Original Production Animation Cels of Napoleon and Lafayette from "The Aristocats," 1970

Original hand painted production animation cels of Napoleon and Lafayette from "The Aristocats," 1970, Walt Disney Studios; Each cel set on a lithographic background; Napoleon cel numbered 33 in ink lower right; Lafayette with hand painted right leg & paw cel; Size - Napoleon: 6 1/4 x 10", Image: 10 x 14"; Lafayette: 5 x 6", Image: 6 x 14 3/4"; Unframed

To purchase this cel or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!

Disney’s The Aristocats (1970) holds a special place in the studio’s history as the final animated feature personally approved by Walt Disney before his passing in December 1966. Although Disney did not live to see its completion, the film was ultimately released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution on December 11, 1970. The production reflects the elegance, warmth, and humor that characterized Disney animation during this era, blending refined visual design with memorable comic performances. The voice cast included Eva Gabor as Duchess, alongside Hermione Baddeley, Phil Harris, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, and Roddy Maude-Roxby, all of whom helped give the film its distinctive charm.

Based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, the film centers on a family of pampered aristocratic cats living in Paris in 1910. Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, their wealthy and affectionate mistress, adores her beloved cats—Duchess and her three kittens, Toulouse, Berlioz, and Marie. In one of the film’s pivotal scenes, Madame informs her elderly lawyer, Georges Hautecourt, that she intends to leave her vast fortune—her mansion, jewels, investments, and treasured possessions—to the cats. Only after their passing is the remainder to go to her butler, Edgar Balthazar. Upon overhearing this shocking arrangement, Edgar becomes consumed with greed and panic, fearing that the cats may outlive him and prevent him from ever inheriting the estate.

Driven by this selfish ambition, Edgar devises a scheme to remove the cats from the picture entirely. He secretly places sleeping tablets in their evening milk, causing them to fall asleep. Once unconscious, he places them in a covered basket and transports them far into the French countryside on his motorcycle, abandoning them far from Paris. This sequence sets the adventure in motion, eventually leading to their encounter with the charismatic alley cat Thomas O’Malley, who helps guide them home.

This wonderful pair of animation cels comes from one of the film’s most delightful comedic interludes involving the two farm dogs, Napoleon and Lafayette. These characters were both animated by legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas, whose expressive character work brings their personalities vividly to life. Originally intended for only a single scene, the dogs proved so entertaining that the filmmakers expanded their role to include a second memorable sequence in which Edgar returns to retrieve his lost umbrella and bowler hat. Their scenes add a distinctly rural comic energy to the film and provide some of its most quotable dialogue.

In this scene, the proud and self-important bloodhound Napoleon listens intently and announces, “Lafayette! Lafayette! Listen.” The nervous and somewhat dim-witted basset hound Lafayette dismisses the sound, replying, “Oh, shucks, Napoleon. That ain't nothing but a little old cricket bug.” Napoleon, however, confidently insists, “It’s squeaky shoes approachin’.” When Lafayette protests that “cricket bugs don’t wear shoes,” Napoleon sharply responds, “Hush your mouth.” The humor lies in the contrast between Napoleon’s stern certainty and Lafayette’s anxious confusion, a classic comic pairing that Disney executes beautifully through voice acting and animation.

The cel itself wonderfully captures this dynamic. Napoleon is shown reclining with a commanding, almost suspicious expression, emphasizing his role as the self-appointed guardian of the farmyard. Below him, Lafayette’s eager, slightly bewildered face perfectly conveys his loyal yet comic subordinate role. Together, these characters became fan favorites, and their chemistry was so successful that voice actors Pat Buttram and George Lindsey would later reunite in Disney’s Robin Hood (1973) and The Rescuers (1977).

From an animation history perspective, this cel setup is a wonderful example of Disney’s character acting at its finest—subtle expressions, strong posing, and impeccable comedic timing that continue to make The Aristocats a beloved classic. A fantastic pair of Walt Disney cels perfect for any animation art collection!

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Original hand painted production animation cels of the Fellowship of the Rings: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir, and Legolas from "The Lord of the Rings," 1978

Original hand painted production animation cels of the Fellowship of the Rings: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir, and Legolas from "The Lord of the Rings," 1978, Ralph Bakshi; Signed Ralph Bakshi in ink lower right; Production numbers in ink lower cel edges; Set on a lithographic background; Size - The Fellowship: 3 x 8 1/2", Image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2"; Unframed.

To purchase this cel or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!

 

Ralph Bakshi (b. 1938) is a producer, animator, writer, actor, and painter; but is most known as a director of independent and adult-oriented animated and live-action films. He began his career at Terrytoons cartoon studio as a cel polisher, was eventually promoted to animator, and then director. In 1967 he moved to the animation division of Paramount Pictures and a year later started his own studio, Bakshi Productions. The debut feature film from the new studio was Fritz the Cat (1972) which was the first animated film to receive a X rated from the Motion Picture Association of America; it would go on to become the most successful independent animated film of all time. Between 1972 and 2015 he would direct ten feature films (six of which he wrote); the most famous being: Wizards (1977), The Lord of the Rings (1978), American Pop (1981), Fire and Ice (1983), and Cool World (1992). Bakshi was also involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer, and animator including: Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Cool and the Crazy, and the anthology series Spicy City.

Ralph Bakshi was very familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's writing very early in his career and had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before finally securing funding from producer Saul Zaentz; in collaboration with distributor United Artists. Bakshi's film The Lord of the Rings would be based on Tolkien's books The Fellowship of the Ring and the first half of The Two Towers. The story follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves, and a wizard who form a fellowship on their quest to destroy the One Ring (made by the Dark Lord Sauron) and ensure it's destruction in Mount Doom. The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle (based on an earlier draft by Chris Conkling). The film features the voice talents of William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox, and Anthony Daniels; and it was one of the first animated films to be shown in the Dolby Stereo Sound System.

Publicity for The Lord of the Rings heralded it as "the first movie painting" which was created by "an entirely new technique of film making." This was accomplished through the extensive use of rotoscoping, a technique whereby scenes are first filmed in live-action but then later traced onto animation celluloids. The result is a blend between traditional cel painted animation and live action sequences.

"I was told that at Disney the actor was told to play it like a cartoon with all that exaggeration. In Lord of the Rings, I had the actors play it straight. The rotoscope in the past has been used in scenes and then exaggerated. The action becomes cartoony. The question then comes up that if you're not going to be cartoony, why animate?... It is the traditional method of rotoscoping but the approach is untraditional. It's a rotoscope realism unlike anything that's been seen. It really is a unique thing for animation. The number of characters moving in a scene is staggering. In The Lord of the Rings, you have hundreds of people in the scene. We have cels with a thousand people on them. It was so complex sometimes we'd only get one cel a week from an artist. It turned out that the simple shots were the ones that only had four people in them." — Ralph Bakshi

This is a wonderful animation cel setup depicting one of the most iconic moments from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship’s desperate retreat from the Watcher in the Water and their entrance into the Mines of Moria. What makes this piece especially compelling is that it captures all nine members of the Fellowship together in motion, which is relatively uncommon and highly desirable in production animation artwork.

The cel setup shows the Fellowship rushing from right to left into the dark interior of Moria. Emerging from the doorway behind them is the twisting tentacle of the Watcher in the Water, whose attack forces them inside the mountain. The group appears to be arranged in a visually readable procession, with the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took leading near the left, while Gandalf follows centrally in his blue robes carrying his staff, serving as the visual anchor of the composition. Around him are Aragorn and Boromir clustered defensively with Gimli and Legolas running in the rear. This arrangement beautifully conveys the urgency of the moment, with the hobbits being hurried to safety while the warriors guard the group from the pursuing threat.

The background is exceptional and contributes enormously to the mood of the scene. The interior of Moria is rendered in Bakshi’s signature palette of cool blue-greens and shadowy purples, creating a sense of ancient mystery and dread. Particularly striking are the staircase on the left, which hints at the labyrinthine passages ahead, and the ominous stone face carving that lends the hall a sense of dwarven grandeur and antiquity. The threshold behind the Fellowship, framed by the twisting tentacles of the Watcher in the Water, intensifies the drama by marking the transition from the immediate danger outside to the deeper, unknown darkness within.

From a collector’s standpoint, this is an especially strong cel setup because it combines all nine members of the Fellowship, a major narrative moment, a monster element, and a complete background within a single composition. Group shots featuring the entire Fellowship are particularly prized in Bakshi production art because they bring together the full ensemble cast in a single storytelling image. More than just a cel setup, this piece functions as a dramatic tableau—almost like a theatrical poster frame for the Moria sequence—capturing both motion and atmosphere in one memorable moment. A fantastic piece of film history and a standout for any animation art collection!

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