Well, that version never got made, but these records did, in 1944, featuring Rogers and the songs and other music that apparently had been written for the film by children's music specialist Frank Luther and composer Victor Young.
This information comes from an excellent Alice in Wonderland site, which shows the much more colorful artwork that was on the original 78 rpm album - artwork thatwas done by Disney. What you see here is the 10-inch LP reissue from 1949.
To portray Alice, Rogers seems to be doing a sort-of Shirley Temple imitation and speaking as rapidly as possible. An unusual approach. But what's more unusual is the voice of the White Rabbit - it is, with perhaps deliberate irony, Arthur Q. Bryan doing his Elmer Fudd voice. Children must have found this very confusing!
The recording of Alice In Wonderland that I am looking for (I had it on a set of 12” 78s when I was little) is described on Sound Page Five on the site you provided:
ReplyDelete12" 78rpm record set
The cast includes:
Ann Stephens as Alice
H. Stephens as the White Rabbit
Jay Laurier as The Mock Turtle
Robertson Hare as The Gryphon
Orchestra and chorus conducted by C. Williams.
If you ever find it, pounce on it!
Excellent post, Buster! Ginger Rogers in an unusual setting indeed. "I shot a wabbit, I shot a wabbit..."
ReplyDeleteAny chance you can re-up the link?
ReplyDeleteJim - Yes, assuming I can find the files.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Arthur Q. Bryan playing the White Rabbit on this set. He also played the White Rabbit on an NBC UNIVERSITY THEATER radio production of ALICE that aired in December 1948. That one cast Dinah Shore as Alice.
ReplyDeleteIs there any chance of a new/different link for this? No matter how many times I try this Mediafire one, I get "File Download Blocked. The file you attempted to download has been claimed by Google to be in violation of their terms of service and cannot be downloaded." Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's a new one. Here's an alternative link:
ReplyDeletehttps://mega.nz/#!jdUCUKSR!TAIbVJMx_BuyFt-Ly_Gg4cZBXroKi3IskpsAlP-MZxc
Wow!!! I have been hunting for this since I was a child (many moons ago). Thank you for pulling Ginger and Alice out of the rabbit hole.
ReplyDeleteSure, glad that your quest has been satisfied!
Delete