Walt Disney Signed Contract 1931 Mickey Mouse Comic Distribution King Features Syndicate Inc. – COA JSA

Description

There were many steps to Walt Disney’s success and journey that brought characters with inspirational imagination to the masses. One of the steps was to get his Mickey Mouse cartoon comic strip into the funny pages of newspapers across the United States. This two-page contract dated to December 19, 1931 was an assignment of license agreement that helped the partnership between King Features Syndicate Inc. and Walt Disney as it continued to put Disney’s cartoon Mickey Mouse comic strip into circulation. It outlined details within their partnership agreement. It bears Walt Disney’s signature on the second page in black steel tip pen (“9-10”) in his distinctive flowing with flourish manner. The Walt Disney signature is one of the most desirable of all autographs, and this from the early part of his career paving the way for his global empire.

William Randolph Hearst’s newspapers began syndicating material in 1895 after receiving requests from other newspapers. The first official Hearst syndicate was called Newspaper Feature Service, Inc., established in 1913. In 1914, Hearst and his manager Moses Koenigsberg consolidated all of Hearst’s syndication enterprises under one banner .Koenigsberg gave it his own name when he launched King Features Syndicate on November 16, 1915.

Hearst put hit after hit into newspapers as the years went by: Barney Google, Thimble Theatre (home-port of Popeye), Blondie, Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, Prince Valiant, and many, many more. Hearst sought out premier talent and paid handsomely. Hearst brought Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse into the funny papers. While Hearst was a skilled businessman who understood the circulation-building powers of comics, he was also one of their biggest fans. Hearst loved the “funnies” and followed them faithfully.

Authentication: JSA Full Letter

Walt Disney Signed Contract