Little Hiawatha Racing Casey Junior to the Railroad Station
N.p.,: , 1972. Item #04138
Little Hiawatha Races Casey Junior
The Original Hand-Painted Disney Artwork for the Wraparound Cover of Disneyland Magazine No. 47
Together with a Fine Copy of the Published Magazine
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS. Little Hiawatha Racing Casey Junior to the Railroad Station. Original artwork for the wraparound cover of Disneyland Magazine, No. 47. [1972; published January 2, 1973].
Original gouache on artist's board. Image size 12 x 26 1/2 inches (305 x 673 mm.). In fine condition. Matted, framed and glazed.
Together with a fine copy of the original issue of Disneyland Magazine, No. 47, published by Fawcett, January 2, 1973, bearing the finished illustration as its wraparound cover.
A superb, large-scale piece of original Walt Disney publication artwork, created for the complete wraparound cover of Disneyland Magazine, featuring Little Hiawatha, Casey Junior and a wonderfully animated cast of Disney animals.
The panoramic composition depicts Casey Junior - the cheerful little locomotive familiar from Disney's Dumbo - steaming through the American West with his colorful circus train. Alongside, Little Hiawatha, mounted on a galloping piebald pony, enthusiastically races the train toward the railroad station.
The scene is filled with action. Chip and Dale scamper through the foreground; rabbits, squirrels, cats and other animals race alongside Hiawatha; bluebirds fly above the track; and another Native American figure watches the excitement from horseback at the left. In the distance, riders and additional figures populate the Western landscape while Casey Junior's plume of smoke sweeps dramatically across the sky.
The artwork also incorporates a delightful hidden-object game. Readers of the magazine were challenged to locate six objects concealed within the composition: a top hat, flag, wooden bucket, clown's hat, ball and hoop. This explains several apparently incongruous details tucked into the landscape and makes the original artwork particularly engaging when examined closely.
The published magazine introduced its young readers to the cover scene: “Do you remember the little engine called Casey Junior? … Little Hiawatha is very excited at the idea of seeing a circus, and he is trying to race Casey Junior to the railroad station.”
The magazine then invited readers to find the six hidden objects before signing off, “See you again next week. Your friend, Mickey Mouse.”
The finished artwork was reproduced across the wraparound cover of Disneyland Magazine, No. 47, a weekly magazine for beginning readers published by Fawcett. The issue appeared January 2, 1973 and contained, among other features, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Donald Duck and the High Dive, New Tales from the Jungle Book and The Adventures of Pinocchio. Specialist comics records specifically identify No. 47 as carrying the Little Hiawatha and Casey Junior wraparound cover.
The original artwork is considerably more impressive than the printed cover suggests. At more than two feet wide, its panoramic format allowed the Disney artist to populate the Western landscape with numerous characters and incidental details while maintaining the strong central action of Hiawatha racing the locomotive.
The small separately mounted image of Mickey Mouse above the principal artwork completes the presentation, echoing Mickey's role as the magazine's genial host for its young readership.
An unusually large and colorful piece of original Walt Disney publication artwork, retaining its direct connection with the finished publication through the accompanying fine copy of the magazine - a wonderfully animated combination of Little Hiawatha, Casey Junior and classic Disney animal characters.
Price: $1,500.00