Problems mar auction of first Mickey Mouse drawings

Part of an early Mickey Mouse cartoon. Click here to see more drawings

From CNN Correspondent Brian Palmer and Producer Maureen Madden

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Technical problems with bidders via telephone and Internet plagued the auction of storyboard drawings for the first Mickey Mouse cartoon.

Arlan Ettinger, the president of Guernsey's Auction House, told CNN on Saturday there is no completed sale for the moment.

"It's clearly upsetting," he said, adding that the auction house was working to determine what happened.

The drawings for the animated film "Plane Crazy" were being auctioned by the International Museum of Cartoon Art, in Boca Raton, Florida. Museum founder Mort Walker -- who's also the creator of the Beetle Bailey comic strip -- said the drawings are valued at between $3.2 and $3.7 million.

Bidding for them opened at $1 million, but when no takers responded, the price lowered. The first bid came in at $400,000. As the bids increased to the $700,000 level, Ettinger said, there was a flurry of activity from telephone and Internet bidders.

The last bid heard was in the $800,000 range, but Ettinger said some of the anonymous bidders had not established credit with the auction house.

He hopes to have the problem resolved soon, he said.

The auction was held at the New York Historical Society. Walker said the sale proceeds would pay bills for the cartoon museum.

According to Guernsey's Web site, the 36 sketches on six storyboard panels mark Mickey Mouse's first appearance. The drawings were created as the storyboard for "Plane Crazy" that a young Walt Disney and his collaborator, Ub Iwerks, created in 1928.

Inspired by Charles Lindbergh and his 1927 flight across the Atlantic, "Plane Crazy" marked Mickey Mouse's debut. But a later Mickey Mouse film, "Steamboat Willie," was released first.

According to the IMCA Web site, other works auctioned included some by artists Hal Foster, Chester Gould, Winsor McCay, Al Hirschfeld, Chuck Jones, Jose Delbo and Walker. Some of the art is from the IMCA's collection, and some of it was donated for the sale.