Walt Disney commissioned hand-drawn map of Disneyland sold for US$708,000

A hand-drawn map that shows Walt Disney’s original ideas for Disneyland has sold at auction for US$708,000.

The founder of Van Eaton Galleries in Los Angeles said a private collector cast the winning bid Sunday. Mike Van Eaton says it is the most expensive Disneyland map ever sold.

Walt Disney commissioned an illustrator to create the map in 1953 to drum up interest and investments in his new amusement-park concept. Many of the ideas shown on the map became realities when Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955.

Utah resident and Disney collector Ron Clark owned the map for more than 40 years and dreamed of it being returned to Disneyland.

The name of the American collector who bought the map Sunday was not revealed.