Walt Disney's Disneyland map sells for $708,000
June 26, 2017
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 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.