Amazing original vintage signed and inscribed black artist’s pencil sketch of Mickey Mouse on an off-white 6.75 x 10.5 sheet, signed and inscribed under the image, “To John Adrian, Hoping he will be able to draw better than this—Walt Disney.” A second similar size sheet is also included bearing five original ink sketches and five bars of music: Goofy signed “Ted Sears, Santa Clara-41”; Pluto signed “Norm Ferguson”; Donald Duck signed “Franklin Thomas”; Bacchus signed “Jim Bodero”; J. Thaddeus Toad signed “Toad-of Toad Hall, Webb Smith” (in pencil). Composer Charles Wolcott writes five bars of music and lyrics “I’m The Reluctant Dragon What Ho! Quite So!” and signed “Charles Wolcott S.S. Santa Clara, 1941.” Disney’s business manager has also signed the sheet.
Both pages are beautifully double cloth matted and framed with two photos of Disney, one of him throwing a lasso, the other with a group of artists, and biographical plaque of Disney, as well as a biographical plaque of the sketches’ provenance, which reads in part: “On August 17, 1941, Walt Disney and 15 of his studio staff (Dubbed “El Groupo”) embarked on a goodwill and movie making tour to South America at the urging of the U.S. Government. The result was the ultimate release of two wartime feature cartoons, ‘Saludos Amigos’ (1943) and ‘The Three Caballeros’ (1945). At the end of the tour, Walt and several others boarded Grace Lines’ ‘Santa Clara’ for a 17 day return voyage. While on board, Walt met a young John Adrian and provided him with an extremely rare Disney original of the famous mouse,” to an overall size of 25 x 33. A central horizontal fold to the Mickey sketch, a couple small spots of foxing, and a light block of toning to the lower right side (passing over three words and Disney’s surname, but not detracting from the sketch), otherwise fine condition.
The sheer unique grandeur of this piece is befitting Disney and the offered sketch. Disney collectors are aware that Walt never completely animated a single Mickey Mouse cartoon or even drew a single Mickey comic. As such, a drawing of Mickey in Disney’s hand is a very rare item, with its witty self-deprecating inscription making it even more desirable. By the time this sketch was created, Disney was the head of major film studio employing 600 workers, and didn’t have the hours in the day to create drawings for fans. When something special for a fan was appropriate, Walt usually favored having his studio artists prepare the artwork—complete with a “Walt Disney” signature signed by the employee. Authentic examples such as this are few and very far between. Oversized. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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