Rare Terrytoons \"How the West Was Won\" 1946 Original Production Cel+Key Master For Sale

A real piece of history, this is an original hand-inked, hand-painted production cel on its matching hand-painted Key Master background fromWinning the West, a 1946 Terrytoons theatrical short from the Mighty Mouse series, released by 20th Century Fox on August 16, 1946, and directed by Eddie Donnelly. The cel depicts a Native American character riding atop a white horse on a rocky mountain peak — one of the adversarial characters central to the film\'s western-themed conflict, in which Mighty Mouse intervenes to defend mouse settlers. The image is a dynamic, isolated composition: the horse and rider are positioned at the summit of a stylized blue-grey peak against a plain sky background, creating a visually strong, self-contained scene that reads clearly outside its original film context.

Winning the Westwas one of roughly a dozen Mighty Mouse shorts produced in 1946 alone, a period that represented some of the highest output of the theatrical run. Mighty Mouse, originally called Super Mouse, debuted in 1942 and went on to star in 80 theatrical shorts concluding in 1961, before becoming a cultural icon through the CBS Saturday morning television programMighty Mouse Playhouse, which debuted in December 1955 and ran for nearly twelve years. The 1946 shorts predate the CBS acquisition and the television era entirely, placing this cel firmly within the original theatrical production period.

Terrytoons operated from 1929 to 1972 out of New Rochelle, New York, producing theatrical shorts distributed by 20th Century Fox. Paul Terry sold the studio to CBS in 1955, after which the character and library were repackaged for television. All theatrical-era production art — including this piece — originates from the pre-CBS, Fox distribution period, the original hand-crafted workflow before any commercial or licensing pressures reshaped the studio\'s output.

This is a Key Master Setup, meaning the original production cel is paired with its original, matching hand-painted production background from the same scene in the film. This is the most complete and desirable format in animation art collecting, as the overwhelming majority of surviving production cels were separated from their backgrounds long ago and are now displayed without them or on unrelated replacement backgrounds. The cel and background are professionally matted and set in a glossy wood frame under glass. Colors are vivid with no significant fading or cel deterioration visible. Acquired new from Great American Ink Animation Gallery (11633 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles) and comes with their Statement of Authenticity signed by Gallery Director Sally Walsh, identifying it as an original production cel and background circa 1940s from Terrytoons studio. Has been in static, climate-controlled storage since acquisition.