Aurelius Battaglia was an American illustrator, muralist, writer, and director. It looks like he’s sporting a very early pair of Mickey M ears in this photograph, well after all, he’s not alone in liking that Disney mouse lol !

Born in Washington, D.C., in 1910 the son of Giuseppe and Concetta Battaglia, who had emigrated from Cefalù, Italy. Aurelius went on to attend the Corcoran School of Art. Graduating as one of the Corcoran’s most promising students and winning $50 in a Corcoran-sponsored art contest.

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Aurelius migrated west in the late 1930s and worked for the Walt Disney Studios from 1937 to 1941. He contributed most notably to Dumbo, Fantasia, and Pinocchio and is credited as one of the writers of the latter. In the mid-1950s, joining United Productions of America, a studio staffed by some of the industry’s most accomplished, forward-thinking animation artists. Perhaps his most outstanding UPA contribution was the short film The Invisible Moustache of Raoul Dufy