Sorcerer Mickey!

Fantasia

Released:  November 13, 1940                   

There is nothing that epitomizes the magic of Disney animation better than the likes of Mickey Mouse from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequence in Fantasia.  This wonderful 12 field animation drawing comes alive from the very moment that you look at Mickey.  Animated by one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men”, Les Clark, this drawing shows real, heart and warmth in that child-like way that only Mickey Mouse can do.  

This drawing features numerous color accents that layout shadowing effects in the foreground and Mickey himself.  Sitting atop his imaginary mountain, Mickey is seen casting his spells to command the elements of wind, water and starlight all around him.  This drawing is featured prominently in sequence 7, scene 38.1 and is what is known as a “key” drawing by way of the timing chart sequences in the lower right hand corner.  A supervising animator would typically draft out the key poses of the character in a scene.  Next, he would hand off the unfinished sequence to a junior animator to complete drawings in between, thereby completing the final animation.

Original production clean-up drawing, graphite and colored pencil on 12 field animation paper

Animator: Les Clark

Sequence 7, Scene 38.1

Acquired:  June 8, 2009

I purchased this drawing through a private sale along with another in sequence from an animation colleague.  I have always been a big fan of Mickey Mouse and to find a drawing as iconic as this one was a real find.  From the moment I held it in my hands, I fell in love with Mickey’s expression and wonder.  It portrays all of the elements of a great piece of animation:  color, emotion, heart, and expression all come together.   What’s makes it really cool is that this is artist’s original sketch.  Pencil hit paper and emotion flows from the lines we see.  It just doesn’t get any better than this.  

  

Original production clean-up drawing, graphite and colored pencil on 12 field animation paper

Animator: Les Clark

Sequence 7, Scene 38.1

Acquired:  June 8, 2009

Above is the companion piece to this drawing as well.  They are both spectacular!  Which is your favorite?

Thoughtful Pinocchio

Pinocchio

Released: February 7, 1940                   

Animation art takes many different forms and shapes on its journey to ultimately tell a story on the big or little screen.  When I bought my first piece in 1987, I was only interested in 2D animation art.  I really wanted to focus on the place or feeling that allowed me to travel to a different world than where I was.  Drawings and/or cels were principally what I could afford at the time, and it was very big thrill to freeze frame the video and find your art on the TV screen.  This helped to provide necessary provenance to assure that I was buying an authentic piece until I could learn more about the genre.

It wasn’t until the year 2000, that my interest in animation took a different turn with the purchase of my first animation sculpture of Milo from Disney's Atlantis.  I was excited to pickup my first 3D production piece and hold Milo's world literally in my hand.  I will share that fun story at another time, but from that moment I realized that I had been ignoring a key area of the production process.

Production maquettes, which is a French word meaning “a small model”, have been used as reference on animator’s desk at the Disney Studio since the first feature film Snow White.  Maquettes not only allowed me see to the character,  but also to touch it first hand in a real 3D perspective.  Up until that time I really wasn’t interested in maquettes as I could only experience the escapism I enjoyed with 2D art.  However as my collection continued to grow and encompass all aspects of the production process so did my interest in all forms of animation art.

                                         Original maquette, plaster, armature and paint sculpture, numbered 9

                                         Character Artist: Joe Grant

                                         Acquired:  June 7, 2009

This Pinocchio maquette is a wonderful plaster model created by the Disney’s character props department in the late 1930’s.  Designed by master story artist Joe Grant, this maquette was used by an animator at the studio as reference while creating animation drawings.  Marked number 9 the maquette shows wonderful character personality through Pinocchio’s pensive expression wondering how he will ever get back to see his father.

Christopher Robin's Treehouse

Winnie the Pooh

Released:  February 4, 1966                      

When I first started collecting animation in the late 1980’s, I started a journey into art exploration through a medium familiar to my childhood heartstrings.  I grew up like most American kids with a Mom & Dad who were happily married, a love/hate relationship with my kid sister, my own bedroom, a couple of cats and a backyard full of fun.  I lived an imaginative childhood where I had the chance to pretend I was a superhero with my best friends and got to ride off into the sunset saving the world on our bikes at least until Mom called us home for dinner.  

Animation was a natural part of my childhood rhythm, watching cartoons on Saturday mornings and getting the occasional treat to the theater to see the next Disney feature.  I always loved to escape to those imaginative places and later pretend with friends that we went there.  It was just plain fun.

Not long after Sleeping Beauty was released in 1959, Disney took advantage of the latest reproduction technology developed by Xerox with the first Winnie the Pooh featurette.  This setup combines traditional watercolor techniques with a xerographic overlay cel of the original layout drawing.  The new effect to incorporate the artist’s drawing works well at bringing to life on the screen, E.L. Shephard’s artistic style from the original books. 

Original production cel setup with master background, gouache on trimmed celluloid, xerographic line overlay on celluloid, watercolor on paper

Artist: Various Studio, unknown

Sequence 1, Scene 2.01

This production background showcases Disney’s interpretation of A.A. Milne’s stories of the Pooh Bear from 1926.  Trimmed productions cels of Pooh Bear and Kanga were placed in the scene to create additional interest.  Purchased at an animation sale from Christies in New York, this background beautifully represents the innocence of Christopher Robin’s world, much like one of my own imaginative childhood places.

Festival of Fools!

Clopin, Quasimodo and Townspeople

Hunchback of Notre Dame

Released:   June 21, 1996      

During the summer of 1997, I made my third trip to Sotheby’s North York auction room to participate in my first Disney animation sale with works exclusively from the prior year’s feature animation release, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Starting with “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” released in 1989, Disney would sell a special selection of original artwork created and used during the making of their feature production release through Sotheby’s auction house in either New York or Los Angeles.  For the Hunchback auction, Disney selected 143 production backgrounds with 1 of 1 original cels based upon the original clean-up drawings and 9 production maquettes to sell to the general public on June 21.  

After having been unsuccessful in the Lion King and Pocahontas auctions, I decided that it was worth the trip for this auction. Traveling with me was my close friend Kevin Swanson who tagged along for the fun of seeing New York and participating in a major auction house event.  This trip to New York was special, as we got to explore Manhattan and enjoy dinner at Windows on World the night before the auction at One World Trade Center.   I remember the incredible views and fantastic food we enjoyed all the while thinking about my strategy for securing a great piece of art the next day.

One of the exciting reasons to visit a public animation sale is the chance to see a large unique collection at one time and knowing that just maybe you might walk away with something special.  This auction proved to be no different.  Entering Sotheby’s showroom was a feast for the eyes as Kevin and I toured the galleries making notes and admiring the lots presented in museum style.  Once the auction began, I was fortunate enough to be top bidder on this amazing piece (lot 73) from the “Festival of Fools” sequence.  Overall, Disney sold $484,725 in original animation art that day.  This trip was a real treat and one trip that I will never forget.  

                   Original four cel key master setup, gouache on celluloid, watercolor on board,

                   Acquired: June 27, 1997

                   Supervising Animator, Quasimodo:  James Baxter,
                   Supervising Animator, Clopin:  Michael Surrey,

                   Background Painter: Debbie Dubois,

                   Sequence 6, Scene 12

Shown here in a raw view is this wonderful key master setup from the Festival of Fools sequence.  I particularly love animation from the contemporary features as well as the classics.  One of the things that I look for in art is how the piece exemplifies or represents the story.  In this scene from Hunchback, the story is not at all what you might think as we literally take a lot of different turns throughout.  Here you have the unbridled enthusiam of Clopin meeting Quasi and the sad story so far in his life.  The colors of the scene support the festive nature but remain cautious as Quasi's story unfolds.  It is comprised of 4 different cel levels to bring it to life with  the townspeople, Quasi & Clopin, confetti and flags all come together with the background.  I loved this piece when I first viewed in the gallery at Sotheby's and it still one of favorite pieces today.

Mickey Mouse & More!

Steamboat Willie,
Release: November 18, 1928 

On my second trip to New York City in 1995, with a little budget compared to others in the animation art world, I felt like a big dealer.   This trip would prove to be successful even though I was still learning the animation auction scene.  It was also around this time that I got a brilliant idea of matching up the "brand new" internet with the my animation hobby to start one of very first animation galleries online,
The Animation Artshop.  I will share more about how that got started later.

During this trip, I met a wonderful animation colleague, Debbie Weiss, who helped me get started and encouraged me to explore my interest.   She was living in New York City at the time and had recently started the Wonderful World of Animation out of a similar passion for the art.  It was during this first meeting that I started to gain an understanding for the importance and value of vintage animation art.  It was also during this trip that Debbie introduced me to Jeff Lotman, a well known collector, who would later publish three great reference books on animation art and the value of the art market.   These books are a great reference tool for every collector and provide a history of value and as well as showcase art that is available to the public.  I highly recommend these books. 

     

Debbie purchased this drawing of Mickey from Steamboat Willie at the Sotheby’s auction where we met, which in turn, she sold to me later that year.  It was this drawing that really opened my eyes to the seriousness of vintage art and how important in pop culture animation had become.

Mickey as Steamboat Willie, graphite on 12 field animation paper
Acquired:  September 11, 1995 

As I began to understand the art form more fully, I recognized the rarity and cultural significance that this early short film had on the future of animation.  Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie was the introduction of Mickey Mouse and the first animated short to feature sound.  Here Mickey is the playing the team of a cow while Minnie is singing the song "Turkey in the Straw."  

One of my favorites things to look for with animation is find drawings in sequence.  I love to recreate the physical motion in my hand with a group of original drawings.  It is quite fun to see the original animation come to life in your hand.  Down the road my year into my collecting history, I managed to pickup another drawing from the sequence that appears later as noted by the number scribed in the corner.

Mickey as Steamboat Willie, graphite on 12 field animation paper

Acquired:  November 7, 2007 

Ub Iwerks, an influential artist who had helped Disney in the early years, almost single handedly drew the first three Mickey Mouse shorts.  He was a prolific draftsman and was known to sketch up to 800 drawings a day when working on these early productions.  His ferocity was so intense that you can literally see it on the paper.  Impressions for the previous and subsequent drawings can be seen on this paper when you hold it just right in the light 85 years later!  These drawings are an amazing piece of pop culture.

Snow White & Doves

Snow White & the Seven Dwarves

Released:  December 21, 1937             

With the release of Snow White in 1937, Walt Disney set in motion an uniquely American cultural trend that continues to the present day.  The animated feature has entertained Americans for decades and still provides a great sense of escapism and fantasy for young and old.  Beginning with the success of Mickey Mouse and continuing with the Silly Symphonies, Walt Disney pioneered the use of technology to bring to the silver screen a brand new art form.  He introduced sound and color to animation, invented the multi-plane camera and created the storyboard process.  Employing hundreds of artists who created thousands of drawings, concept art, hand painted cels and backgrounds, the first animated feature showcased what animation could really do, entertain an audience with heart. 

                   Original production cel setup on watercolor background, gouache on trimmed celulloid, watercolor on paper,

                   Acquired: March 23, 2001

                   Supervising Animator:  Hamilton Luske

                   Cel Artists: Various Studio, unknown

Showcased here is one of my favorite pieces from Snow White.  Cels of her at the wishing well are rare.  This cel setup is composed of seven doves with Snow White all trimmed to image and placed on a Disney studio prepared watercolor background as sold through Courvoisier Galleries of San Francisco post the film’s release.  It was common for the studio to create original paintings that were very similar to the production backgrounds and paired with matched production cels for sale to the public.  Cel setups like this one typically sold for around $25 at the time of the film’s release.   

This setup was my first piece from Snow White and is a cornerstone of the collection.  The cel of Snow White is from the same sequence as the doves, but appears when she’s on the castle balcony admiring the prince from up high.  This cel of her appears on screen for two frames and everything you see was created by hand.  If you look close you can find some amazing details:  from dry brushstrokes in her hair to the rouge on her cheeks to precise hand-inked lines. When one watches the film, It is amazing to think that this cel of Snow White and the doves were completely created without the aid of computers or modern digital technology.

Neverland Island - Peter Pan

Neverland Island

Peter Pan

Released:  February 5, 1953

There are very few places that evoke the free-wheeling nature of your boyhood dreams like Neverland Island.   This wonderful concept painting illustrated by Mary Blair shows all the magic from J.M Barrie’s wonderful story of Peter Pan, the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell.  Vibrant, bold colors depict a lively magical place where one can be adventurous and never really have to worry.  

My animation friend, Dana Lang, was a big fan of Mary Blair’s work and exposed me to her thoughts about why she really liked her style.  Mary captured the essence of the 60’s ahead of her time.  She distilled in a very childlike way a painting style that expressed mood, energy and youthfulness.  It wasn’t till much later in my collecting that I understood this feeling and can understand why Walt Disney personally liked her style enough to influence his films of the 1950’s.

Mary Blair’s design for Neverland Island as captured in this concept literally made it onto the screen.  This painting sets the stage at the end of the film after Tinkerbell has spread pixie dust over the Jolly Roger commanded by Peter Pan to take Wendy, John and Michael home.  The magic comes through with the ship all in gold sailing off leaving trails of pixie dust behind.  Mary’s use of graphic imagery displays the scene down to it’s simplest elements and her color allows the eye to focus on what’s really important.  Given to me as a gift from a friend, this concept piece was the inspiration for what we see in the film and the basis for how the public today imagines Neverland Island.

Neverland Island Concept, gouache on board, Artist Mary Blair, acquired June 15, 2009

This is one my favorite pieces in my animation collection.  I love how your mind can get lost in the piece or imagine what it is like to actually be there.  The indian encampment, mermaid lagoon and the waterfalls.....are you ready to fly and explore the island?  What do you think?