1928 Mickey Mouse Poster Sells for Over $100,000 in Texas Auction

One of the earliest surviving images of Disney's iconic characters, Mickey Mouse, was sold for more than $100,000 at an auction in Dallas, Texas. The color poster was dated 1928. The poster was bought out by mystery buyer.

Walt Disney created the character in 1928 and it was re-sketched by Ub Iwerks. Until 1947, Disney was the voice for the character. The poster was an advertisement for "Mickey Mouse Sound Cartoon," ABC News reported. The poster shows Mickey waving his gloved hand.

The poster was sold for $101,575. It was described as an "important piece of pop culture treasure," by Grey Smith, director of movie poster auctions at Heritage Auctions. The poster calls Mickey  "The World's Funniest Cartoon Character." It belonged to the family of a deceased collector in Northern California, Reuters reported.

This was reportedly the only poster produced before Columbia Pictures took over the film distribution rights for the Mickey Mouse movies in 1930.

The first movie debut of the character was in 1928 for "Steamboat Willie." Mickey replaced earlier character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In 2011, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon called "Hungry Hobos" dated 1928 was sold for $25,000, BBC reported.

International Business Times said that George Lucas may have been the mysterious buyer after he sold his Lucasfilm for $4 billion to Walt Disney Co., Oct. 30.

Mickey Mouse is one of the most recognized animated characters in the world.