Part of your world.....

Little Mermaid

Released:  November 17, 1989

Worldwide Box Office:  $211,300,000

Well, recently I just got back from vacation in Hawaii and was inspired to share this next piece of animation art for two key reasons.  I love the ocean and it made me think of the Little Mermaid, one of my favorite disney films.....and Howard Lowery.   

A few years back I was lucky to win at auction from Howard this wonderful rough drawing of Ariel from the "Part of Your World" sequence where she sings "has everything....!"  Ariel in this piece is large, expressive and beautifully drawing by Glenn Keane.  I just love how expressive her eyes are.  One of the best drawings that I have seen of her in all of my years collecting.

                             Original Production Drawing, graphite on 16 field animation paper

                             Acquired:  February 19, 2012

                             Artist:  Glenn Keane

As many of you may already know, Howard Lowery used to operate the Howard Lowery Gallery in Burbank, California for many years was instrumental in helping to establish the modern collecting market for animation art.  His gallery is sadly no longer around but he does still dabble in selling animation on his website with weekly auctions.  Just recently he listed a piece from the Little Mermaid of a rough production drawing of Ariel by Glenn Keane from her "Part of your World" sequence.  What was remarkable to me was the interest (11 unique bidders) and the selling price.  The recent drawing sold for over $1500!

                                              Original Production Drawing, graphite on 16 field animation paper

                                              Artist:  Glenn Keane

Over the last several years, I have noticed a trend with art from the Little Mermaid rising higher in value and more in demand.  I guess with Howard's recent sale we are continuing to see strength in the contemporary films as the generation around the time of Little Mermaid is coming into the market.  What do you think? 


 

Farewell Genie....now you are truly free!

Aladdin

Released:  November 25, 1992

Worldwide Video Sales:  $504,050,000

As a tribute to one my favorite contemporary animated films of all-time, I thought it was only fitting to share a piece from my collection that would honor Robin Williams.  When I learned last week that Robin Williams had passed away it was quite a shock and unfortunately the world has truly lost someone very inspiring.  It is really hard to believe that someone who gave so much of himself to make others feels wonderful and smile through humor found it difficult to do the same for himself.  He was truly an artist that deserves our respect and honor.  He will be missed.

                      Original Production Maquette, cast resin with primer paint, No. 10

                      Acquired:  February 23, 2006

                      Sculptor:  Kent Melton

                      Reproduction Artist:  Doug Hild

My nephew earlier in this week shared this video that featured a nice section on one I believe was one of his best roles.  A nice look into his unique spirit. 

The Genie is truly free....may he rest in peace and smile from up above for all to remember and see.

The World is out there....Find your Pride Rock!

Simba's Pride

Released:  October 27, 1998

Worldwide Video Sales:  $465,000,000

Well this past weekend was a momentous one for my youngest and favorite niece, Marissa.   Or should I say only niece!  In early August she turned 18 and now this past Sunday she has officially moved out onto her own to start college.  She is attending a great school and will be studying education to hopefully spark a career in teaching.  

So to kick off this week's catchup blog I thought I would share a wonderful background setup from one of her favorite Disney movies, "Simba's Pride" from the Lion King series of films.  I am not sure what exactly what piqued her interest in this film, but I do remember that she would love to watch it over and over again.  I think it had to do with the fact that the main character was Simba's daughter.... a girl through and through in a sense but just in a lion cub form!  Free spirited and wishing to chart her course, Kiara had a way to connect with Marissa at an early age.  The fact that the film was also entirely animated African animals I am sure helped.

        Original Production Background Setup, watercolor on board,gouache on celluloid

        Acquired:  May 5, 1999

        Background Artist:  Unknown

        Sequence 1.02, Scene 13



This shot which is prominently featured in the opening sequence of the film is a beautiful multi -layered background of Pride Rock in the distance.  The scene features a variety of African animals (including my favorite --giraffes!) walking toward Pride Rock for the offering of Kiara on Pride Rock by Rafiki upon her birth.   One of the aspects of collecting animation that I look for is to find key places the signify the essence of Disney animated films.  Considering that no backgrounds from Pride Rock were may available to the public from the original theatrical release, this scene really captures "the place" where it happened.  The background measures approximately 3 feet wide by 13 inches tall and is full of amazing details.  I love discovering pieces like this.  It looks wonderful even without any character animation!

Approximately one month later from a different source, I found the matching layout drawing from the scene that depicts the animals marching toward their tribute.  This wonderful pencil drawing displays nine different animal species with some great details.  Considering that there were no production cels made for this film, perhaps someday I will have a custom cel made to match the background.

         Original Production Background Setup, watercolor on board,gouache on celluloid

         Acquired:  June  18, 1999

         Layout Artist:  Unknown

         Sequence 1.02, Scene 13



So as my niece ventures out on her new journey, I thought she would enjoy these pieces as she looks to find her own Pride Rock!

Snowflakes in summer?

Fantasia

Released:  November 13, 1940

Worldwide Box Office:  $83,300,000

Over the years of collecting I have also tried to find great books on the subject.   This has served me well and helped me to learn and understand this genre from people who have worked directly with the various films and to see art that I would never get to view up close.  Additionally, I love to learn about the production techniques and processes that create the visual magic.

After reading Andreas Deja's blog a number of weeks ago, I learned about a new book he shared on Herman Schultheis. The book titled, The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic is based upon some notebooks rediscovered in his own home at the time of his wife's passing a few years back. I have yet to read through but the notebook is a fascinating collection of his notes on how he worked and influenced animation process in the 30's & 40's. I would highly recommend it and I am only through the first chapter.

One of the biggest thrills for me is getting to see up close artwork from other collector's and studio files. This book so far has proved to meet my expectations and then some. As I managed to read through the first chapter and as I turned to page 69, I was greeted with a wonderful surprise. One of the pieces in my collection was unknowingly included in the book and lavishly displayed!  So up on the blog this week is the beautiful concept cel setup of the Snowflake Fairies from the Nutcracker sequence.

                              Original Production Background Setup, watercolor on paper

                                gouache on celluloid

                              Acquired:  December 14, 2011

                              Background Artist:  J. Gordon Legg

                              Sequence 5, Scene 43

Comprised of two cel levels and a watercolor background, this piece was conceived to help the animators and studio staff visualize just how the scene should appear on camera.  The piece is composited with a cel level of the fairies on an overlay and the 2nd level being just the snowflakes with sparkling effects.   The image below shows the setup without the Fairies.

The background was done on heavyweight paper and and is marked 43 which I believe indicates the scene number in the overall sequence.  It appears to be renumbered/moved from a later scene.  As you would expect for a piece from Fantasia, the overall piece has the 5 hole punch paper strip adhered to the piece to allow for the proper line-up of the cel levels to the background.  When I actually received and cataloged the piece upon receipt I was surprised to learn that the background was painted by J. Gordon Legg.  Unfortunately, I am not aware who the cel artists were.  But the hand-inking on the cels levels includes lots of sparkle effects and airbrushing along with the all of the intricate hand-line work.

As I love to collect art from Fantasia, I have been on the lookout for a piece from this sequence for well over 25 years and it wasn't until 2011 that I actually had seen a setup.  I thought none survived.  This piece is simply beautiful and really shows the extent to which the studio went to create fantastic and somewhat artfully realistic images from nature for this sequence.  

What do you think?