Stolen Disney Watercolors Resurface after 17 Years

NEW YORK—Two valuable Walt Disney watercolors have been rediscovered almost two decades after they were stolen from the now defunct International Museum of Cartoon Art, the New York Times reports. The paintings, depicting Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice in the film Fantasia from 1940, disappeared 17 years ago while they were on loan to the museum in Rye, N.Y.  They resurfaced when an antiques dealer in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., purchased them on October 30, 2007, from another dealer who had bought them from a sale of unwanted items at a storage facility. The dealer researched the works and found they were listed as stolen. The International Museum of Cartoon Art closed years ago, and the rightful owner of the works is unknown, according to the Times. The watercolors were valued at $60,000 to $80,000 when they went missing.