Mickey Mouse: Viva Mous-olini!

October 1, 1932, saw the release of "Bugs in Love," A Walt Disney animated short. It was directed by Burt Gillett and was to be the last of the Silly Symphonies to appear in black-and-white. This was the occasion for an unlikely full-page ad the studio took out that day in The Hollywood Reporter. The unfortunate text reads, "Viva Mous-olini! The New Dictator of Marquee Fashions." Fashions?

The art is still more unfortunate. Mickey Mouse, who represents the Disney studio, does not appear in the animated short. He, the "new dictator," is shown with his right arm raised in a Roman salute, also known as a Fascist salute (which the Germans had already adopted as the Nazi salute). Minnie Mouse's own comment, with its not-very-clever play of words on marquee for marquis, indicates the lack of seriousness with which this advertising copy was conceived. The ad is tone-deaf toward fascism, certainly, but that might have been forgivable in the America of 1932. The ad's main message is decidedly apolitical: that enough people throng to all Disney shorts, whether Mickey Mouses or Silly Symphonies, to make every one of them profitable. So why the raised arm? It has to be for humor.

In 1932, October 1st was also the first day (and second evening) of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. The red letters above the Reporter's masthead wished readers a good holiday—in transliterated Yiddish! In retrospect, this was not the right moment to belittle fascism, if there ever was a right moment.

In an eBay listing, a photo fo the full spread shows the full Disney ad. The militaristic crowd in the photo is returning Mickey's Roman salute.

The million-dollar asking price is surely wishful thinking on the part of this copy's eBay seller. A reasonable Best Offer might be entertained. You never know.

Mickey Mouse
eBay listing accessed August 29, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/395434900609?_skw=Disneuy&itmmeta=01K211DPXPJP81E007HHRWFKBM&hash=item5c11c1bc81:g:h5YAAOSwsEVmlhZ6&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAAwFkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eEs3T5N7nnJm%2Bi9ZX9Mc8jNYfN3ohrzT24TkWiRb4GpyI%2BSQqNwkndXDU7BSKDZA8b6kxsWgpjL29iWLv

UkdRtghhldWufnsZd5TR3cZj%2F7kRI8%2FHzsLKQf2jjJWsSvTIPMuExGB94LMFgX2PPBBQ9UG6IA46PTaoV%2F3F%2FMpHXrBbNq2gnHUp%2B20hIKhuHbWES99rgFPPW3i1j5U%2Flc7WDHevnWOLAUBFb%2FerWYaTdxg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4LztqGQZg

Mickey Mouse
eBay item description

"Bugs in Love" (1932)

A Walt Disney Silly Symphony

A 1935 Disney Gala

in Mussolini's Italy

05048

A Copy of Mickey Détective Signed by Walt Disney

French bookseller Librairie Le Feu Follet of Paris offers a first edition of Mickey Détective—the title no doubt has an online translation—that was signed by Walt Disney himself. It is priced at $5,569.89 plus $35.27 shipping.

Walt Disney
AbeBooks listing accessed July 28, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Mickey-D%C3%A9tective-Walt-DISNEY-Hachette/32253475377/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

The price in US dollars seems fairly random, but in euros it is also unconventional.

Walt Disney
AbeBooks item description

05016

Donald Duck to the Max

On Independence Day ten years ago, I posted a serigraph by Peter Max of the Statue of Liberty. The eBay seller had come to my attention after selling the original art to Ilonka Karasz's 1955 poison ivy cover for The New Yorker. I was perplexed that the 1994 Max serigraph had a 2005 copyright stamp on the verso. It could have been a listing error by the seller, I suppose, or a stamp that was added after the fact to

 unsold inventory. Whatever the case, I was unable to resolve the issue which I noted on another Max serigraph from the same seller.

Of all the colors in which Max depicted Walt Disney's Donald Duck, the variant with the red beak is my least favorite. Like the Statue of Liberty print, it is numbered 18 in its respective series, here out of 500. It is also dated 1994 with a later 2005 copyright stamp. Like the other Max serigraph, the seller guaranteed its authenticity provided returns were made in 14 days.

Peter Max
eBay listing ended August 27, 2013

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peter-Max-Disney-Donald-Duck-Serigraph-Limited-Edition-Hand-Signed-/140987205669?pt=UK_art_prints_GL&hash=item20d37e0825

Peter Max
eBay item description 

Note:  My thanks to David from Manhattan for suggesting the artist for today's post.

The eBay seller fast-fox-art of 2013 today goes by the name finefoxart. The seller has 100% positive feedback.

04207

Ward Kimball: The Sorcerer's Apprentice for Bill Blair

Animator Ward Kimball (1914-2002) was one of Walt Disney's legendary Nine Old Men. Kimball's full-figure sketch of Mickey Mouse shows him in his most iconic role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia (1940). It was listed just the other day by Schulson Autographs, Ltd., of Millburn. It has already found a new owner.

Ward Kimball
AbeBooks listing accessed April 27, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Mickey-Mouse-Original-Drawing-Signed-KIMBALL/31168419988/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Disney Family Album:  Ward Kimball

April 30, 2022 Update:  Animation expert and Ward Kimball biographer Amid Amidi expresses some doubt about this piece:

https://twitter.com/wardkimball/status/1520528997532246020

03941

Sally Holmes's Copy of Fantasia by Deems Taylor

Sally Holmes was an inbetweener at Walt Disney Studios, meaning that she animated transitional frames between key frames. She left her job circa 1946 at which time she had many of the animators and even Walt himself sign her copy of Deems Taylor's Fantasia (1940). Some of the book's signers were well on their way to becoming Disney legends and others were to remain more obscure. Most added original drawings. Some of these presented to the married Holmes were sexist and risqué—and quite different from the usual Disney fare. The book was sold on eBay circa November 2009. It is now on the market again via AbeBooks, selling for a pretty penny.

Title page
"To Sally Holmes
All Best Wishes
Walt Disney"

"G'By Sally!"
Artist Unknown
"Gosh Sally! I'm sure gonna miss yuh!
'Take care of yourself baby'
David Deliege[?]
(Dave)"

"Take It Easy"

Rudy Cataldi

"To a 'ducky' pin-up girl!"

Stamped "O. K. for INB[etweening].

Signed: Earl Combs"

Fantasia
AbeBooks listing accessed March 17, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30356290095&searchurl=kn%3DDisney%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp3-_-image27

Not much is known about Holmes. Here's her signature on a 1945 Disney studios borrowing card, second from the top:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1945-walt-disney-studio-library-card-1890410556

Note:  Sally Holmes's farewell book was previously sold on eBay in 2009. This allowed Jenny Lerew's The Blackwing Diaries blog to show many additional pages from this volume. You can see her full 2009 post here. Also, Mark Mayerson's blog Mayerson on Animation has an additional page from the 2009 listing here. Back in 2009, I still had the good sense not to try blogging.

EBay listings are generally deleted three months after auction close. I would love to hear from anyone who may have had the foresight to archive the complete 2009 listing for this volume. Additional information about Sally Holmes would be welcome, of course.

Books signed and illuminated en masse like this one are often fascinating, at least to me. I would like to post images provided by collectors who are lucky enough to own books personalized by the likes of Disney studio animators, Dutch Treat Club members, or New Yorker artists—that sort of thing. 

03910

Lady and the Tramp Unseen Scene

Who doesn't remember the spaghetti dinner from Walt Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" (1955)? A beautiful pair of cells of the title characters are trimmed and mounted on a reproduction background of Tony's restaurant just before the meal is served and the romantic song "Bella Notte" is heard. What wonderful memories this brings back—or does it? The thing is, these cells of the Tramp and Lady were used in some other scene—or possibly scenes—of the movie. Together they make a nice display, but they have nothing to do with what we saw on screen.

Lady and the Tramp
RR Auction
July 14, 2021

https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/344495006120771-lady-and-tramp-production-cels-from-lady-and-the-tramp/?cat=0

In the film, the Tramp and Lady approach Tony's from the right side of the screen.

Video still 0:03 

"Bella Notte"

Walt Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" (1955)

03875

A Donald Duck Drawing Signed by Walt Disney

The drawing is listed with Raptis Rare Books of Palm Beach. In it, the irascible Donald Duck stands with his fists—birds have fists?—clenched in a posture of anger. The watercolor is well-executed and the signature of Walt Disney makes it even more desirable. (Disney did not make the drawing himself, of course. It is the work of a studio artist.)

 

The blue matte obscures the last letter of Disney's signature, which seems unfortunate, to say the least. There may be some matte burn around the edges. A new acid-free matte might be in order for the buyer, should there be any money remaining in the old bank account.

Walt Disney
AbeBooks listing retrieved June 14, 2021

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Original-Walt-Disney-Signed-Donald-Duck/30889441983/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

03658

Ten Items Signed by Eight Cartoonists

A group of ten items signed by eight comic strip cartoonists was sold at auction this past March in L.A. First day covers signed by a cartoonist unassociated with the stamp's subject matter don't generally do much for me unless the cartoonist interacts in some way with what is already printed, stamped, or postmarked. A signature even by the great Charles M. Schulz gains nothing, in my opinion, from its placement on a Walt Disney cover postmarked with the first day of issue. I'd prefer to keep the Disney cover and the Schulz signature separate, or better still, of course, to have the Schulz signature in a Peanuts book. I suppose any oddball, signed cover becomes an instant rarity, but so what? Among the sample of covers shown here, I give Bo Brown the highest mark. Chester Gould drew one of his ubiquitous Dick Tracy profiles on an unstamped Canadian Papineau cover; I don't see how this is in any way preferable to a sketch on a plain blank card or sheet of paper. The signed cards with printed cartoon images are nice enough, sure, but Marge's hand-drawn and personalized sketch of Little Lulu seems more thoughtful and therefore more desirable.

Cartoonists

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/cartoonists-ten-items-signed-by-eight-cartoonists-7b04b10b00#

Ten Items Signed by Eight Cartoonists

https://www.goldbergcoins.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/69/?page=1&key=Cartoonists&cat=&xclosed=no

03403

Don Tobin: Special Mother's Day Dinner

Dick Buchanan delves back seventy-two years in his Cartoon Clip Files to bring us a postwar Mother's Day gag by cartoonist Don Tobin. The baby boom began in 1946, just two years before the Saturday Evening Post published this cartoon. Dick writes, "Don Tobin was a Disney animator who left after the 1941 strike, as did Partch, Ketcham, Dedini and others, to become a very successful gag cartoonist."

Don Tobin
The Saturday Evening Post, May 8, 1948

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  My thanks to Dick Buchanan for his fifty-fourth contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Dick maintains the invaluable Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. He also contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a scholarly post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: Puck Magazine Cartoons 1879 - 1890." I, for one, 
learned a lot.

Don Tobin is brand new to this blog.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Mother's Day

Dick Buchanan

Attempted Bloggery's Nurturing Index

03253

A "Squatter's Rights" Production Cel Signed by Walt Disney

A production cel from the animated short "Squatter's Rights" (1946) signed by Walt Disney depicts a wintry scene that did not actually appear on screen, at least not in this manner. The characters Mickey Mouse and Chip did not appear together in the actual shot. The non-production background is meant to show off the two character cels to best advantage, but it has nothing to do with the action of the movie.

Signed production cel from "Squatter's Rights" (1946) on a non-production background

Walt Disney Productions

Walt Disney
AbeBooks Listing Accessed January 17, 2020

https://www.abebooks.com/Walt-Disney-Signed-Production-Cel/30542719820/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

 

Film Still at 4:22

"Squatter's Rights" (1946)

Walt Disney Productions

Note:  I am unable to locate the movie still that corresponds to the cel of Chip—or is it Dale?—in this animated short. Does it indeed come from "Squatter's Rights" or is it possibly from some other production?

The production cel is still available for sale at the time of this posting.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Walt Disney

Animation

Attempted Bloggery's Snowbound Index

03197