Publicity Drawing for Mickey's Parrot, September, 1938

This was one of the first Disney publicity drawings that I bought (about 1979), and it is still one of my favorites. In fact, one of my earliest purchases (also in c. 1979)of Disney animation drawings shows the same two characters from the same 1938 Mickey Mouse short. Although both drawings depict very different scenes and actions, what I admire about both is the portrayal of the parrot's movement. In the publicity drawing the flapping wings and the resulting splattering of water from Pluto's dog dish is incredibly effective, and the final result of the activity is reflected in the water puddles on the ground. In the animation drawing the viewer can actually feel the backward movement of the parrot in reaction to Pluto's menacing forward movement.

This is one of the very few drawings I have ever seen which is initialed by Manuel Gonzales. To me it is onvincing proof that the third great and usually unmentioned Disney publicity artist was at least as great a draftsman as his two more famous colleagues, Tom Wood and Hank Porter. All three were very capable of producing superior still images of Disney characters, but, in my opinion, Gonzales' work was the most consistently great. While I am sure this will someday come back to haunt me, I honestly believe that in this single drawing, Gonzales rivals Raphael himself in quality of draftsmanship. I wouldn't say that about many artists who have lived since Raphael's death in 1520!!!