Brighten Your Day

Antique Dealer Splits Proceeds With Homeless Man Who Found Rare Disney Artwork

November 22, 2018

A homeless man found rare artwork from Disney's "Bambi" in a trash bin in Edmonton.

When it sold for $3,700, the seller tracked him down to split the proceeds.

Adam Gillian found a 1937 animation cel from Disney's "Bambi" in a trash bin and brought it to antique dealer Alexander Archbold to get a few bucks.

At first Archbold thought it was a replica of an animation cel, and paid Gillian $20 for it.

But when he discovered an old certificate of authenticity with a copyright date of 1937 (Bambi hit theaters in 1942), Archbold realized he had an original Disney animation cel that was worth much more than he had initially thought.

Archbold sold the animation cel for $3,700 and vowed to give Gillian half of the profit.

But he had to find him.

He drove around Edmonton, slowing down whenever he saw homeless people, and eventually found someone who knew Gillian and promised to tell him the good news.

Gillian showed up at Archbold's store a few days later and received his money.

Archbold documented the story on YouTube.

Archbold also set up a GoFundMe page to help Gillian get off the streets this winter.

"As we get closer to winter, and his situation worsens with the cold, I wanted to do something to help raise some money to get him a roof over his head for the winter, maybe rent an apartment for a while and give him a chance to be with his kids again. Hopefully we can reach that goal," Archbold wrote.

As of November 22, more than $15,000 has been raised for Gillian.