A Walt Disney Christmas cartoon film, believed lost, has been found near the Arctic Circle.
Empty Socks, the first Christmas film ever made by Disney, dates from 1927.
The footage which was discovered is nearly complete, with between 30 and 60 seconds missing from the 5.30 minute film.
It was uncovered during an inventory at Norway’s National Library’s high-security facility in Mo i Rana, near the Arctic Circle.
“At the beginning, we didn’t know it was a lost cinematographic treasure,” Kvale Soerenssen, an archivist at the library, said in a statement.
“The film was in two reels which weren’t clearly labelled.”
Its star is the predecessor of Mickey Mouse, namely Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald appeared in 26 films by Disney, but prior to the find only a 25 seconds of Empty Socks were believed to still exist.
This copy of Empty Socks had been owned by a individual but later was lodged with the Norwegian Film Institute before it handed its archive to the National Library of Norway.
