Incredibly rare and highly desirable vintage original fountain pen sketch of Mickey Mouse accomplished by Walt Disney on a pink 7.25 x 4.75 album page, prominently signed by the animation icon, "Walt Disney, Oxford, Eng., June 16, 35—." The album leaf is additionally signed by British Liberal Party leader Archibald Sinclair (1890-1970); British peer and Rudyard Kipling biographer Frederick Smith, 2nd Earl of Birkenhead (1907-1975); British peer who died in a plane crash enroute to visit William Randolph Hearst Terence Cunningham Plunket, 6th Baron Plunket (1899-1938); and on the verso, influential English conductor Thomas Beecham (1879-1961); Polish pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982); British actress Violet Vanbrugh (1867-1942); American harmonica player Larry Adler (1914 -2001); Australian baritone Peter Dawson (1882-1961); English conductor Adrian Boult (1889-1983); and English stage actress Lilian Braithwaite (1873-1948). In very good to fine condition, with light edge staining from old masking tape on the reverse.
During the summer of 1935—seven years after the creation of Mickey Mouse—Walt and Roy Disney, accompanied by their wives, took a six-week grand tour through Europe. On June 12, they arrived in Plymouth, England aboard the French liner Normandie. A short film entitled 'Mickey Mouse Presents: Walt Disney: A Visit to Britain,' shows footage of Disney on the ship’s deck looking out at the sea and then cuts to an animated sequence of Mickey Mouse traversing choppy waves on a raft. Mickey Mouse was already enormously popular throughout Europe, and the Disneys were hounded by autograph collectors and reporters throughout their vacation. A fantastic, early piece of Disney history that demonstrates the enduring worldwide appeal of Mickey Mouse.
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