Walt Kelly’s Fairy Tale Parade was a anthology comic published by Dell in 1942-1944. It ran for nine issues. The contents were taken from folklore and fairy tales and were drawn by such talents as Walt Kelly, Arthur Jameson and Casper Enerson. The covers in particular have a feel from the Age of the Illustrators (around the turn of the century) that gave us Arthur Rackham, Maxfield Parrish, Edmund Dulac and such.
Walt Kelly (1913-1973) would become famous for the comic strip Pogo, though he also worked on the Disney films Pinnochio, Fantasia and Dumbo and on other comics like The Brownies.
These comics were written and drawn for children so they can be a little cute at times (also they are 1940s comics so they can also be racist). Still I get a wonderful feeling of a magic world of adventure from them too. They were a nice precursor to the Land of Harvey, in the Casper comics. Along with Prince Valiant, Walt Kelly’s Fairy Tale Parade may have inspired the generation of Sword & Sorcery comics to come. All these issues are available for free from DCM.
Issue 1 (June-July 1942)
All the strips were written, adapted and drawn by Walt Kelly.
“Thumbelisa” by Walt Kelly, based on the Grimms Brothers story.
“Little Black Sambo” Based on the Helen Bannerman story. Very dated racist depiction of African-American.
“The Story of Hansel and Gretel” Based on the Grimms Brothers story.
“Winkie and the Wishing Well” by Walt Kelly
“The Flute O’McToole by Walt Kelly
Issue 2 (August-September 1942)
“Jack the Giant Killer” by Walt Kelly, based on the English legend
“Snow White and Rose Red”by Walt Kelly, based on the Grimms Brothers story
“The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Walt Kelly. Adapted from the story by Hans Christian Andersen.
“Tom Thumb” by Arthur Jameson, based on the English legend
“Cinderella” by Walt Kelly, based on Charles Perrault
“Puss in Boots” by an Unknown Artist, based on Charles Perrault
“Sinbad the Sailor” Written by Gaylord DuBois, art by Jon Small, based on The Arabian Nights
Issue 3 (October-November 1942)
“Rip Van Winkle” by Walt Kelly, based on the story by Washington Irving
“The Table, The Donkey and the Stick” by Unknown Artist, from the Brothers Grimm
“The Princess on the Glass Hill” by L. Bing, based on the story by Peter Christen Asbjornsen
“The Wolf and the Seven Kids” by Walt Kelly, based on the Brothers Grimm story
“The Elves and the Cobbler” by unknown artist, from the Brothers Grimm
“The Enchanted Princess” by Jon Small, based on The Arabian Nights
“Rumpelstiltskin” by Arthur Jameson, from the Brothers Grimm
Issue 4 (December 1942-January 1943)
“The Lost Prince” by Walt Kelly
“The White Cat” by Arthur Jameson, based on Madame D’Aulnoy
“Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp” by L. Bing , based on The Arabian Nights
“Grimm’s The Traveling Musicians” by Walt Kelly, from the Brothers Grimm
“The Wee Man O’the Glen” by unknown artist, from the Scottish ballad
“The Giant’s Hand” by Arthur Jameson
Issue 5 (February-March 1943)
“Big Claus and Little Claus” by Walt Kelly, based on Hans Christian Andersen
“The Sleeping Beauty” by Arthur Jameson, from Charles Perrault
“Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” by Jon Small, based on The Arabian Nights
“Prince Joel” by unknown artist
“The Wise Men of Gotham” by Walt Kelly, from the English legend
“The Nose Tree” by L. Bing, from the Brothers Grimm
“The Tail of Rufus Redfox” written by Gaylord DuBois with art by Walt Kelly
Issue 6 (May-July 1943)
“Beauty and the Beast” by Arthur Jameson, from the story by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
“The Legend of the Stars” by Walt Kelly, from the Filipino legend
“The Gingerbread Man” by Walt Kelly, from the 1875 story
“The Elves Dance” by Bill Brady (with music)
“The Frog Queen” by Emerson Casper, from the Russian Fairy Tale
“The Wild Swans” by Arthur Jameson, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen
“Dick Whittington and His Cat” by Arthur Jameson, from the English legend
“Saku” by Bill Brady
“Map of the Fairy Tale Lands” by Walt Kelly
Issue 7 (August-October 1943)
“The Dragon of Dilly Dun Dee” by Walt Kelly, is reminiscent of The Reluctant Dragon, a film Kelly worked on.
“The Ugly Duckling” by George Kerr, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen
“The Story of Lazy Jack” by unknown artist, from Joseph Jacobs
“The Brave Prince” by Casper Emerson
“The Mermaid” by Arthur Jameson, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen
Issue 8 (November1943-February 1944)
“The Magic Night” by Walt Kelly
“Another Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor” written by Gaylord DuBois, drawn by Arthur Jameson
“The Three Little Dwarfs” by George Kerr
“Jack and the Beanstalk” by Casper Emerson
“The Pied Piper of Hamelin” by Arthur Jameson, from the Robert Browning poem
“East of the Sun and West of the Moon” by Arthur Jameson, based on the story by Peter Christen Asbjornsen
Issue 9 (March-August 1944)
“Prince Robin and the Dwarfs” by Walt Kelly
“The Legend of Saturday Mountain” by Arthur Jameson, based on a Polish Fairy Tale
“The Snow Queen” by L. Bing, adapted from Hans Christian Andersen
Next time… Fairy Tale Parade returns in Four Color Comics.
