Of the last few Panoramas, eight were for licensed Walt Disney characters.
Shortly after these eight there was also a range of three Nature Panoramas (dealt with on the page after next).
Whereas Letraset's 1976 Panoramas were gravure reprints, litho printing was available immediately afterwards due to Letraset's purchase of Linea Sodecor in Italy. In fact, Letraset even sold their rotary gravure press… so no more gravure printing from then on!
Among the many advantages of offset litho are the ease with which artwork can be readied for press, meaning that the cost of artwork changes were negligible. It was now possible to change serial numbers at the drop of a hat, which was very convenient for Letraset but also tended to make a bit of a mess of the job numbering system.
The serial numbers of the first printing of these Walt Disney Panoramas were L61/A1 to L61/A8. The serial number L61 was also used for Mini-Toons (L61/A9 to L61/A32).
This photo from the Thomas Salter 1981 trade catalogue shows many of the range, & their display box:
Note that the logo on the front cover says "Letraset Action Transfers". With Letraset's acquisition of Thomas Salter Ltd., that would soon change.
So here are four of these eight titles, with the other four on the next page:
L61/A4 — Disneyland
Inserted into each Panorama was a card stiffener, which doubled as a convenient explanation as to how to rub down transfers. I like the fact that the last language on the card has been left blank…
To make this dull card a little more interesting, I've used the particular example which has bits of dwarf accidentally attached to it. If you like a challenge, you can check out where they come from on the transfer sheet above!
L61/A7 — The Jungle Book
L61/A8 — Pinocchio
L96/2 — The Rescuers
We don't yet have the Rescuers Panorama to scan, so if you do, please get in touch via the Facebook Action Transfers Page! In the meantime, many thanks to Samantha Bernard for sending us these photos.
For the other four titles in this range, please see the next page.