Rare Walt Disney Signed Copy of The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood During His Fabled Tour As U.S. Cultural Ambassador to South America
Our first autograph of Disney from this storied trip, signed underneath a sketch of the wolf.
Near the end of the 1930s, the Fascists were making inroads in Latin America. To quell that momentum, President Roosevelt named Nelson Rockefeller head of a special agency – a veritable international chamber of commerce for cultural exchange – that sent various Hollywood luminaries to visit these countries to, in effect, win...
Near the end of the 1930s, the Fascists were making inroads in Latin America. To quell that momentum, President Roosevelt named Nelson Rockefeller head of a special agency – a veritable international chamber of commerce for cultural exchange – that sent various Hollywood luminaries to visit these countries to, in effect, win the hearts and minds of the people. Hollywood was even asked to include Latin American themes in its movies to bolster good will. One such cultural ambassador was Walt Disney, who went with 16 of his artists on an extended trip to Brazil, Argentina and Chile during the late summer of 1941. By this point in his career, Disney had already produced Pinocchio, Fantasia, and other landmark features, as well as scores of short films. He had received a special Academy Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse, and had won eight Short Subject Oscars for his cartoons. The popularity of the Disney films in Latin America was really phenomenal, so Walt was a natural choice.
Starting in 1936 and proceeding over the next half dozen years, a number of the Disney books based on his characters were translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil. One of these, published in color, was O Lobo Feroz e o Capuchinho Vermelho, which translates as The Big, Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood. This is a copy of that book, dated inscribed, and signed by Disney on that trip, “To Luciu Maria and Francisco, Sincerely, Walt Disney, Rio 9-2-41.” This is the first item we have carried datelined during his famous trip to South America.
Disney’s group was given a warm and enthusiastic reception everywhere they went. Disney saw the trip as an opportunity to help his country, but also an opportunity to look for “new songs, dances, plots and personalities for our cartoons.” In the following few years, Disney released two great features inspired by the trip to South America: Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. So his trip not only did much to cement friendship between the U.S. and its South American neighbors, it stoked the creative fires within the Disney group and led to some of their most renowned work
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