
Johnny Tremain (4/7 - 6/30)
Perri (7/7 - 11/24)
Old Yeller (12/1 - 2/23/1958)

1958
The Seven Dwarfs & The Witch Queen (3/2 - 4/27)
The Light In The Forest (5/4 - 7/27)
Sleeping Beauty (8/3 - 12/28)

1959
The Shaggy Dog (1/4 - 4/26)
Darby O'Gill & The Little People (5/3 - 8/30)
Third Man On The Mountain (9/6 - 12/27)

1960
Toby Tyler (1/3 - 3/27)
Kidnapped (4/3 - 6/26)
Pollyanna (7/3 - 9/25)
Swiss Family Robinson (10/2 - 12/25)

1961
101 Dalmatians (1/1 - 3/26)
Nikki, Wild Dog Of The North (4/2 - 6/25)
The Parent Trap (7/2 - 9/24)
Babes In Toyland (10/1 - 12/31)

1962
Moon Pilot (1/7 - 3/25)
Bon Voyage! (4/1 - 6/24)
Big Red (7/1 - 9/30)
In Search Of The Castaways (10/7 - 12/30)

1963
Son Of Flubber (1/6 - 3/31)
Miracle Of The White Stallions (4/7 - 6/30)
Savage Sam (7/7 - 9/29)

1964
A Tiger Walks (1/5 - 3/29)
The Three Lives Of Thomasina (4/5 - 6/28)
The Moon-Spinners (7/5 - 9/27)
Mary Poppins (10/4 - 12/27)

1965
Those Calloways (1/3 - 3/28)
The Monkey's Uncle (4/4 - 6/27)
Dumbo (7/4 - 9/26)
That Darn Cat! (10/3 - 12/26)

1966
Winnie The Pooh and the Honey Tree (1/2 - 3/27)
Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N. (4/3 - 6/26)
The Fighting Prince Of Donegal (7/3 - 9/25)
Follow Me, Boys! (10/2 - 11/27)
Monkeys Go Home! (12/4 - 1/29/1967)

Note: Walt Disney died on 12/15/1966 at age 65 (10 days after his birthday)

1967
The Adventures Of Bullwhip Griffin (2/5 - 4/30)
The Gnome-Mobile (5/7 - 6/30)
The Happiest Millionaire (8/6 - 10/29)
The Jungle Book (11/5 - 1/28/1968)

1968
Blackbeard's Ghost (2/4 - 4/28)
Never A Dull Moment (5/5 - 7/28)
Winnie The Pooh And A Blustery Day (8/4 - 9/29)
The Horse In The Grey Flannel Suit (10/6 - 12/29)

1969
Smith! (1/5 - 2/23)
The Love Bug (3/2 - 5/25)
Hang Your Hat On The Wind! (6/1 - 8/31)
My Dog, The Thief (9/7 - 11/30)
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (12/7 - 2/22/1970)

1970
King Of The Grizzlies (3/1 - 5/31)
The Boatniks (7/7 - 8/30)
The Aristocats (9/6 - 12/27)

1971
The Barefoot Executive (1/3 - 3/28)
The Million Dollar Duck (4/4 - 6/27)
Bedknobs And Broomsticks (7/4 - 10/31)
The Living Desert With Jiminy Cricket (11/7 - 12/26)

1972
Napoleon And Samantha (1/2 - 3/26)
Now You See Him, Now You Don't (4/2 - 6/25)
The Legend Of Lobo (7/2 - 9/24)
Snowball Express (10/1 - 12/31)

1973
The World's Greatest Athlete (1/7 - 3/25)
Cinderella (4/1 - 6/24)
One Little Indian (7/1 - 9/30)
Robin Hood (10/7 - 1/27/1974)

1974
Alice In Wonderland (2/3 - 4/28)
Herbie Rides Again (5/5 - 7/28)
The Bears And I (8/4 - 9/29)
The Island At The Top Of The World (10/6 - 1/26/1975)

1975
Escape To With Mountain (2/3 - 4/27)
The Apple Dumpling Gang (5/4 - 6/29)
One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (7/6 - 9/28)
Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too (10/5 - 11/30)
No Deposit, No Return (12/7 - 2/29/1976)

1976
Gus (3/7 - 5/30)
Treasure Of Matecumbe (6/6 - 8/29)
The Shaggy D.A. (9/5 - 11/28)
Freaky Friday (12/5 - 2/27/1977)

1977
The Rescuers (3/6 - 5/29)
Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo (6/5 - 8/28)
Pete's Dragon (9/4 - 11/27)
Candleshoe (12/4 - 2/26/1978)

1978
The Cat From Outer Space (3/5 - 5/28)
Hot Lead And Cold Feet (6/4 - 8/27)
Pinocchio (9/3 - 11/26)
The North Avenue Irregulars (12/3 - 2/25/1979)

1979
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (3/4 - 5/27)
Unidentified Flying Oddball (6/3 - 8/26)
The Black Hole (9/2 - 2/24/1980)

1980
The Watcher In The Woods (3/2 - 5/25)
The Last Flight Of Noah's Ark (6/1 - 8/24)
The Devil And Max Devlin (8/31 - 11/23)
Condorman (11/30 - 4/12/1981)

1981
The Fox And The Hound (4/19 - 8/30)
Night Crossing (9/6 - 1/17/1982)

1982
Tron (1/24 - 6/6)
Tex (6/13 - 9/26)
Mickey's Christmas Carol (10/3 - 12/26)

1983
Ferdinand The Bull & The Robbers (1/2 - 3/6)
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs (3/13 - 6/26)
The Adventures Of Mr. Toad (7/3 - 9/25)
The Return Of The Rescuers (10/2 - 12/25)

1984
Dumbo, the Substitute Stork (1/1 - 3/25)
Robin Hood in: Rich John, Poor John (4/1 - 6/24)
Cinderella: Bibbidi-Bobbodi-Who? (7/1 - 9/23)
Pinocchio & Jiminy Cricket: A Coat Tale (9/30 - 12/30)

1985
Black Arrow (1/6 - 3/31)
Return To Oz (4/7 - 7/14)
The Black Cauldron (7/21 - 10/27)
The Journey Of Natty Gann (11/3 - 1/26/1986)

1986
The Search For Sleeping Beauty (2/2 - 4/27)
The Great Mouse Detective (5/4 - 7/27)
Song Of The South (8/3 - 11/16)
Tramp's Cat-astrophe (11/23 - 2/15/1987)

[mtra...@gmail.com]

My local paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News ran this strip starting in 1982 (with Tron being their first story) up until it ended in 1987 (Tramp's Cat-Astrophe).

[D Heine]

On Sunday, October 19, 2014 8:55:19 PM UTC-5, mtra...@gmail.com wrote:
> My local paper, the New Hampshire Sunday News ran this strip starting in 1982 (with Tron being their first story) up until it ended in 1987 (Tramp's Cat-Astrophe).

I wish Creators Syndicate revived the Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales strip, starting with a comic strip adaption of the recent Disney hit animated movie "Frozen".

[D Heine]

>
>
>
> I wish Creators Syndicate revived the Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales strip, starting with a comic strip adaption of the recent Disney hit animated movie "Frozen".

And during the Christmas holidays, were there for a few weeks a daily Disney Christmas related comic strip serial? I remember in the 1990's 4 week Christmas related comic strip serials for Disney animated movies "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "The Lion King", and "The Little Mermaid".

[D.D.Degg]

D Heine wrote:
> And during the Christmas holidays, were there for a few weeks a daily Disney Christmas related comic strip serial? I remember in the 1990's 4 week Christmas related comic strip serials for Disney animated movies "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "The Lion King", and "The Little Mermaid".

"The Christmas comic strip was briefly revived
in newspapers in the 1990s with these specials
themed to Christmas: Beauty and the Beast (1992),
Aladdin (1993), "The Lion King (1994),
Pocahontas (1995), Quasimodo (1996) and Ariel (1997)."

The above quote from an article about the Disney
Christmas comic strips (1960-87 & 1992-97) at
http://www.mouseplanet.com/8654/A_Belated_Christmas_Gift_The_Disney_Newspaper_Strip

More details (writer and artist credits, dates) at
http://coa.inducks.org/comp.php?mode=6&c=YC+

Inducks lists all (most?) Disney strips.
Dailies: http://coa.inducks.org/comp.php?mode=6&c=Y
Sundays: http://coa.inducks.org/comp.php?mode=6&c=Z

D.D.Degg

[mark....@gmail.com]

The Montreal Gazette ran Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales:
Confirmed from 1979-Sep-02 ("The Black Hole") through 1981-Nov-15 ("Night Crossing").
Might have even started earlier than Sep 1979, but I do not have any to confirm. However, that end date (1981-Nov-15) is firm.
Note: the Gazette published Sunday color comics as part of their Saturday edition paper.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <28260f7c-9373-4e02...@googlegroups.com>,

The mind boggles at the notion of "The Black Hole" & "Classic Tale" in
close proximity..
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[John W Kennedy]

On 2014-10-23 14:58:20 +0000, t...@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan said:

> In article <28260f7c-9373-4e02...@googlegroups.com>,
> <mark....@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The Montreal Gazette ran Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales:
>> Confirmed from 1979-Sep-02 ("The Black Hole") through 1981-Nov-15
>> ("Night Crossing").
>> Might have even started earlier than Sep 1979, but I do not have any to
>> confirm. However, that end date (1981-Nov-15) is firm.
>> Note: the Gazette published Sunday color comics as part of their
>> Saturday edition paper.
>>
>
> The mind boggles at the notion of "The Black Hole" & "Classic Tale" in
> close proximity..

In September, 1979, "The Black Hole" hadn't even hit theaters, yet. As
was traditional, "Treasury of Classic Tales" was pre-release publicity.

--
John W Kennedy
"When a man contemplates forcing his own convictions down another man's
throat, he is contemplating both an unchristian act and an act of
treason to the United States."
-- Joy Davidman, "Smoke on the Mountain"

[mark....@gmail.com]

It also ran in the South China Sunday Post (Hong Kong's English language newspaper) from Sept 5th 1965 to Nov 17th 1968.