Staff of Walt Disney Studio

Walt Disney's The Country Cousin

Philadelphia, PA: David McKay Company, 1937. Staff of Walt Disney Studio. First Edition. Hardcover. “Way out in the country there lived a little mouse named Abner. He led a very peaceful life under the old oak tree. / And then, one fine day, he received a mouse-o-gram from his cousin, Monty. “Come to the city and enjoy life,” it read.” (page 1) Based on Walt Disney’s adaptation of the ancient Greek fable “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse” in their series of animated musical shorts “Silly Symphonies,” 75 short films released over a decade. Some included classic Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and many of them were adaptations of other famous fables as well as fairy tales. Many comics and children’s books were spawned from these shorts as the animated frames made for easily translatable illustrations. The original tale, one of hundreds attributed to Greek storyteller Aesop, recounted the Town Mouse traveling to visit the Country Mouse and then bringing him back to the city to show him the finer things. The tale told here is just the Country Mouse being invited by letter to visit the Town Mouse. Generally, fables feature anthropomorphized animals, plants, or forces of nature interacting to demonstrate and impart a moral lesson. The lesson imparted by The Country Cousin is tied to the old adage, “the grass is always greener on the other side.” Many fables have reached a level of familiarity to become idioms, such as “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs,” “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” (also titled “The Wolf and the Shepherd”), and they are widely used and understood as a shorthand for guidance and advice in everyday situations and conflicts. People refer to themselves as being more of a country mouse, indicating their preference for the slow-paced rural lifestyle, just as Abner discovers by journeying to the big city and longing for the comforts of his home. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket: First Edition, First Printing, presumed. Book is in Good condition with significant peeling to the top and bottom of the spine and moderate peeling along the edges of the front, back covers; mild spotting, scratching to front, back covers; all pages present and binding is intact; pages show mild browning from age though illustrations are clear and vibrant. Dust jacket is in Fair condition with significant tearing along the creases of the spine and flaps, mostly closed tears; accompanying restoration tape is present on the interior of several tears; moderate creasing along edges of front, back covers and spine; moderate chipping along fine edges of same; mild rubbing, spotting to front, back covers. Good / Fair. [Item #5745]

Price: $120.00