A six-page, 36-panel storyboard from the 1928 Walt Disney cartoon PLANE CRAZY, which marked the first ever appearance of Mickey Mouse, is back on the auction block after failing to sell at auction this past May 19, 2001. The storyboard had been part of an extensive collection of cartoon and comic book art being auctioned to raise funds for the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida. Sale of the storyboard, valued at somewhere between $3.2 million - $3.7 million, was put on hold after the identity of the individual behind an online bid of $800,000 could not be verified. According to a report in the Orlando Sentinel, the museum, founded by BEETLE BAILEY creator Mort Walker, has debts of roughly $2 million. SunTrust Bank, which is owed about $1 million in late payments on its mortgage, wanted to hold the drawings as collateral, the paper said, but the museum refused to turn over the sketches. Guernseys, which handled the original auction, has scheduled a second auction for June 8, 2001. For more information visit http://www.guernseys.com.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
