Early Walt Disney Cartoon and Signature - Is it REAL?

I have a 3-panel cartoon, ink and watercolor, that I believe is a very early Walt Disney. His childhood history states that he used to make drawings and sell them to family and friends when he lived in Missouri and Kansas City. the "alt" in the signature looks very very similar to many of his other signatures. The "W" is just a block "W". I would think that he would have done this as a child and that he would have developed his iconic "W" as he got older. If you see his printed cartoon balloons, he does make this type of "W". I found this in an estate sale in Toledo, Ohio. I have not been able to find any childhood Walt Disney signatures to compare it with.

The following are examples of Walt Disney's signature that shows where the "alt" in Walt is very similar...

The following is where Walt Disney uses the block "W" when printing........

Tags: Walt Disney

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 15, 2022 at 4:16pm

You need Phil Sears.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 15, 2022 at 4:47pm

Thses are from 1918:

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 15, 2022 at 4:48pm

The second exemplar you showed is not a signature but a logo.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 15, 2022 at 5:02pm

Does this really look like a child drew them? His drawing style in 1918 below - one of the earliest and signed too. OP drawing seems more advanced thus a bit later.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 15, 2022 at 5:11pm

It is taped to the cardboard? How old is the tape? Why would someone tape a later Disney to cardboard (if genuine)? The paper seems more recent and that appears designers gouache not watercolor. The hand is very sure of the drawing. Whoever did the drawing used less to convery a much funnier joke. The 1918 is rather drawn out.

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Permalink Reply by Nick on June 15, 2022 at 7:41pm

Eric -

Thanks for your input.

In 1918, Walt was 17. His drawings from this time seem to be more advanced/accomplished than the 3-panel comic that I have. I have seen the one you posted before, that's why I thought it was later than that. His bio said that he was drawing stuff for friends and family from as early as 9-10 years old. Mine may not be that early, but before 1918.

The tape and paper seem to be old. And as to why someone would tape an early Walt Disney to cardboard? I don't think that the owner thought or knew this was a Walt Disney. I purchased this at an estate sale with a bunch of other frames. It was not sold or advertised as a Walt Disney. The characters have some resemblence to Pinoccio and when I looked at the signature, it looks like it could be a Walt Disney signature.

My thoughts were, how many Walts draw cartoons, cartoons that look this old, and sign their name very similar to Walt Disney?

Thanks!

As for the logo signature, I realize that it's a logo, but I would assume that it was copied from an original. I included it as an example as to how much the "alt" in that logo looks like the "alt" in the cartoon.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 15, 2022 at 9:19pm

Here is an article regarding the earliest drawings ever offered - estimated at $200,000. Phil Sears is mentioned. I think you should show what you have to him. I do not believe the person who drew the 1918 scrapbook images is capable of the OP panel. It's already in a clean fluid Disneyesque shorthand. It looks much later than 1914-18.

Early Disney

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 16, 2022 at 5:18am

I would focus on the artwork rather than the signature. There is a lot of data to analyze here and I suspect an expert in Disney's art would likely know in a second if this is authentic. They would also know if it is possibly a replica of a known existing work.