Between 1938 and 1967 there were 18 different Pepys games based on Walt Disney films or characters. Click on any image or title for a detailed look at each game.
The game that enabled Castell Brothers to establish Pepys as a brand synonymous with pictorial card games. Sold in Germany and France with translated rules and in the United Kingdom as part of a very successful Pears Soap promotion.
Published in red and blue versions the game's cards illustrate 23 different Disney characters.
A whopping 88 cards in two packs of 44 in each red or blue box. 44 different Walt Disney characters are featured.
This Pepys game is unusual because no mention is made of Disney or even the film Pinocchio on the box. "By Permission Walt Disney - Mickey Mouse Ltd" is the single mention in the rules.
The Walt Disney animated film Dumbo was released in the UK on 21st December 1941. The game was released in red and blue versions
The game is credited as being "by Ern Shaw" if this was the case then it must have been for the game's design rather than for the illustrations which are clearly based on the work of Walt Disney Studio artists.
Another game credited to Ern Shaw. The game features an unusual fold-out beanstalk card around which play revolves.
Disney characters Thumper, Pluto, Dopey, Donald Duck, Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, Gus and Jaq and Mickey Mouse adorn the 28 cardboard tiles.
A Disney version of Pepys' 1947 Wu-Pee . Both are very simple jigsaw type card games for young children.
Games of Snap tend to be treated quite roughly and the cards badly damaged. In the case of Donald's Circular Snap the boxes fare badly too. Unsupported by cards in the corners the boxes are often badly crushed or torn. One of the hardest Pepys games to find in decent condition.
The film on which the game is based was the most successful Disney production since Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.
Perhaps hoping to capitalise on the renewed popularity of Walt Disney animated features Pepys brought out a new version of Snow White in the same year as Cinderella. Snow White's 2nd Edition has more detailed and colourful images than the vignettes of the 1st Edition. The cards and rules are more logical and the box bears a title card.
Alice was based on the Walt Disney animated feature Alice in Wonderland first released in 1951 with Disney artists reimagining the book's illustrations by John Tenniel.
Pepys' only competitive Dot-To-Dot game! Four different pictures designed to be played at parties for the very young.
Pepys' game was just one element in a huge multi-company merchandising effort designed to tie-in with the film. Children's handkerchiefs, hair ribbons, rugs, slippers, overalls were just some of the other products together with books, toys, sweets and crackers.
The film also spawned a Davy Crockett craze with extensive merchandising. The Pepys game capitalised on this popularity. The cards feature scenes from the Indian Fighter and Alamo sections of the film but none from Crockett's time as a Congressman.
The cards show scenes from the short animated film, or featurette, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" that was released in 1966, a year after the game went on sale. This was the first Winnie the Pooh film from Disney and the last short film that Walt Disney personally supervised before his death in December 1966.
A very simple game but one I hold in affection as it was the first Pepys game I personally owned as a boy and Jungle Book was the first film I saw at a cinema.
There is one just more Pepys Disney product but it's not a game. In around 1938 Pepys produced an unusual Bridge Card as part of the range of Bridge sets and Scoring Cards. This Bridge Score Card features an unnumbered card from the 1st Edition of Snow White, the view of the Dwarfs House.
If you know of any other Pepys or Castell Brothers products with a Disney connection please get in touch.