Nationwide Hunt for Disney Memorabilia Uncovers Rare Finds

A nationwide hunt to find Disney memorabila has uncovered some valuable items, which are now due to appear in a special one-off Disney exhibition. The Mickey and Oswald's Epic Tales show takes place from 23rd to 25th November at The Getty Images Gallery, Westfield Stratford and will look at the history of Mickey Mouse and, lesser known star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit through a unique selection of pieces from the Walt Disney Archives, Walt Disney Animation Research Library and Walt Disney Imagineering.

The hunt saw Disney collectors sending in pictures of their favourite items via Facebook, which were then appraised by Patrick Van der Vorst, former Southeby's director and founder of Valuemystuff.com. There were plenty of interesting finds including some 1930s Mickey Mouse magazines from Lincolnshire, a Steamboat Willy Mickey Mouse plush toy from Brighton, a 1930s Mickey's Clock book from Northamptonshire and a 1960s walking Mickey Mouse puppet.

However, our favourite item is definitely a figure of Mickey dressed as Indiana Jones, owned by Chris Parham from Southampton. The model was one of only 500 Indiana Jones figurines made by Art of Disney and was described by Patrick as "rare and desirable", with an estimated value of around £1,000.

Alongside the items found during the search other artefacts in the exhibition include the drawing and note given to Universal’s Carl Laemmle from Walt Disney, dated October 1, 1935, representing a rare instance prior to Disney Epic Mickey where Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit appeared together and Herb Ryman’s magnificent first pencil concept sketch of the original Disneyland park in California.

The exhibition celebrates the launch of Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, the sequel to the first Disney Epic Mickey video game, by looking back at the history of Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the characters and stories that inspired the game. The title sees Mickey and Oswald propelled through 80 years worth of forgotten Disney characters and theme park attractions to save an alternate world called 'Wasteland'. For more information about the game or the exhibition, head to the Epic Mickey Facebook page.