A young animator named Les Clark received his first Disney screen credit in 1928, for his work on Steamboat Willie. Steamboat Willie was Disney's third Mickey Mouse cartoon, but the first to receive national release (Plane Crazy was released in one California theatre as a silent, but was halted from syndication to have a soundtrack added to it). While he is not credited on the first two cartoons, Clark, like everyone else in the tiny outfit, did his share of work on both. Having started with Disney in 1927, he was to last as the earliest animator to have an uninterupted work history with Disney throughout the following decades. His unique status in the company's history has resulted in his titling as "the first of the nine old men", a loving nickname for the most lasting members of Disney's illustrious animation staff. We are reminded of Les Clarks' lasting contributions to Disney's product, and to the history of animation as well, in our viewing of this very early image of Mickey. The image you see here was produced in 1929 for use on Mickey's first licensed product, a school writing tablet. Since the small studio did not have images prepared for such usage, Les Clark was tapped for the assignment. His finished product became the icon of the era for Disney's popular star, used on movie posters, house ads, and an unimaginable array of products, both here and abroad. It is the most recognizable image of Mickey Mouse from his early period, and its importance to the character's history cannot be overstated! Clark actually provided his employer with two versions of the illustration. One is the classic image, executed in standard graphite on early 9-1/2" x 12", two-hole animation paper, and the second is an identical image within an illustration grid, created with identical materials. These grids are used to transfer an illustration, in exact proportion, to a larger or smaller image size. It was a device for the commercial art industry, used by many of the greats, such as J.C. Leyendecker, Rockwell and most others. Yet, while many used the device, working model examples rarely survive, being discarded shortly after their initial use. Of course, while it is amazing that either of these two illustrations have survived, it is even more amazing that bothe have survived together! Their shared survival is entirely due to their having been stored lovingly for years by their creator Les Clark. The two pieces were first made available to the collector's market by Christies animation department, after the firm acquired them from Les Clark's estate. They officially labelled the works as being from "The Private Collection of Les Clark". Both works were sold together and together they still remain. The artworks are accompanied by a May, 1999 Letter of Authenticity from Joe Mannarino of All-Star Auctions, former auction organizer for Christies East's comic book and comic art auctions.