Seven rare vintage posters of Mickey Mouse are expected to fetch thousands of dollars at an auction that coincides with the 90th anniversary of the cartoon character’s first film appearance.
The seven posters, dating from the 1930s and 1940s, went on display on Friday at a commemorative exhibition in London organized by Disney.
They are going under the Sotheby's hammer in an online auction that runs until November 26. A price list in a statement from the auctioneer and Walt Disney Co. UK and Ireland suggests they could fetch more than 130,000 pounds (165,000 US dollars) in total.
"We're expecting a lot of interest...There are collectors who collect animation posters from all over the world and Mickey Mouse historically is the most valuable of all the animation characters," Bruce Marchant, Sotheby's film poster consultant, told Reuters.
90 Mickey Mouse figures with 90 different colors are displayed for an installation "Disney Mickey 90th Anniversary, Magic of Color" at the Tokyo Midtown in Tokyo, November 15, 2018. /VCG Photo
"They're particularly rare posters from England, France, Belgium and two of them are the only known surviving examples and for three of the others, there are certainly less than five known."
Such posters were reused several times at cinemas and, being made of paper, most eventually fell apart and were thrown away. "So they were never meant to be looked at 80-90 years later" or viewed as works of art, Marchant added.
The exhibition, "Mickey's UK Art Collective Exhibition," is also showcasing new Mickey-inspired works by established and emerging UK artists including Jimmy C, Michael Bosanko and Pal Kumar.
Earlier in this week, a long-lost animation film, "Neck'N'Neck," which was produced by Walt Disney was found in Japan. Its protagonist, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, is the original prototype of what would later become Mickey Mouse.
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse pose during a star ceremony in celebration of the 90th anniversary of Disney's Minnie Mouse at the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, January 22, 2018. /VCG Photo
November 18 marks the 90th birthday of Mickey Mouse since its first theatrical film, "Steamboat Willie,” was first released at New York's Colony Theater on November 18, 1928.
In the eight-minute-long, black-and-white cartoon, Mickey pilots a steamboat and entertains his passenger, Minnie Mouse, by making musical instruments out of the menagerie on board, according to IMDB.com.
Mickey Mouse, whom the Walt Disney Co calls its global ambassador, also starred in Disney's critically acclaimed 1942 animated film “Fantasia,” and would go on to launch a franchise with “The Mickey Mouse Club,” the 1950s television series that was a favorite of American baby boom kids.
His image appeared on T-shirts, lunch boxes and watches, and the telltale mouse ears are still worn by kids visiting Disney theme parks today. Disney resorts across the world have celebrated the anniversary in various forms.
(Top Photo: A file photo shows that the Walt Disney Co. characters Mickey Mouse (L) and Minnie Mouse perform during a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland at the amusement park in Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, April 15, 2013. /VCG Photo)
Source(s): Reuters