Pinocchio (1940), British, Original artwork used to create the British front of house lobby cards. Gouache on artboard.

Pinocchio (1940), British, Original artwork used to create the British front of house lobby cards. Gouache on artboard.

Unframed: 17 x 22 in. (43.2 x 55.8 cm)

Framed: 20 1/2 x 25 1/2 in. (52 x 64.7 cm)

Pieces on the classic Disney films are always highly prized. This original artwork only surfaced last year. It was previously owned by an English lady, who had been given it in the 1940s. Prior to this discovery, no other Pinocchio artwork for posters or front of house stills had been seen. The Pinocchio artworks discovered last year varied in either 14 x 18 in. or 17 x 22 in. This is one of the larger pieces.

This is a unique original artwork. The majority of original artworks were discarded by the studios, and it is therefore very rare to find one.

Walt Disney's second animated feature film was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Pinocchio, the world’s most famous wooden puppet, is originally the creation of the Italian writer and social commentator Carlo Collodi. Entitled The Adventures of Pinocchio, the story was initially serialized in the children’s section of a Roman newspaper and, following its popularity, became a book in 1883. When Walt Disney decided to adapt the story to film, Pinocchio had already climbed to widespread fame, but it was not until he was animated that the naughty wooden boy truly became embedded in the popular imagination.