Heritage Auctions has become the go to place for selling rare pop culture items like comic books and movie memorabilia. The latest acquisition that is going up on the auction block July 1 -2 is an animation cel from “Mickey’s Service Station,” a 1935 Mickey Mouse short subject.
The cel features Mickey Mouse and Goofy in what many believe to be only known black and white cel featuring Goofy in private hands. Couple this with the fact that the piece also includes the background probably explains why the auction company believes the piece will sell for more than $60,000.
“The early Disney cartoons are some of the most difficult animation cels to find and it’s even harder to find one with an original background,” said Jim Lentz, Director of Animation Auctions at Heritage, “yet here was have one of the best I’ve ever seen, from one of the best early Mickey cartoons and one of the very last black and white Mickey cartoons before Disney proved that color worked in the medium.”
Other items up for auction includes a Ub Iwerks production drawing of Mickey from “Steamboat Willie” and a cel featuring the Mouse from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” segment of Disney’s 1940 Fantasia.
There was a time that I would have jumped at the chance to get my hands on classic Disney animation cels, and for a long time, you could (and may still be able to) buy cels from the Main Street Emporium at Disney Land and Disney World. Of course they were just as expensive back then as they are today, and for collectors, these pieces will certainly be items that will pay for themselves in a few years.