Citizen Gain: Rosebud Sled Sells for a Boatload

One of three Rosebud sleds known to exist from the movie ‘Citizen Kane’ was recently sold for the tidy sum of $14.75 million, in the kind of ostentatious purchase that ironically would have been made by the titular Kane himself. It is the second largest sale of a movie prop, after the ruby red slippers from the ‘Wizard of Oz’ sold for $32.5 million in December, which stunned everyone from auction experts to representatives of the Lollipop Guild.

The 1941 Orson Welles film, considered one of the best movies ever, portrays an extremely wealthy character who overindulges in all aspects of life and buys influence in media, politics, and society at large – themes that have no relevance to the present day.

This sled was thought for many years to be lost. However, in 1984, director Joe Dante was making a movie at the same studio location formerly owned by RKO Radio Pictures, which produced ‘Citizen Kane.’ During that time, old storage areas were being cleared, and a worker asked if Dante wanted the piece of old memorabilia. Apparently, the worker was either an extremely generous person, or didn’t realize that he was handing over a piece of wooden winter-themed gold worth millions of dollars.

Dante jumped at the chance to have a piece of movie history, and perhaps also for the opportunity to spoil the movie for anyone asking about the sled who hadn’t seen the film. Dante would go on to give the sled brief cameos as an Easter egg in some of his movies, including ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch,’ which some consider to be the Citizen Kane of comedy horror movies.

With this $14.75 million sale, the Rosebud sled becomes one of the ten most expensive sled purchases of the past year. At the same auction, the whip from ‘Indiana Jones’ sold for $525,000, which is a bargain when you consider that it comes from a movie that was filmed in color and therefore is much more entertaining to watch.

Going forward, other notable film props that experts say could potentially rival the prices for the Rosebud sled or Dorothy’s slippers include the horse head from ‘The Godfather,’ the vomit from ‘The Exorcist,’ and the big pile of dinosaur poop from ‘Jurassic Park.’