Disney's The Lion King: Friends in Need Children's Storybook Preliminary Illustrations by John Kurtz

Disney's The Lion King: Friends in Need Children's Storybook Preliminary Illustrations by John Kurtz plus Print Group of 3 (Walt Disney/Golden Press, 1994). In this prequel storybook to Disney's famous 1994 animated movie, Mufasa is a young adult who saves Zazu the bird from being eaten by ravenous hyenas Banzai, Ed, and Shenzi; later, the young bird returns the favor when he spots vultures circling Mufasa's mate Sarabi, who became trapped in a pit. Here's a pair of great preliminary drawings of two important scenes from the book, done in graphite by longtime Disney book artist John Kurtz. The first is the scene where Mufasa saves Zazu from the hyenas, with an approximate image area measuring 8.5" x 8.5" on 14" x 13.5" paper, and no page number listed. The second is the scene where Zazu first alerts an indifferent Mufasa, before both know who the vultures are circling; you can see the vultures in the far background as they circle their prey. The image size is 8.5" x 8.5" on 14" x 13" paper, noted as 12 in the lower left. Both drawings are hand-signed by the artist. I have a color copy of the published book's cover Art condition is Very Good with minor handling and edge wear.