Dr. Syn alias the Scarecrow Novel Cover

October 4, 2014|In Books, Graphic Design, Movies-TV

In 1975, Disney decided to re-release Dr. Syn as a 75-minute feature film, and to tie into that, they commissioned Victoria Crume (aka Vic Crume) to write a novelisation of the film for young readers, something she had done before for other Disney properties and would do again.

I wanted to make an ebook version for personal use, so cleaning up a scan of the cover was in order.

Thanks to Kenneth Mourino for identifying Paul Wenzel as the cover artist. Wenzel also painted the portrait for the 1968 Walt Disney commemorative 6¢ US stamp, and worked for Disney for 42 years.


Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

A raw scan of the covers.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

The original cover rejoined and cleaned up for posterity’s sake.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

The cover retouched to strip out the original type elements.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Some forensic design was done to identify the original typefaces so the text could be re-set, crediting Ms. Crume with her real name. A re-created Dr. Syn logo – which is the actual theatrical poster version – was placed. Finally, to fit the shorter format of a full-screen image in iBooks, a modern, slimmer Wonderful World of Disney banner was sourced and laid in.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

The final, composited version.


The interior ink illustrations were done by Joseph Guarino and the limits of budget meant they were printed in black & white. Thankfully, ebooks don’t have that restriction, and I always liked two-colour illustration, which were popular during the period. The same blue as the interior type was used to keep the design united.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Scan of a split, two-page illustration.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Rejoined and cleaned up.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Final two-colour version.


Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Another illustration scanned.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Cleaned up.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Final two-colour version.


Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

The layout in iBooks.

Disney's Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow

Double-tapping on the image brings it up full size.