Disney's x-rated fare
December 21, 2004 2:53 PM   Subscribe

The original plates for the famous parody work (that was never sued over) Disneyland Memorial Orgy, is on sale at eBay. Here's the whole story on the piece, which ran in 1967 in a small underground newspaper and was created by Paul Krassner. I bet a copyright/trademark lawyer with a sense of humor buys this to mount over his desk soon.
posted by mathowie (27 comments total)
 
its so famous i've never heard of it...hilarious irregardibly
posted by garfield at 2:57 PM on December 21, 2004


Man, I can't believe that hasn't sold yet! No snark, but I saw that same listing on ebay almost a year and a half ago (but I think then it was asking ten times as much). Now Wood's original art, though.. man I'd dig that.
posted by Peter H at 3:02 PM on December 21, 2004



its so famous i've never heard of it...hilarious irregardibly


Spell Check is your friend.
posted by purephase at 3:05 PM on December 21, 2004


I'd heard about it but not seen the whole thing.

If Disney were smart, they'd scoop up the plates themselves.

irregardibly is a word, I heard Mr. Bush use it in a sentence and that makerates it a word. At least, it looks like it should be a word.
posted by fenriq at 3:07 PM on December 21, 2004


Oops, meant to say that the pic is totally sexirific!
posted by fenriq at 3:08 PM on December 21, 2004


thanks purephas!
posted by garfield at 3:16 PM on December 21, 2004


Whoever buys that better use it to make some new prints, damnit.

And I'm also surprised Disney Co hasn't snapped that up.

(On preview, /me smacks up Garfield with Odie's diseased corpse.)
posted by loquacious at 3:18 PM on December 21, 2004


I guess they really due hide sexual images in Disney films.
posted by expriest at 3:25 PM on December 21, 2004


loquacious - since it's a black and white lineart drawing you just need kinkos, no printers plate needed (ebaying"realist"+kinkos=illegal profit!)
posted by Peter H at 3:29 PM on December 21, 2004


a cartoon reference...in a cartoon thread...to a user who shares a name with a cartoon...the symmetry is underwhelming.

and just so i don't appear to be a dick (however unlikely that is at this point)...it was purposeful word manipulation...and yes I see the large green button with the words 'Spell Check' on it....Lamest trend in blogs today: the spellchecking user...if on the other hand you were helping a newbie...thanks purephase!
posted by garfield at 3:31 PM on December 21, 2004


According to this link, the image was eventually sued over, albeit because of a bootleg.

Very interesting, thanks. I love both Krassner and Wood, and I'd never heard of this before.
posted by interrobang at 3:41 PM on December 21, 2004


I had an original copy of it. . .hid it from my parents. . .along with the other LA underground stuff that I had. It's all in at place where potentially valuable stuff that you wish you still had resides. . .along with my baseball cards. . .

I can't believe how mild it seems now .. it seemed FAR naughtier when it came out. I think that Disney knew that if they sued, this would reach a far greater audience.

And since many of the posters here have not heard of this, well, I think their strategy stands the test of time.
posted by Danf at 3:45 PM on December 21, 2004


Danf, and an excellent public relations lesson is learned by all!
posted by fenriq at 3:58 PM on December 21, 2004


Maybe thought of by Paul Krassner, but created by Wally Wood.
posted by jpburns at 4:08 PM on December 21, 2004


Hi MeFites,
I'm glad this has gotten a good response. I just joined the blue after lurking for years, specifically to post this item. (I had to have Matt post it 'cause I'm still too new to make one myself)
I remember the first time I saw it in "The Best of The Realist" (now long out of print). Along with "The Parts Left Out of the Kennedy Book", from the same issue in fact, it went a long way in forming my consciousness of the power of satire.
There happens to be a copy of the original on sale at eBay at this very moment. Hope it's not untoward to put up the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=280&item=4513467377&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
posted by Listener_T at 4:12 PM on December 21, 2004


OH. MY. GOD.

I've seen this before. Back in my college days, we visited another chapter of our fraternity, and they had a copy of this done on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. As fraternities are prone to do, we stole it as a prank and took it back to our chapter. Several days later, our frat house burned down, taking the revered work of art with it. We were mortified when we realized it had gone up in smoke. It's been more than 20 years, but perhaps it is time to make amends.... I bet we can reproduce that on plywood and present it to its rightful owners.

At the time, the work of art was believed to be original and when it burned we thought it was lost forever. Praise God and Matt and Listener_T for finding this gem!
posted by Doohickie at 4:19 PM on December 21, 2004


The same Ebay seller has some other x-rated toons and such that he auctioned in the past.

I'm sure they are already out there somewhere on a web site but if not somebody copy them.
posted by Rashomon at 6:00 PM on December 21, 2004


It's quite tame compared to the toon-porn on the 'Net today. Still, Snow White's exposed left breast seems somehow more shocking than all the explicit, hardcore Disney-porn since. That and Goofy pissing on Mickey, which of course amounts to pissing on Disney itself. Everytime I see that I somehow expect the Disney lawyers to swoop down and censor it right while I'm looking at it.

Very nice art by Wood. Suggestive rather than explicit in many places, such as the humorous subtleties like the extra sets of legs under Alice's skirt, and Pinocchio's growing wooden nose ... Cinderella and the prince are actually quite elegently seductive, too.

Oh my ... Toon porn's the best. No one gets exploited. Except, in this case, Disney.
posted by Shane at 6:27 PM on December 21, 2004


That's not Goofy, that's Pluto. Goofy's just to the left, having his way with Minnie.
posted by Doohickie at 7:21 PM on December 21, 2004


Hey, look: The Star Wars gang!
posted by Doohickie at 7:30 PM on December 21, 2004


Goofy's just to the left, having his way with Minnie.

"But Mr. Mouse, insanity is not grounds for divorce."

"I didn't say she was insane, I said she was fucking Goofy!!!"

Yeah, Wally Wood was one of the good ones.
posted by yhbc at 7:55 PM on December 21, 2004


<goofy>Heee-yuck... Garsh!</goofy>
posted by Doohickie at 9:46 PM on December 21, 2004


I have seen a rendition of this work in Amsterdam as a mural of sorts in a sex museum. At least, portions of it were used for the mural, including the Snow White scene (which I remember, ahem... vividly).
posted by rooftop secrets at 2:59 AM on December 22, 2004


If you check out the seller's other items there is some art by another artist named Frank Follmer, including what appears to be an earlier version of the "Disneyland Memorial Orgy". I have written to Jerry Beck at Cartoon Research to find out more about the artist, and the potential legitimacy of the pieces.
I have occasionally heard tell of "dirty" versions of classic children's properties. It is said that Jim Henson would let his crews cut loose every once in awhile, making adult versions of Sesame Street and the Muppets, in order to blow off steam. And I have heard a (probably apocryphal) story about Walt Disney discovering blue versions of his characters, and after cajoling the guilty party into revealing himself, firing him on the spot.
Could these be the confirmation of that story?
Anybody got a clue? I await word from Cartoon Brew, or any of the MeFi version of the Blue Blaze Irregulars.



Keep 'em Flyin'!
More Sugar!
posted by Listener_T at 8:16 AM on December 22, 2004


Do prints of this exist? If so, where?
posted by striker at 1:20 PM on December 22, 2004


Fleshbot's post (NSFW) says you can order prints from Paul Krassner's website. They cost $10, which is a bargain when you consider how much the plate is going for. (Apparently, there's also a copy of the original newspaper in which the drawing appeared on eBay this week too.)
posted by contraposto at 11:15 PM on December 22, 2004


And I have heard a (probably apocryphal) story about Walt Disney discovering blue versions of his characters, and after cajoling the guilty party into revealing himself, firing him on the spot.

Harlan Ellison got fired from Disney for something similar -- on his first day, even. "Don't fuck with the Mouse," I believe was how he phrased the lesson he learned that day...
posted by kindall at 11:58 PM on December 22, 2004


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