c. 1930s. 9x14.5" stiff art paper designed like diploma has text hand lettered in lead pencil with color highlights at top with title "University of Southern California". Award is made out to "Wilmot Terwilliger Graybill Antwhistle Cottrell" and notes he has completed humorous fictitious courses including "Profanum Vulgus, Horse-radish, Kinematographensis" and is entitled to the degree of "D.D. (Dirt Disher)". Document is signed in pencil with apparent fictitious name at bottom right and lower left corner has attached seal of Bell Telephones. Front includes portrait of Cottrell's head at upper right and image of steer at lower left corner. Reverse side has nice 8.5" wide India ink original art showing pirate on ship deck with other figures under large tarp. Exc. Cottrell joined Disney Studios in 1929 as a camera man and soon moved into the story department and contributed ideas to shorts including "Who Killed Cock Robin". He went on to direct the Wicked Witch and Evil Queen sequences in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and contributed to the story on "Pinocchio". He helped develop story for "The Three Caballeros" and "Saludos Amigos". He also contributed to "Alice and Wonderland" and "Peter Pan" and also helped develop the popular "Zorro" TV series. In 1964 he was named president of Retlaw Enterprises, the Walt Disney family corporation. He held that position until 1982 when he retired after 53 years of service. His idea of a movie about an animal detective inspired the 1986 feature "The Great Mouse Detective". Wonderful in-house studio piece of ephemera done for a fellow employee.