The map Walt Disney drew to present the idea of Disneyland to investors became one of the most expensive Disney artifacts ever sold at auction. The piece was one of nearly 1,000 pieces of Disney memorabilia sold.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/D. Dovarganes
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The original map of Disneyland drawn by Walt Disney to present the theme park concept to investors sold for $708,000 (632,700 euros) at an auction in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Bidding for the piece started at $500,000 and fell short of the $900,000 it was expected to fetch. It still set a record for a Disney map. The buyer was not revealed.
"As we had expected, this extraordinary Disneyland map sold for an outstanding price. After some pretty exciting bidding, the map sold for $708,000, making it the most expensive Disneyland map ever sold," said Mike Van Eaton, co-owner of Van Eaton Galleries where the map was sold.
"We are beyond thrilled that the map will continue to be appreciated and cherished just like it has been for all these years."
The Walt Disney of Saint Petersburg
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The map was one of nearly 1,000 artifacts sold at the "Collect Disney" auction. Disney, with the help of artist Herb Ryman, drew the map in 1953 to help present the idea of Disneyland to potential investors. The theme park opened two years later in Anaheim, California.
The map was originally owned by Grenade Curran, an employee of Disneyland who drove special guests around the park. Curran, now in his 90s, told American broadcaster CNN he asked Disney if he could have the original map, and "Walt turned and said 'you gotta have it.'"
Disney co-founded an animation studio in 1923, which eventually grew into one of the biggest film studios in the world. He was the mastermind behind Mickey Mouse, Disney's version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Bambi" and "Cinderella". He died in 1966 aged 65.
Commemorating Walt Disney, 50 years after his death
The Walt Disney Studios are the most successful film studios in the world. Fifty years after his death, a new book takes a close look at genius cartoon artist and movie pioneer Walt Disney.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Meet Walt
Walt Disney, born in 1901 in Chicago, was an ingenious cartoon artist - a fact lovingly documented in "The Walt Disney Film Archives. The Animated Movies 1921-1968." The coffee table book contains hundreds of sketches and drawings that give the reader an idea of how the most famous Disney movies were created.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Animation meets the real world
In the 1920s, long before Mickey Mouse and Snow White, young Walt directed and produced the "Alice Comedies" series, where a real-life little girl named Alice and a cartoon cat have all sorts of adventures in a cartoon world. The scene pictured above shows Virginia Davis on the set of "Alice's Spooky Adventure."
Image: Walt Disney Archives Photo Library
Big hits
The new book with its more than 1,500 illustrations meticulously follows Disney's career from the early days to two years after his death on December 15, 1966. The focus is on the Disney motion pictures that amazed and drew crowds back then, and are still beloved today. The 1937 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" was Walt Disney's first long feature film - and was a huge box office hit.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Legendary cartoon characters
The characters Disney dreamed up are known worldwide - for instance, Mickey Mouse. It's not certain, however, who the father of the famous mouse was. Walt Disney's art director Ub Iwerks is also credited with inventing the cartoon character. Disney stopped drawing in 1926, but - ever the perfectionist - he continued to pull the strings and no cartoon ever left the studios without his approval.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Dreams are forever
"Pinocchio," "Dumbo," "Bambi," "Fantasia," "Cinderella," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Peter Pan" (pictured) were all released in the 1940s and 1950s. These full-length feature films were beautifully animated, whisking the audience away to dream worlds that seemed to be boundless.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
The making of a cartoon film
Many thousands of people were involved in the production of Disney feature films, mainly graphic artists and painters. Hundreds of sketches were made, one of many steps on the path to the final finished product. The films then flickered across movie screens worldwide, but under just one single name: Walt Disney. Pictured above is a sketch for the 1959 animated film "Sleeping Beauty."
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Family entertainment
Browsing through the magnificent 600-page illustrated book brings back childhood memories of going to the movies to see the most recent Disney film, or watching the beloved old movies with one's own children on video or DVD. "That's not a bird, that's a butterfly!" The tale of "Bambi" (1942) is a classic to this day.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
The Walt Disney Film Archives
"The Walt Disney Film Archives. The Animated Movies 1921-1968," published by Daniel Kothenschulte, was created in cooperation with the Walt Disney Archives and Libraries in the US. Numerous Disney experts give introductions into Disney's oeuvre and the individual films. The book is in English, with a German-language supplement.
