Walt Disney-Owned Mickey Mouse Doll, Animator’s Desk Up for Auction
Walt Disney‘s hand-signed Mickey Mouse doll and personal animator’s desk are two highlights of a massive Disney auction expected to yield $2 million to $3 million. The “Collecting Disney” sale, scheduled for June 18th at Los Angeles’ Van Eaton Galleries, will feature over 700 lots of memorabilia from the Disney archives, Reuters reports.
“This particular doll was given to woman that he drove an ambulance with in 1917 in World War One,” said gallery owner Mike Van Eaton, who estimated the signed item to bring between $50,000 and $70,000. “A lifelong friend of his, [Disney] gave her one of his most cherished possessions, and he signed it on the bottom in French dedicated to her.”
Other high-price items are a furniture set from Disney’s office (estimated at $60,000 to $80,000) and an original score of the first song written about Mickey Mouse (expected to bring between $15,000 and $20,000). Original drawings of the first two Mickey cartoons, 1928’s “Steamboat Willie” and 1929’s “Plane Crazy” are listed at upwards of $4,000 each and a program for the studio’s debut animated feature 1937’s Snow White featuring signatures from Disney and over 50 staff members is expected to go over $5,000.