Early Mickey Mouse poster sold

A 1928 film poster of Mickey Mouse has been sold to a mystery buyer for more than $100,000 (£62,320) at an auction in Texas. The colour poster is one of the earliest surviving images of the iconic character, created by Walt Disney. Mickey replaced an earlier character called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit created by Disney for Universal Studios and first appeared in Steamboat Willie. The poster was sold by the family of a deceased collector in California. The poster, which shows a smiling Mickey - dubbed ‘The World’s Funniest Cartoon Character’ - waving his gloved hand, fetched $101,575 (£63,291) at Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Auction house director Grey Smith called the poster “an important piece of pop culture treasure”, adding that it was likely to be the only Mickey Mouse poster created until 1930, when Columbia Pictures started distributing Disney cartoons. Last year, a cartoon featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit called Hungry Hobos from 1928 was sold in the US for $25,000 (£16,000). The 16mm film was found among the Huntley Film Archives in Herefordshire.