The Charles Palmer papers span the years 1941-1952 and encompass 1.75 linear feet. The papers consist primarily of script materials for Palmer's feature films and radio programs. Titles include THE BIG BRASS BAND, DESTINATION MOON (1950), IT'S A BIG COUNTRY, LADY AND THE TRAMP, THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957), LOST BOUNDARIES, THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR..., THE SELLOUT, THE STRATTON STORY (1949), and A WORLD IS BORN (circa 1955). A WORLD IS BORN was a separate rerelease of the “Rite of Spring” sequence from FANTASIA (1941) to the 16mm educational market. Several items are of interest, including extensive story and character notes for ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Palmer describes these mid-1940s "in-progress" materials as the first "written" work for ALICE; all that existed prior was Disney's visual story sketch continuity boards. Various annotated drafts and notes for Palmer's written narration for "The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met" sequence in MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946) are supplemented by typed notes from screenings and conferences attended by Walt Disney and other studio personnel. Two scripts for THE ARKANSAS TRAVELER (1943), two scripts for BULLOCK'S PRESENTS... (1943), and a radio adaptation of Disney's Technicolor feature FUN AND FANCY FREE (1947) are among the radio-related materials. A small amount of correspondence, including four letters from writer Dick Huemer, refers to various matters at the Disney studio in the late 1940s. The other correspondents are Werner Janssen, Arthur Mayer, and George Palmer Putnam. There is no material on Parthenon Pictures.

Charles A. "Cap" Palmer (1901-2005), a native of New England, graduated from Dartmouth in 1923. After a stint as a newspaper reporter, he worked in the building-materials industry until the mid-1930s, when he sold a short story—written while vacationing in California—to "Cosmopolitan" and found himself embarking on a new career as a writer. Relocating to Los Angeles, he wrote magazine fiction and a dozen books before moving into radio in 1940, writing scripts for Bob ("The Arkansas Traveler") Burns and "Silver Theatre."

He joined Walt Disney Pictures in 1943 and over the next five years was a major contributor to the early story development of ALICE IN WONDERLAND and LADY AND THE TRAMP (ultimately released in 1951 and 1955, respectively). Palmer later wrote for Louis deRochemont (LOST BOUNDARIES, 1949) and MGM (THE SELLOUT, 1952; IT'S A BIG COUNTRY, 1952), and collaborated with Dore Schary on the book "Case History of a Movie," about the production of the film THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR... (1950). In the early 1950s he also worked with Jesse L. Lasky on the latter's unrealized project "The Big Brass Band." Palmer formed Parthenon Pictures, a major producer of business-sponsored documentary films, in 1954. For his endeavors in this area he received numerous national and international awards.