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.