Possibly the earliest surviving Mickey Mouse poster from 1928, sold at Heritage Auctions in Texas on November 29 for $85,000 (£56,000).
Owned for three decades by a late Californian collector, the 2ft 3in x 3ft 5in (68cm x 1.04m) full-colour, one-sheet poster was described by the vendor's daughter as "the crowning jewel" of her father's collection. Grey Smith, director of movie posters at Heritage Auctions (19.5% buyer's premium), where it sold on November 29, said: "Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, and the first 12 Mickey cartoons were distributed in 1928 and 1929 by Celebrity Pictures, a very low budget distributor. This is very likely the only Mickey Mouse poster created until 1930 when Disney cartoons began to be distributed by Columbia Pictures."
The pre-sale estimate was $20,000-40,000.
