Cats and Dogs!

Alice in Wonderland
Released:  July 26, 1951

Well I was off to another adventure during the middle of June traveling to the Midwest to attend a wedding, a surprise birthday party and a summer visit with family.  After traveling the long way to Ohio, I spent a nice week with my family at their home in Tipp City, Ohio.  A Norman Rockwell town that would be idyllic for a Disney movie like Lady and the Tramp and such.  It is a great little town with a public library, nice shopping street and buildings that date back to the early 1800's before Ohio was even a state.

Spending time with my family at their country home is always refreshing and peaceful.  Except for when my parents dog, Travis and their cat, Michael or Kitty as my mother calls him, start having fun in the house.  So from this I was inspired to share a wonderful production cel setup of the dog and cat-epillar from Alice and Wonderland.   I have yet to fully read both books, so I am anxious to see wether or not this sequence is actually in the original story or not.

Picture above is a wonderful two cel setup on trimmed celluloid from when Alice meets these fun characters in Disney's version of Charles Dodgson's (aka Lewis Carol)  classic.  I love the interaction of the two characters as they have fun during the "Golden Afternoon" sequence of the film.  I posted images of the combined cel setup with and without the background so that you could see the cat-epilar a little better.   I love the fun characters from this film and I also like to collect production art of Disney "cats."

One interesting aspect of this piece is the registration holes alongside the right vertical.  If you reference the film you will note that the camera shot in this scene is a vertical pan from bottom to top of the production background.  So as the art was created for the scene the cels were created with the same registration.    Fun little cel setup that shows great interaction much like Travis and Kitty!

Bambi and Mother

Bambi

Released:  August 13, 1942           

When I was a little kid there was one unmistakable feeling that I could always count on, my mother’s unconditional love.  I was very fortunate to have such a warm relationship with my mother as a child and one that continues to this day.  If there was one film that portrays the value and uniqueness of such a relationship, it would be Disney’s Bambi.  

One of the amazing facts about Bambi is that Felix Salten’s compelling story about a young deer prince in the forest has approximately 900 spoken words throughout the entire film.  Following on the artistic success seen in Fantasia a few years earlier, Disney stretched the artistic skills of the animation staff to capture nature like no other film before.  Additionally, he enlisted the help of an up & coming artist, Tyrus Wong, to help with the style of the film.  His lush pastels and simplistic expressions of nature captured an inviting and heartwarming feeling for the film’s setting.  Another first for a Disney film was the use of oils for painting some of the backgrounds.  Using this medium helped to convey the richness and warmth of Tyrus Wong’s style.

                                       Original Courvoisier Setup, gouache on celluloid, watercolor on paper

                                        Artist: Studio, unknown

                                        Acquired:  January 24, 2006

This cel setup of Bambi and his mother walking in the forest was a lucky find.  This Courvoisier piece comprised of a single cel setup laminated at the time to protect the cel paint, is set over a watercolor background painted in a style similar to Tyrus Wong’s concept paintings.  What is really remarkable about this piece is the detail applied in the character animation.  

Bambi measures about an inch square but is exquisitely detailed with the finest of hand-inked lines.  Animators spent the time to apply detail even to the smallest of character drawings, a close look at the cel reveals every square on Bambi’s back, the lines around his eyes, the black highlights on his ears and more.  The incredible lengths at which detail was applied caused production to slow down from the standard 10 feet of film per day (13 seconds) to just over 1/2 foot (<1 second) per day .  But when one looks at this cel and views the film, I think we would all agree today that it was worth the extra effort.

Genie in the Cave of Wonder

Aladdin
Released:  November 11, 1992                                     

Starting with “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in 1990, every year following the release of the latest feature animation film by Disney, Sotheby’s auction house would hold a sale of selected production pieces to the general public.  These auctions became annual events for Disney animation movie fans from all around the world.  






In 1993, Disney continued the tradition by selecting from Aladdin 257 producton backgrounds with special 1 of 1 cel setups created from the original animation drawings by the studio to sell at auction.  With all tallies in from the sale, the auction netted $1.4 million with the top lot selling at $25,300.  Unfortunately for me, I did not know the animation auction scene existed until a friend piqued my interest in 1995 when Lion King was released during the height of what was Disney’s 2nd golden age of animation.  Back in the day I had a very limited budget and knowledge of the process and when I tried for a piece from the Lion King I was outbid 2 to 1 on every piece.  Later I learned that Lion King set a new sales record for an animation auction with proceeds of almost $2 million.  The record still stands to this day.

So as time went by I studied up on the auction scene by researching past sales catalogs to better understand the contemporary animation art market.  Coming into collecting post Lion King, I missed all of the animation sales from Roger Rabbit, Little Mermaid, Beauty through Aladdin.  So all I could do at this point was wait, hope and network with other collectors to find pieces from these films.

Contemporary art is much scarcer than vintage due to the use of computers and its limited release by the Disney studio.  Today, contemporary art very rarely comes up for sale and when the choice pieces do, they tend to be record setting.  The only known Genie cel setup to come up for auction was right after the Mulan sale in 1998 and the piece sold for $81,000.

                                       Original Key Master, gouache on board and celluloid,  

                                           Artist: Studio, unknown

                                           Acquired:  December 4, 2008

As luck would have it, I just happened to be reviewing the Aladdin auction catalog and in particular lot 114.  Thinking to myself how wonderful it would be to have a piece as nice as this, I dreamt a little longer before going to the internet that next minute to see what Chrisitie’s might have for sale.  Much to my surprise, this lot was up for auction in London just three weeks later and about a month after that it was hanging on my wall.  No, I did not pay anywhere close to $81,000 for this piece.

A Bear, A Beauty and a Mermaid

Happy Birthday to My Sister!

Well today is my sister's 44th birthday and in honor of her day, I thought I would put up a couple of pieces from her favorite Disney animated films.  I sent her a text the other day and she surprised me with some of the films she chose.... so here it goes.  Happy Birthday Kim!  I hope you enjoy....

So to start off, I am putting up this wonderful production setup from Winnie the Pooh.  I remember when we were little and growing up in one of our favorite childhood homes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, my sister loved Winnie the Pooh.  This was a time when we were both young, happy and going to the beach each weekend with our parents.  We had great neighborhood friends where we could ride our bikes, pretend we were superheroes and build forts, much like Christopher Robin in the 100 Hundred Acre Woods.

      Original production cel setup, gouache on celluloid on photographic background

      Cel Artist: Studio, unknown
      Acquired:  March 29, 2009 

Pictured above is a wonderful two cel production setup of Pooh stuck in Rabbit's house, while Christopher Robin, Kanga and Eyeore try to pull him out.  Do you know which of the featurette's this cel setup is from?

Next up, a film that surprised me was Beauty and the Beast.  Not that this film shouldn't have made her list, I just thought she would have picked something else.  This wonderful key master setup depicts the very first scene where Belle meets Beast in his castle dungeon.

      Original Key Master setup, gouache on celluloid, watercolor on board

      Sequence 6, Scene 34B
      Acquired:  December 13, 2002

Original art from this film is very scarce as Disney only sold 249 backgrounds setups at their Sotheby's auction held in Los Angeles on October 17, 1992.  This auction surpassed the prior Disney sale of Little Mermaid art in 1990 by raking in over $1.25 mm!  I love the gargoyles in this piece and it sort of reminds me from the scary forest scene in Snow White.

      Photocopy Storyboard, toner on paper
      Sequence 6, Scene 34B
      Storyboard Artist:  Studio, Unknown

Additionally this piece had a nice surprise when I opened it up to review it up close and scan for my online catalog.  I found the background painter had attached a copy of the storyboard from the film to the backside.  Fun!

So now for the final piece, another one of my favorite films as well, The Little Mermaid.  It seems that recently this movie has really increased in popularity, as I have noticed prices starting to rise for production art from this film.  I can certainly understand this, as this film has great story, wonderful characters and memorable music.  

      Original production cel setup, gouache on celluloid

      Cel Artist:  Studio, Unknown
      Acquired:  December 20, 2009

Above is a two cel production setup of Ariel from the scene where she is fantasizing about Prince Eric..."he loves me, he loves me not...," while Sebastian paces the sea floor.  A great vertical pan setup from the film showing two sides a story at once.

I hope my sister enjoys the art in honor of her birthday!  

Happy Birthday Kim!

Ethereal Sprite

Fantasia 2000

Released:  December 17, 1999

As mentioned earlier, I am a big fan of both Fantasia films.  The visual beauty drawn on the big screen without any spoken dialogue combined with some of the best classical music of the time comes together to evoke an emotional story that is not only intriguing but pure escapism.  Fantasia 2000 ends with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, a visual interpretation of life, death and renewal set behind a backdrop of what we used to know as Mount St. Helens.  In classic Disney fantasy style, the animators combine mythology with nature in their interpretation of that fateful event.

The Sprite fairy which takes many different forms as the story progresses, carries the emotion, passion and heart throughout the film segment.  Starting off as the spring fairy where she brings to life the natural world awaiting her touch, she transforms to portray the seasons, weather and life-force that we see all around us in nature.  Animators captured a bit of whimsy and perhaps an Art Deco design in their portrayal of the Sprite, much like the manner that was often characterized by a well known 19th century children’s illustrator, Arthur Rackham.  The Sprite comes to life on screen in an art nouveau freshness with a child-like innocence of discovery and then is transformed by the Phoenix into a gossamer existence. 

      Original production maquette, cast resin with primer paint

      Sculptor:  Kent Melton

      Reproduction Artist: Doug Hild

After being persistent and patient over a four year period with a close animation colleague of mine, I was able to acquire this wonderful maquette from Sprite animator David Zabowski’s personal collection.  Sculpted by Kent Melton for animator reference, the maquette’s position as shown portrays the energy of the Sprite as she is seen on screen sweeping across the forest floor bringing nature to life during the season.  This maquette shows exquisite details of nature bursting full force with flowers, trees and new growth along her dress-like train.

Back to Hawaii ! Alooooohaaa!

Lilo & Stitch

Released:  June 21, 2002

One of my favorite places on the planet happens to be about 2900 miles due south of Anchorage.  I first traveled to Hawaii when I was in college with a bunch of friends.   It was my first real adventure as adult in the late 80's.  Having picked the big island as the first place to venture out within the island chain, I was throughly amazed at its diversity, lifestyle and sheer beauty......all stuck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Ever since that first trip I have been going to the Kona side of Hawaii as my starting point for a tropical retreat from Alaska's cooler days.  

Having just returned from Kona over this past memorial day week, my trip reminded me of a Disney animated film that always delights me when I watch it, Lilo & Stitch.  This wonderful little film painted in the old animation style with watercolor backgrounds from the vintage days of Dumbo & Snow White, has a great story with real characters ....and the few odd Aliens through in the mix to make it more interesting.  So, I couldn't help but to pull something inspired from my recent visit.

As I posted in an earlier blog, Disney continued with a theme of setting one of their animated films uniquely in the USA.  Much like Brother Bear was loosely based upon my home state of Alaska, Lilo & Stitch centered on the state of Hawaii, our 50th in the union admitted shortly after Alaska in 1959.

Shown below are wonderful matched production drawings of Lilo & Stitch from a scene later  in the film (54min, 15 seconds), where both are feeling a little lost about what life is all about. 

Original Production Drawings, graphite & colored pencil on 16 field animation paper

Artist: Andreas Deja, Supervising Animator

Acquired:  January 23, 2004

First up is Lilo beautifully animated by Andreas Deja where she is watching Stitch hop out of her bed and asking if he misses his parents.   Andreas's drawing style typically feels light and clean and is characterized by his his use of graphite and blue colored pencil.    The timing chart in the upper corner shows the placement of this drawing in the sequence and denotes it as a key drawing  as well as being the very first to appear onscreen.  Lilo's subtle movement combined with her direct eye contact with Stitch very nicely conveys the emotion for the scene.   You can learn more about Andreas's work, style and art by checking out his blog. 

Original Production Drawings, graphite & colored pencil on 16 field animation paper

Artist: Alex Kuperschmidt, Supervising Animator

Acquired:  January 23, 2004

The matched drawing of Stitch animated by Alex Kuperschmidt captures without any dialogue his respect for Lilo and the his growing sense of awareness for family.  I particularly love the way he makes us all feel like he's a lost little puppy dog with his movement off Lilo's bed to his own and  as his butt wiggles just right to make his action feel real.  For added fun, I have included a screenshot of the final frame from the film and a composite of this drawing set.

This is a wonderful scene and a key moment in the film where the thoughts of family and "Ohana" really come out in the story.  

The animation is subtle but powerful and the real feelings of Lilo come out well in her character.  This sequence sets up the emotion that helps to convey the rest of the story and it's climactic but ultimately fun ending.  

Musical Instruments Dancing

Make Mine Music

Released:  August 15, 1946

Music has always been a big part of my family and my own life.  Many times when my family would travel to New Castle, Pennsylvania to visit my paternal grandfather, we would often here the sounds of the mandolin and a wonderful Italian voice as we walked up to the door.  My grandfather had a rich history with music having worked as a professional musician during 1920's & 30's playing with some of the big band greats of the time.  He was a very talented man and could play many instruments, however I remember his love for singing and in many ways it got passed along to me.  I guess it must be in the genes.

Unfortunately for me, my budget for adding new pieces is limited.  As any seasoned collector will tell you, there are always more opportunities to purchase than your budget can afford.  So careful and thoughtful planning of how you can stretch your collecting dollar to further your interest in the hobby is important.  Additionally, you should always purchase what  you love first, over what your brain might say is a good investment.  Many times I have found pieces that I love, but ultimately they take a lower priority over another piece either due to budget or my current collecting strategy.  However, on several occasions pieces that I have passed on due to budget or focus have made their way back a second time to consider for purchase.  This is one such art-piece that I had to pass during an auction, only to find it again in a private deal.

Original Production Cel Setup on production background, gouache on trimmed celluloid, watercolor on board

Artist: Various Studio, unknown

Acquired:  June 15, 2007

This multi-cel setup from the “After You’re Gone” musical sequence by the Goodman Quartet from Make Mine Music is a wonderful art piece that characterizes the more contemporary feeling portrayed in mid to late 1940’s.  Due to the limited resources and markets from the impacts of World War II, Disney produced with limited budgets musical montage films based upon contemporary music for release to American audiences.  This cel setup is a wonderful example of a Courvoisier setup that includes an original production background with cel elements trimmed to outline.  It is fun, colorful and energetic and displays how whimsical you can really get with animation.  I love the way the lines and color in the background draw you into this musical world while characters action energize the scene.   When I look at this piece, it takes me back in time to  those wonderful feelings about my paternal grandfather and his rich musical history.

The Queen Transforms

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Released:  December 21, 1937

Several years ago, I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know Snow White art collector, Stephen Ison.  Over the course of a number of conversations, Mr. Ison shared some information about his collecting interests and had offered me the chance to stop by and view his collection if I ever made it to Indianapolis.  Well being that my family lives less than two hours away in Dayton, Ohio, I could not resist the temptation to view his extensive collection and accept his offer.  Mr. Ison had just completed a move into a new house where an entire third floor of his home was dedicated to his animation collection and in particular his Snow White art.  Stacked three high all the way around the vast room, his collection was beautifully showcased in a museum like manner.   Complete with furniture crafted in Albert Hurter style, his private museum showcased the best pieces from his book published by the Indianapolis Museum of Art exhibit several years before.  I particularly wanted to see the cel setup of the magic potion scene and the background setup of Snow White at the wishing well.  Both setups were stunning and it was great fun sharing stories about our collecting experiences.  In fact you can see this setup first hand in my earlier post on my April trip to SFO.   His collecting focus with one film had rekindled my interest in acquiring pieces from this early era of Disney animation and in particular Snow White.   

Another key piece in my collection is this remarkable drawing set of the Wicked Queen.   This five drawing set is from the transformation sequence where the Queen changes from her beautiful evil self to the Old Hag after drinking the magic potion.  Depicted below is a composite of all five drawings as seen onscreen during that fateful moment.  The Queen is drawn in graphite on a 16 field animation sheet with four individual drawings for the whirlwind effects, bubbles and lightning.  I just love the detail that you can see on the bubble effects drawing alone.  Keep in mind that all elements in the screenshot were completed by hand and without the aid of modern technology that we have today.

Original production drawing composite, five production drawings, graphite and colored pencil on 16 field animation paper, digitally composited

Supervising Animator (Queen):  Art Babbitt

Effects animation: Various Studio, unknown

Scene 7a, Scene 21a  
Acquired:  September 27, 2003

This drawing setup is rare and when an animation colleague from Los Angeles offered this to me from his private collection, I could not wait to see it up close.  I am a big fan of understanding the animation process and learning the techniques on how the filmshot is ultimately created.  This drawing set really showcases that process.   In the above setup, I have composited the five drawings (using Photoshop) to illustrate how the scene would have come together in the film.  From the drawings in this set, I don't believe all of these are key to each other but they are from the same scene after examining the scene are frames apart from each other.  But you get the idea of how cool this set recreates what you see on the big screen.

To show the art further, here are the individual drawings below.  The shot starts out with the swirling effect as the bottom-most cel in the scene.  If you have been following along with most of my posts, you probably would agree with why I chose this drawing as part of my blog logo.  Enjoying this art form has a way of pulling you in!

Next, we would add the bubble effects and lightning.

We continue with the wicked Queen just before she falls out of the camera view and begins her transformation.  Art Babbit was one of the key animators who worked on the wicked Queen and he personal supervised the animation of this scene.  Considering her narcissistic personality, the Queen exemplifies a calm evil nature while remaining definingly beautiful.  One of the best Disney villains to show up on the screen even after 75 years.  She is an amazing character and to think that she is nothing more than a drawn image!

And lastly, we layer on the final effects animation cel of the counter swirl to add more dimension to the scene.

The amount of hand-drawn effects to create one frame of animation is staggering when you think of the work involved.  Very impressive setup!

Mowgli and Bagheera

The Jungle Book

Released:  October 18, 1967

With the advent of xerographic technology introduced in the late 1950’s and first used on Sleeping Beauty, the feature films of the 1960’s tried a new approach to animation.  By xeroxing the animator’s original drawings as the basis for the painted cel, the studio felt that the animator’s expression would more clearly make it to the screen.  Starting in 1961 with the release of 101 Dalmatians, all films during the 1960’s were animated in this style.  The Jungle Book took full advantage of this more modern look by blending the painted rough look of the artist drawings onscreen with the more colorful and stylized backgrounds settings.  

The last feature animation film that Walt was intimately involved with was the Jungle Book before his death on December 15, 1966.  This film would test Disney’s closest associates in animation, whom later became know as the “Nine Old Men”.  Without Walt’s persona and influence on the overall story and project, the animation studio was now challenged on how to best carry out the legacy without its original creator.   Released less than a year after his passing in1966, the Jungle Book was positively received by the public and went on to gross over $74 million in the US at the time.   Featuring memorable characters and wonderful songs by the Sherman Brothers, the Jungle Book story played well against the new stylized animation and colorful settings popular in 1960’s. 

                                       Original concept painting, watercolor on board

                                           Artist: Studio, unknown

                                           Acquired:  February 12, 2009

The concept painting depicted here is a wonderful example of the where the studio artists continued to test out new stylizes for animation.  Here you have Mowgli and Bagheera exploring the Jungle in a very colorful, painterly style.  This concept painting shows an early feeling for modern 60’s animation with its broad brushstrokes and layers of simple color.  If you look closely, you will discover this style throughout the final film.  It comes complete with pinholes and most likely was posted on one of the many development boards as the artist worked on the film.

I first saw this painting in Los Angeles at my first live Bonhams auction on Sunset Boulevard in 2004.  I flew my oldest nephew out from Ohio to meet me for one of Howard Lowery's auctions earlier in the week and a fun trip to Disneyland for his birthday.  Originally my nephew was to fly back to Ohio before the Bonhams auction was to start, but as luck would have it, LA traffic was horrible and we missed getting him to his flight.   So lucky for him he got to spend the better part the day with me and attended another animation auction at Bonhams.   As we strolled through the exhibit that morning, we both noticed this lot from Jungle book and loved the look the piece.  During this sale there were actually two pieces offered in the lot with the other being a wider piece with Mowgli riding an elephant, perhaps Colonel Hathi, painted in the same style.  Unfortunately I was not able to acquire the lot at the time.   Several years later it was offered to me and I was able to purchase it privately from another animation colleague.  Again, I love that art has a soul and a way of finding you a second time.  

Another Diversion in SFO - Chuck Jones

April 5, 2013

Chuck Jones Exhibit,
Museum of Cartoon Art,
San Francisco, CA


One of the great reasons to visit San Francisco is the climate, city life, the food/restaurants and because it also has many great museums.  During the same trip to visit the Snow White Exhibit, I also discovered Museum of Cartoon Art located at 655 Mission Street in the downtown San Francisco.  It just happened that the same weekend I was there they were hosting an exhibit of "Chuck Jones:  Drawing on Imagination:  100 Years of an animated artist."  Being that I am principally a fan of Disney animation I have always focused my collection in that area, I do however love a number of the Chuck Jones direct animation projects such as "Grinch" and "Horton."  His work at Warner Brothers offers some very memorable classic animation as well.  It was another treat to see some vintage work by this master, who by the way also worked at Disney for a brief stint after Warner Bros shut down their animation studio in the 50's.

 

The exhibit had a number of wonderful pieces including many drawings, backgrounds, cels and concept work showcasing Chuck Jones career in animation with both television and feature animation.  I thought I would share a number of my favorites from the exhibit.  Enjoy below!

Here are some wonderful closeups of the large pan drawing with Horton.... 

As you continued in the exhibit, I loved these drawings of Wile Coyote and Roadrunner.

Continuing some really nice production backgrounds.

From A Feather in His Hair, 1948

Production background from Go Fly A Kite, 1957

From Boyhood Daze, 1957

Nice concept from the Grinch and a stylized maquette that was Chuck Jones office during his working days.

If you are interested, you can read more about the Chuck Jones exhibit at the museum's website.

Ariel and Flounder

Little Mermaid

Released:  November 17, 1989

The very first Disney animated film that I went to see as an adult was the Little Mermaid.  I was in college full-time, working a part time job when a friend of mine suggested we go to see the new Disney film out in theaters.  She had heard it was a good film and I was up for a break from my studies.  As Ariel’s story unfolded on the big screen, all of the wonderful emotions with animation that I experienced as a kid flooded my mind.  I loved the story, the music, the staging and to think that practically everything you saw on the screen was actually hand drawn seemed amazing to me.  How many bubbles did they have to draw?

The Little Mermaid was significant on many fronts, and after the success of Roger Rabbit it really signaled the beginning of Disney’s second golden age of animation.  It brought together Howard Ashman and Alan Mencken, two talented Broadway music veterans who were instrumental in bringing back the Disney magic.  The film was also the last animated feature to use hand painted cels done in the traditional style since the days of Snow White.  Disney animator’s incorporated memorable characters, great story-telling and wonderful humor while connecting with a delightful score and memorable songs.  The film went on to win two academy awards, became the highest grossing animated film at the time (over $200 million worldwide) and entertained us in way that we had not really seen since Walt’s passing.

     Original Key Master setup, gouache on celluloid, watercolor on paper

     Supervising Animator - Ariel:  Glenn Keene

     Background Artist: Lisa Keane

     Sequence 1, Scene 14

     Acquired:  April 27, 2012

The holy grail in any animation collection is the key master setup, a collection of production elements all of which go under the camera to create a single frame in the film.  Unfortunately for me, I was not aware that Disney had sold these types of setups through Sotheby’s until the Lion King sale in 1995.  When I first started building an animation collection, I got to view this key master setup up for sale at my first Christies New York auction in 1995.     Unfortunately, I was not able to acquire it at the time.  Fast forward years later, this piece came back up on the auction block by Philip Weiss, an auctioneer I befriended in the 90’s who has been featured on the Antiques Roadshow.  Comprised of a two cel setup, production overlay and a watercolor background, this key master is one of the best from the original auction and beautifully portrays Ariel and Flounder’s story from the film.  In this scene Flounder is nervous and scared of encountering a shark which causes him to stumble into a skeleton and coming crashing into Ariel during this shot.

As I mentioned in a prior post I really love to understand how the screen shot is setup from a production process standpoint.  I also believe that you can learn a great deal about the piece when you get the chance to examine it up close and understand its' essential elements.  The above image is an uncropped and raw version which clearly shows a lot more detail particularly with the production overlays in the foreground.  After I purchased this piece I learned that Lisa Keene was the artist.  She worked for Disney nearly 25 years and contributed to a number of Disney's best contemporary classics from Beauty & the Beast, Lion King,  Hunchback, Enchanted, Tangled and others.  You can learn more about her work at her own website.

If you are lucky enough to find a multi-cel setup such as a key master, why not try framing and displaying the piece with a multi-plane effect.  Considering this piece had four separate production elements, that is precisely what I did to visually recreate the multi-plane camera effect when viewing this art on the wall.  I separated each element (cels and overlay) by spacing the matting them individually against the background.  Using conversation materials, this framing design also helps to protect each production element from reacting each with other (ie. moisture content or chemically attracting one layer to another).  When you combine the painting in this visual format it gives you the 3D effect.  

You can actually look around the foreground elements to see what is behind.  Makes it more appealing when enjoying the piece in your own gallery at home.  Fun!