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Saturday, December 30, 2017

Original Production Animation Cel of Shere Khan from "The Jungle Book," 1967


Original hand painted production animation cel of Shere Khan from "The Jungle Book," 1967, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Shere Khan: 7 1/2" x 7 3/4", Image 9 x 11 1/2", Frame 14 1/4 x 17 1/4"; Framed with a gold metal frame, double matted, and plexiglass.

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

"The Jungle Book," 1967 was the nineteenth animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Productions and inspired by Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name. The film was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it was to be the last film that was worked on by Walt Disney, as he passed away during its production. The film follows Mowgli, a feral child raised in the Indian jungle by wolves, as he encounters Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear; who try and convince him to leave the jungle before the villainous tiger Shere Khan finds him. Voice actors include: Phil Harris, Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders and Louis Prima; as well as Disney regulars such as Sterling Holloway, J. Pat O'Malley, Verna Felton, and the director's son, Bruce Reitherman, as the voice of Mowgli.

Shere Khan, a Bengal tiger, is the main antagonist in the 1967 Walt Disney film "The Jungle Book;" an adaption of writer Rudyard Kipling's series of stories. Khan was voiced by George Sanders, a veteran actor with a deep bass voice and a heavy British accent. According to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston from "The Disney Villain":

"The perfect choice for the voice was George Sanders, the complete cynic, who added the element of boredom. With this voice, we could imagine a tiger who would kill without concern or effort. Sanders was asked if he would like a drawing of Shere Khan as a souvenir, to which he responded, "I suppose so." Asked further if he would like Walt to autograph it, he replied, "How utterly absurb. Why would I want his signature? He might want mine, I created the character."

Milt Kahl, the great veteran Disney animator, was in charge of bringing Shere Khan to life and so of course Kahl set out on a crash course in tigers. Kahl said in an interview:  I learned so much about tigers by studying them that I didn't have to rely on any life action crutch." From Disney animator Andreas Dejas about the animation of Shere Khan, "Great perspective walk, and I love the way the tiger lies down, upper body first, then the rear.  The way he moves those front feet is worth studying alone. Such great anatomy."


Framed original production animation cel of Shere Khan.

This is a wonderful original production animation cel of the evil tiger, Shere Khan. He is shown in a three quarters portrait image with his yellow eyes open, frowning, and his left ear lifted; searching out any sound of the man cub Mowgli. It really does not get better, just a spectacular setup of the villianous tiger that is perfect for any animation art collection!

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Original Production Animation Cel of Pongo and Perdita from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," 1961


Original hand painted production animation cels of Pongo and Perdita from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," 1961, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Pongo & Perdita: 6 1/4 x 7 3/4", Image: 7 3/4 x 9 3/4", Mat 14 1/4 x 16 1/4"; Double Matted.

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

"One Hundred and One Dalmatians" ("101 Dalmatians"), is a 1961 full length animated feature film by Walt Disney Productions. It was adapted from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel of the same name. It stars Rod Taylor as the voice of Pongo and Cate Bauer as the voice of Perdita; with Betty Lou Gerson as the voice of the evil and villainous Cruella de Vil. The animation of all the characters from the film was quite extraordinary.

The film "Sleeping Beauty," 1959 was very expensive to make and it took a huge financial loss at the box-office; as a result, the Disney animation studio was considering closing. During the production of "Sleeping Beauty," Walt Disney told animator Eric Larson: "I don't think we can continue, it's too expensive." Because Disney's entire company was based on animation, he was looking for a way to continue with animation, and at the same time significantly reduce costs.


Double matted original hand painted production animation cels of Pongo and Perdita.

The animator Ub Iwerks had been experimenting with Xerox photography to aid in animation process. By 1959 he had modified a Xerox camera to transfer the drawings by the animators, directly onto animation cels. The process would preserve the spontaneity of the penciled drawings but eliminate the inking process, thus saving time and money. However, the limitation was that the camera was unable to deviate from a black scratchy outline, and the resulting cels lacked the fine lavish quality of hand inking.

One of the enormous benefits of the Xerox was that it was a tremendous help towards animating the spotted dalmatian dogs. According to famed animator Chuck Jones, Disney was able to complete the film for about half of what it would have cost if they had had to animate all the dogs and spots. To achieve the spotted dalmatians, the Disney animators envision the spot pattern as a star constellation. Once they had an "anchor spot," the next spot was placed into the pattern, and so on until the fully spotted dalmatian was achieved. All totaled, the film featured 6,469,952 spots, with Pongo having 72 spots, Perdita 68, and each puppy 32.

Pongo was animated by Ollie Johnston and voiced by Rod Taylor, who was an Australian TV an movie actor who appeared in over 50 films. Perdita was also animated by Ollie Johnston, and she was voiced by Lisa Davis and Cate Bauer. Lisa Davis (who also voiced Anita) recorded about a third of the film as Perdita, but got married and moved to New York. So for the balance of the film, Perdita was voiced by Cate Bauer. It is unknown which actress recorded which lines.

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Original Production Animation Drawing of Cinderella Dancing with Prince Charming From "Cinderella," 1950


Original production animation drawing of Cinderella dancing with Prince Charming in red, brown, and graphite pencils from "Cinderella," 1950, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 129 in pencil lower right; Size - Cinderella & Prince Charming 6 1/2 x 4 3/4", Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

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

The 1950 Walt Disney feature film "Cinderella" was based on the French version of the tale by Charles Perrault, entitled "Cinderella" and written in 1698. The film was the second in the series of great Princess films developed by Disney, the first being Snow White in 1937. The character of Cinderella is usually front and center in the pantheon of Disney Princess merchandise, perhaps because she is the only Princess not to be of a noble blood line who ended up marrying a Prince and becoming royalty.

Cinderella was animated by both Marc Davis and Eric Larson, however the two animators had different perceptions of the character, with Davis preferring elegance and Larson opting for simplicity. This actually worked in the film's favor, resulting in Cinderella being a much more complicated character than her predecessor Snow White. As with other Disney films, the studio hired actress Helene Stanley to perform the live-action reference for Cinderella. She would later return to the studio for the characters of Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty," 1959 and Anita Radcliffe in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," 1961.


Close up of the Cinderella and Prince Charming production drawing.

According to Christopher Finch, from his book "The Art of Walt Disney":
"Disney insisted that all scenes involving human characters should be shot first in live-action to determine that they would work before the expensive business of animation was permitted to start. The animators did not like this way of working, feeling it detracted from their ability to create character. The animators understood the necessity for this approach and in retrospect acknowledged that Disney had handled things with considerable subtlety."

About 400 women and girls auditioned for the voice role of Cinderella, but the role ended up going to Ilene Woods. Woods, who at the time worked on the radio and did not know anything about the audition, was asked one day by her colleagues Mack David and Jerry Livingston to sing a song from Cinderella. Without her knowledge, her recording was given by her friends to Disney Studios. After listening to the material Walt Disney immediately decided that he had found the voice with which to speak and sing the character of Cinderella and contacted Ilene.


Close up of the production number.

Prince Charming was animated by Eric Larson, who according to Andreas Deja "Confessed to some of us newcomers that he felt kind of embarrassed about the stiffness in his performance." The Prince was voiced by William Phipps, and after Phipps's initial audition; the studio was so impressed with his performance that Walt Disney himself offered him the role. William Phipps is perhaps best known for his roles in dozens of classic sci-fi and westerns, both in films and on television. It is a little known fact that Mike Douglas (yes of "The Mike Douglas Show") provided the singing voice for Prince Charming for the song "So This Is Love,"as the Prince and Cinderella danced together at the Grand Ball.

A bit of trivia, not only is the name of the Prince never revealed, he is never actually referred to as "Prince Charming" in "Cinderella." His name was mentioned only in merchandise and, more recently in the various films and TV appearances of the character. Prince Charming was the first Disney Prince to participate in a duet with his respective love interest, the first Prince to be featured in a wedding celebration, and the first to  dance with his heroine just after they met.

It does not get any better than this; an original production animation drawing of Cinderella dancing with Prince Charming for the first time at the Grand Ball! Both Cinderella and Prince Charming are full figure and Cinderella's eyes are open. An absolutely beautiful drawing, from the most loved scenes in the entire film. The veteran Walt Disney animator Marc Davis supervised the animation of this scene.

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Original Production Animation Cel of Tony and A Plate of Spaghetti from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955


 Original hand inked and hand painted production cel of Tony and Plate of Spaghetti set on lithographic background with a hand painted cel of the table and a lithographic overlay of the bottom of the table cloth from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Tony: 8 x 8", Image 8 1/4 x 17 1/2"; Unframed.

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

"Now, here you are, the best spaghetti in town!"  - Tony

"Lady and the Tramp" (released on June 22, 1955) is a full length featured animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The film was the 15th in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and it was the first animated feature filmed in with the CinemaScope widescreen film process. The film was based on the story "Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog" by Ward Greene and tells the story of a female American Cocker Spaniel named Lady who lives with a refined, upper-middle-class family. Lady meets a male stray mutt named Tramp and they embark on many exciting and romantic adventures.

One evening in 1937, Disney storyman Joe Grant invited Walt Disney over to his house for dinner and ended up showed Disney a drawing he had made of his pet spinger spaniel, who was named Lady. Walt loved the drawing and suggested that Joe make a storyboard out of it; which he did and the plan was to create a new animated film, simply titled "Lady." The story that was pitched ended up being too simplistic to Walt Disney's taste, and the project was put on hold until about 20 years later.

Although the spaghetti eating sequence is the best known in the entire film, Walt Disney was prepared to cut it; because he thought it would look both silly and not be romantic. However, animator Frank Thomas was against Walt's decision and took it upon himself to animate the entire scene, without the use of lay-outs. Walt was so impressed by Thomas's work, that he kept the scene in the film.

The spaghetti scene is usually referred to as the "Bella Notte" scene because of the romantic love song "Bella Notte" that is first sung by a chorus in the opening credits; and then by Tony and Joe while Lady and Tramp eat spaghetti together while on a romantic, moonlit date. The song has become an iconic love song, and the animated sequence is one of the most unforgettable Disney moments ever created.


Original production animation cel of Tony with the plate of spaghetti without the background.


Original production animation cel of the table without the background.

This is a large and wonderful original production animation cel of Tony, the owner of Tony's Restaurant, bringing a huge plate of spaghetti with extra meatballs to Lady and Tramp. There is also a hand painted cel of the table and a lithographic overlay of the bottom of the table cloth to complete the image. This is just a wonderful piece of animation history and certainly would be a great addition to any animation art collection! The dialog for the scene is below:

Tony: "Now, here you are, the best spaghetti in town!"
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Original Production Animation Cel of Jock from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955


Original hand inked and hand painted production animation cel of Jock set on a lithographic background from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Jock: 2 1/2 x 4", Image 8 3/4 x 11 3/4"; Unframed.


"Lady and the Tramp" (released on June 22, 1955) is a full length featured animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The film was the 15th in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and it was the first animated feature filmed in with the CinemaScope widescreen film process. The film was based on the story "Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog" by Ward Greene and tells the story of a female American Cocker Spaniel named Lady who lives with a refined, upper-middle-class family. Lady meets a male stray mutt named Tramp and they embark on many exciting and romantic adventures.

One evening in 1937, Disney storyman Joe Grant invited Walt Disney over to his house for dinner and ended up showed Disney a drawing he had made of his pet spinger spaniel, who was named Lady. Walt loved the drawing and suggested that Joe make a storyboard out of it; which he did and the plan was to create a new animated film, simply titled "Lady." The story that was pitched ended up being too simplistic to Walt Disney's taste, and the project was put on hold until about 20 years later.


Original production animation cel of Jock without the background.

Jock (Heather Lad O'Glencairn) is a Scottish terrier who lives near Trusty. He is very loyal and protective of his friends. He was animated by Ollie Johnston and voiced by Bill Thompson (who had provided the voice to Mr. Smee for "Peter Pan").

This is an absolutely beautiful original production animation cel of Jock from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955. He is eyes and mouth open, and full figure. This is just a wonderful piece of vintage Walt Disney animation art history.

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Original Production Animation Cel of Peg from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955


Original hand inked and hand painted production animation cel of Peg set on a lithographic background from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Peg: 4 x 5 1/2", Image 7 x 8 1/2"; Unframed.

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

"Lady and the Tramp" (released on June 22, 1955) is a full length featured animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The film was the 15th in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and it was the first animated feature filmed in with the CinemaScope widescreen film process. The film was based on the story "Happy Dan, The Whistling Dog" by Ward Greene and tells the story of a female American Cocker Spaniel named Lady who lives with a refined, upper-middle-class family. Lady meets a male stray mutt named Tramp and they embark on many exciting and romantic adventures. 


Peg original production animation cel without the background.

Besides Lady and Tramp, the standout character is the film is Peg, a Pekingese who is one of the dogs encountered by Lady when she ends up at the dog pound. Peg is named after and slightly resembles her voice actress, Peggy Lee. Peg's highlight in the film was her singing the song "He's A Tramp" in the dog pound. 

Peggy Lee was an American pop and jazz singer, songwriter, and actress who provided the original speaking and singing voices of not only Peg, but Si and Am and Darling. Lee also composed the majority of the film's soundtrack with Sonny Burke; as well as performed "He's a Tramp", "La La Lu", "What Is a Baby?", and "The Siamese Cat Song."

Peg was wonderfully animated by veteran Disney animator Eric Larson. From Walt Disney animator Andreas Deja:
"Eric usually downplayed his capabilities as a draughtsman when compared to animators like Kahl, Davis or Frank and Ollie. But his assignments for the film Lady and the Tramp show clearly that he was not only a great actor with a pencil, but that his drawings were right on par with the studio's high standards. Peg's animation during her song "He's a Tramp" is beautifully timed in its rhythm and elegant moves."

This is a wonderful full figure, eyes and mouth open, original production animation cel of Peg. Just a perfect image and a great addition to any animation art collection!

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Original Production Animation Drawing of Snow White With A Broom from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937


Original production animation drawing of Snow White with a broom from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937, Walt Disney Studios; Red, green, and graphite pencils on peg hole paper; Numbered 10 lower right; Stamped production numbers lower left; Size - Snow White: 6 x 2 3/4", Sheet 10 x 12"; Unframed.

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

“Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.”
―The Magic Mirror describing Snow White

Development on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began in early 1934, and by June Walt Disney announced to The New York Times the production of his first feature, to be released under Walt Disney Productions. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Disney studio had been primarily involved in the production of animated short subjects in the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series. However, Disney hoped to expand his studio's prestige and revenues by moving into features, and he estimated that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs could be produced for a budget of $250,000 (this was ten times the budget of an average Silly Symphony).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be the first full-length cel animated feature in motion picture history, and as such Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother and business partner Roy Disney, as well as his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it.  The Hollywood movie industry mockingly referred to the film, while is was in production, as "Disney's Folly."  Disney ended up having to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which would eventually ran up to a total cost of $1,488,422.74; an absolutely massive sum for a feature film in 1937!


Close up of the Snow White production drawing.

A large number of actresses auditioned for the voice of Snow White. Walt Disney listened to each audition in his office while the actress performed in another room, without any knowledge of the actress' appearance or reputation. This would insure that he would only judge based on the sound of the voice. According to later accounts, most of the voices Disney felt, did not sound young enough. Eventually, in September of 1935, Adriana Caselotti was chosen for the voice of Snow White. Caselotti was eighteen at the time and made her coloraturo soprano sound younger, knowing that the character was intended to be 14 years old. In recording sessions Caselotti found difficulty in the line, "Grumpy, I didn't know you cared"; instead of "didn't", Caselotti was only able to say "din". After rehearsing the line many times, Walt Disney eventually said "Oh, the heck with..." and "din'" remained in the final film.


Close up of the production stamp.

Snow White's design was supervised by Grim Natwick, an animator who had previously developed and worked on Betty Boop at Fleischer Studios. It is interesting to note that early designs for the Snow White resemble Betty Boop, and some appear to be caricatures of famous actresses of the time. As development continued, Snow White became more and more lifelike. Another animator, Hamilton Luske's first designs for Snow White depicted her as a slightly awkward, gangly teenager. However, Walt Disney had a different idea in mind; he wanted Snow White to be older, and more realistic-looking. This was achieved by the use of live-action references for the animators. Also, in order for Snow White to better relate onscreen to the seven Dwarfs, it was decided that her head be slightly larger than normal. In addition, the women in the animation studio's ink and paint department felt that Snow White's black hair was too unnatural and harsh, so they drybrushed whisps of light grey over the top of each and every cel.


Close up of the production number.

This particular drawing is from the "Whistle While You Work" song sequence which occurs at the Dwarf cottage. Snow White and her animal friends begin to clean up the Dwarf's home while she his singing. The sequence is one of the most beautiful in the film, and the song (music written by Frank Churchill with lyrics by Larry Morey) has become a staple of Pop culture. This is a beautiful drawing of a full figure Snow White holding a broom, as she is cleaning the Dwarf cottage. An absolutely spectacular drawing accomplished in graphite, green, and red pencils, perfect for any animation art collection!

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