Cover art for 1947 Dell four color comic #159 DONALD DUCK AND THE GHOST OF THE GROTTO. The art was drawn by C. C. Beck, who was most famous for his drawing of the Fawcett Comic's Captain Marvel series.
Hank Porter was one of the all time best Disney artists who drew specialty items for the studio. The museum displays extensive pieces of his original artwork, such as this 1947 Disney Studio Christmas card art.
The Museum displays an extensive collection of original animation cels and drawings. Pictured here are a drawing from a 1939 Mickey Mouse cartoon SOCIETY DOG SHOW, and an animation cell from the 1942 cartoon DONALD'S GARDEN.
Fawcett’s MAINE ANTIQUE TOY & ART MUSEUM has acquired many large Dick Tracy original Sunday Comic Strip drawings by Chester Gould. These very rare and wonderful works are currently on display. The newspaper syndicate destroyed all Dick Tracy original art work in their storage in 1952.
Right is the Dick Tracy original March 13, 1938 Sunday page in the museum's collection.
The museum has recently acquired some original art for Disney’s World War Two military combat and battle squadron insignia designs. Over 1200 military units requested Disney art for their insignias from the Disney Studios. This work was done free of charge and was drawn and created by Disney artist, Hank Porter. Much of Porter’s military insignia design work has never been seen before by the general public. We currently have a dozen original WW2 military drawings on display. Right is the 1942 Jiminy Cricket WWII original art for the U.S. Naval Air Station in Hutchinson, Kansas. The air station trained Navy pilots. The Disney design shows the plane trailing an anchor to help the novice pilots stop.
There are many more works of original art and illustration on display at the museum. Currently, we display a superb 1943 Burne Hogarth original TARZAN Sunday page and very rare H.G.Peter 1940s comic book page of very rare WONDER WOMAN ART. We also display original Maine folk art, such as these Laughing Lobster men shell figures pictured to the right.
We hope you will visit us soon. Please remember we are not an interactive museum for children, but we display items that are truly enjoyed by adults.
The museum has acquired a superb example of the cinematic drawing by Milton Caniff, the “Rembrandt of the Comics”. This original July 20, 1951 STEVE CANYON daily comic strip displays his incredible brushwork and dramatic use of blacks as he depicts the stormy seas. This is a magnificent example of a mature artist’s skill and craft at the top of his game. The original artwork is currently on display in our museum collection. Caniff drew TERRY & THE PIRATES from 1934 to 1946. He drew STEVE CANYON for 41 years, beginning in 1947. We also display original art from Caniff’s work from the Terry and the Pirates series.
The museum has acquired a superb example of Gray Tudeau's DOONESBURY COMIC STRIP. The original art depicts Mr. Butts, Mr. Brewski, and Mr. Dum-Dum in a parody of the Washington Lobbyists. We also have Gary Trudeau's pants in our collection. He has drawn a superb example of his character and signed the pants on the back side.
The museum displays some of the finest examples of Fred Harman’s RED RYDER popular Western comic strip. Above is the wonderful original art example of the February 25, 1949 daily newspaper comic strip. The Red Ryder & Little Beaver comic ran from 1938 to 1964. After he stopped drawing the strip, Harman achieved considerable fame as a Western painter. There is a museum in Pagosa Springs Colorado that exhibits his work. He was a true magician with his loose, yet controlled, calligraphic brush style in the Red Ryder comics. Yes, we even display the original Daisy Red Ryder BB gun in our museum collection. Do come see our Fred Harman Red Ryder original art and collectible items before “You shoot your eye out.”
Magnificent RED RYDER full page Sunday Newspaper art by Fred Harman.