Mickey Mouse turns 90: Pictures of the beloved character through the years

This Sunday marks 90 years since beloved cartoon character Mickey Mouse appeared on screens.

Walt Disney’s creation turns 90 on November 18, the day Mickey appeared in his debut cartoon Steamboat Willie.

The Disney icon has taken on various looks throughout the years, after first appearing as just a black and white sketch in 1928.

Ahead of the mouse’s birthday, seven rare vintage posters of Mickey are expected to fetch thousands that coincides with the anniversary.

The seven posters, dating from the 1930s and 1940s, went on display on Friday at a commemorative exhibition in London organised by Disney.

(© Disney Enterprises, Inc/Taschen)

A price list in a statement from the auctioneer and Walt Disney Co. UK & Ireland suggests they could fetch more than £130,000 .

"We're expecting a lot of interest... There are collectors who collect animation posters from all over the world and Mickey Mouse historically is the most valuable of all the animation characters," Bruce Marchant, Sotheby's film poster consultant, said.

"They're particularly rare posters from England, France, Belgium and two of them are the only known surviving examples and for three of the others, there are certainly less than five known.”

(© Disney Enterprises, Inc/Taschen)

Taschen is also publishing a book, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History, to celebrate Walt's greatest creation.

The first images of Mickey Mouse started out as black and white drawings, but in 1930 the character was brought to life in colour when he was given his trademark red shorts and shoes.

And a moving image of Mickey came three years later, on February 23, 1935, where the mouse starred in cartoon, The Band Concert.

(© Disney Enterprises, Inc/Taschen)

The character has appeared in many films, animation shorts and cartoons throughout his creation, with one of his best-known films being Fantasia, which was released in 1940.

By the fifties, Mickey grew to be so famous, he was having his own portrait painted in stunning colour, by John Hench. Mr Hench created the image in 1953, to celebrate the icon’s 25^th birthday.

• Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History will be available from next month