Road Trip!

I think a road trip is in order!

Research, family and a few meetings.  These are the plans for the beginning of 2011. 

I need to take a trip to London to do some research, visit my family and meet some interesting people who would like to help me!  No! Not the men in white jackets!  But some people who know this business inside out.

But, for now, I'm taking a break for a week or so.  It's that time of year again!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! 

Happy Holidays!

Family

My family are amazing!  Having spoken to my father and uncle on several occassions, it seems they are determined to help me with this project.

The attics have been attacked and we now have quite a few photos of Uncle Wilfred.  It seems we have a few MMA's in the family that we didn't realise we had, along with quite a few other bits and pieces!

The stories are coming thick and fast about him.  It's all so exciting! This book should be, if anything, full of funny and amazing stories!

Be back soon!

So ..... I've been trying to figure where to go with all this information.  It's frustrating because I'm having information overload and can't get the down on paper quick enough. 

In between making notes, I've been tracing the Haughton family tree too.  Very interesting but also very peculiar.  It seems my family at that time were all quite talented.  There was Wilfred the artist/cartoonist and Albert the engineer along with a sister and yet another brother that no one knows about but apparently he was a photographer!  I have so much to check out!  I can't keep up!

Last night I decided to go visit a neighbour.  A very interesting lady called Liz.  She has been a teacher, a journalist and is an author.  She is amazing!  Liz, being the star that she is, sort of put things back into perspective for me.  We talked for about an hour and I came home feeling like I could once again do this book. Thank you Liz!

This morning I decided to have a look online and found that Michael Barrier had given Wilfred and myself a mention on his web page.  I am very grateful to him for listening and deciding to help.

After alot of thinking and slothing it on the sofa I decided to go into town.  On the recommendation of Liz, I visited an antique store.  I found a very interesting man there who is willing to help me find some of Wilfreds work.  I'm looking forward to going back there.

So, in a nutshell, I haven't really gone far with this, but I do seem to have an enormous amount of information that I need to delve through.  The things is that just as I've sorted some, even more arrives!  Crazy!  Hence the information overload!

Well, I suppose it's time to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard and starting writing!

Be back soon!

It's amazing the things you find out when you're not really trying!!

Well, it's been over a week since I last wrote on here.  In that time I feel like time has stood still.  Nothing happened. 

During last weekend I sent out a few more emails but got nothing back.  On Monday I sent a very nice letter via airmmail to Disney Archives (that one's gonna take ages to get a response!).  Since then I have been stagnant.  I haven't really known what to write about. Very frustrating!

Then, last night I spoke to my Uncle Peter.  He is a man full of amazing stories and information.  The poor man has now had to go into his loft & dig out as much as possible!  I don't think Auntie Molly is too impressed! lol 

Last night he was going through boxes of photo's for me.  He has some memorabilia that he is going to photograph for me such as the infamous 'Bendy Dolls' and some of the Mickey Mouse Annuals.  It'll be interesting to see what he comes up with. The man is a star!!

This morning I have finally had the guts to sit down at the computer and hash the start of my story.  There are lots of blanks but thanks to my family I am now officially started!  But I have come to the conclusion that may be a writing class would definately be of some use!

Mike Barrier

Well, I am amazed!

I emailed Mike Barrier, a writer and historian of animation from the USA, regarding Wilfred.

He emailed me back today. He has known of Great Uncle Wilfred for a number of years but unfortunately did not know much about him.

But .........

He is going to post a query on his website to see if any visitors know more.

I really can't believe my luck on this! Hopefully he will be able to dig up something interesting!

All I have to do now is wait for a response from Disney and the other guys I emailed!!!!

Watch this space!

A Quiet Day!

So, having been awake most of the night, I finally managed to turn off the laptop. Not for long though. I was walking to Tesco when I decided to see if I could contact Walt Disney Corporation and get in contact with their archivist. Within an hour of turning the damned thing off, I was back on it!

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get in contact with a place like Disney?

I flippin' did it though! I got an email address and a postal address. Email sent. Now awaiting reply! In fact I sent a few emails to various departments hoping to get something from them!

I also managed to speak to my Mother today. She says I may have met Great Uncle Wilfred when I was a baby. She can't remember much about it but does remember him coming over to the UK for a visit.

All in all a quiet day but also a productive one. It's the waiting thats killing me! No patience! Nevermind. One day I'll look back on all this and laugh!

Well, thats it for now. As soon as I get anything I will note it on here.

Goodnight world.

Nightly Thinking!

So there I was, sound asleep, next thing I knew I was lying there at 2am thinking about how Great Uncle Wilfred and his talents for cartoons have changed things for me.

24 hours ago I knew next to nothing about my Great Uncle. What I didn't realise how much it would affect me to know that his life has passed pretty much unwritten about.

Should I go ahead and find out everything and write a decent piece dedicated to his life?

In everything I have found out so far, no one seems to know anything about him apart from a little bit of work history. I have trawled the internet trying to find out what I can. Is it time to involve family and get down to the nitty gritty and write a decent biography of his life? There are also no photographs of him online.

I think it might be time to start researching his life and give him the write up he deserves.

Yup! Thats what I'm gonna do. I know it may take a long time to do but I think he really deserves some credit for what he has done!

So, on that note .... watch this space! I will continue this Blog and keep you informed of my progress.

Bobbie is about to try to become a writer!?!

Wilfred

So I have spent the entire day looking up information on the internet about Great Uncle Wilfred.
I really had no idea how popular his works are and rare! I think I'm going to have to get a photo or 2 from my Dad & see if we can put a face to the name.

I'm thinking that maybe there is alot more to this than I first realised. His artwork seems to be quite famous!

Way to go Great Uncle Wilfred!

The Reason Behind The Blog!

Truth be told ... I have always wanted to write a blog but until now I could never find a reason.

Enter my Great Uncle Wilfred Haughton! A cartoonist, a writer of cartoons and Mickey Mouse Annuals.

It all started to unfold last night when I went online to find a Mickey Mouse Annual for my Dad for Christmas.

I didn't find what I was looking for so I decided to do some research on his art work. I discovered that he was a very talented guy. Not only did he draw and write but he created several characters that were printed in national newspapers and childrens annuals.

Great Uncle Wilfred was the first artist hired in 1935 by William B. Levy, European Sales Director of Walt Disney Merchandising, to create a new magazine called Mickey Mouse Weekly.

My great uncle drew Mickey Mouse on a regular basis! How cool! To think I actually went to Disney World, Florida a few times & had no idea a member of my family helped promote Disney in the UK!

It's strange to think all this time people have been talking on the internet and in papers about a member of my family . It is a very surreal feeling. I am fascinated now with his life and his work.

So, now you know why I have started this Blog. I feel the need to write about a man who deserves the facts written about him. He was a brother, a father, a husband, an uncle, a cousin but mostly he was a creative artist who deserves some recognition.

Above is a picture drawn by Wilfred Haughton.