Disney stock certificates off to Never Never Land

A single share of stock from The Walt Disney Company is shown.

NEW YORK — Stock certificates issued by The Walt Disney Company are heading off to Never Never Land.

The stock, which features images of Dumbo, Bambi, Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and other Disney animated characters, have long been a collector’s item and are pitched by numerous online vendors as a way to teach children about investing.

However, U.S. corporations have been switching to electronic stocks for years and on Oct. 16, Disney will follow suit.

Most do so for cost savings, but Disney also cited security.

“Like hundreds of other companies, Disney will no longer be issuing paper stock certificates in an effort to create a more secure and efficient system,” the company said in a statement.

Given their popularity, there may be a rush to buy with one week remaining to do so.

Disney shares are listed as the No. 1 seller on the Web site giveashare.com.

Shares of the Burbank, Calif. company hit an all-time high in May and are already up close to 30 percent this year.

As of 10:50 a.m., Disney shares were down 46 cents to $63.54.