Original hand painted production animation cel of Madame Medusa from "The Rescuers," 1977, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Numbered 27 in ink lower right; Size - Madame Medusa: 8 1/2 x 7", Image 9 1/4 x 15 3/4"; Unframed.
To purchase this cel or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!
To purchase this cel or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE!
"The
Rescuers" is an animated feature film produced by Walt Disney
Productions; and was released on June 22, 1977 by Buena Vista
Distribution. The film is based on a series of books by Margery Sharp,
most notably "The Rescuers and Miss Bianca." The 23rd film in the Walt
Disney Animated Classics series, the film is about the Rescue Aid
Society; an international mouse organization headquartered in New York;
and shadowed the United Nations. The Rescue Aid Society, a mouse based
group, was dedicated to helping abduction victims around the world at
large. Two of these mice, jittery janitor Bernard (voiced by Bob
Newhart) and his co-agent, the elegant Miss Bianca (voiced by Eva
Gabor), set out to rescue Penny, an orphan girl being held prisoner in
the Devil's Bayou by treasure huntress Madame Medusa.
Early
designs for Medusa were done by Ken Anderson, there were even
discussions about bringing back Cruella deVil from "101 Dalmatians" as
the villain; but that was eventually abandoned. The character of Medusa
was eventually created and although there are many similarities with
Cruella (thin build, similar cars, appear wealthy, bad tempers, cry upon
realizing that they have lost, etc.), Medusa is still quite distinct
with her wild red hair, sagging breasts, green eyes, and lots and lots
of makeup. Her ultimate goal in the film is to possess the Devil's Eye,
the world's largest diamond. Milt Kahl was given the task of animating
Medusa and it is known that one his inspirations was his ex-wife. Kahl's
brilliance in animation is really showcased with this character and
many point to the scene where she is removing her false eyelashes as
proof of his technical skill.
The next three paragraphs are from veteran Walt Disney animator Andreas Deja:
"When
Milt Kahl was asked in an interview if he had a favorite character he
animated, his response was: "Oh I enjoyed a few, I just loved doing
Madame Mim, Shere Khan was a lot of fun, and so were the butler and old
lawyer in 'Aristocats'. But I guess I enjoyed Medusa more than any one
of them." And it shows. His last animation assignment at Disney -just
like Marc Davis's- was a tour de force of character acting. It has a
"I'm going to give it all" feel to it.
Marc
told me that Milt promised him, Medusa will "wipe his Cruella off the
screen". Then he added with a chuckle: "Of course that didn't happen".
So there was definitely a friendly competition going on between these
two great animators and their characters. Milt sort of designed Medusa's
features opposite from Cruella's. Cruella has a small nose, Medusa's
is longer. Cruella's hair parts in the middle, Medusa's off to one side.
Cruella has a pointy jaw, Medusa is almost chin less etc.
I
have to admit, when I first saw Medusa in "The Rescuers" in a London
theater, I couldn't believe my eyes. So much inventiveness in her
drawing and motion. How on earth can you show an animated character
removing her make up? Wasn't that something only a live actress could
pull off...but in animation? Incredible! I have spent way too much time
studying this character, on the other hand I think I got a lot out of
it. Dialogue, graphic but dimensional drawing and just being gutsy in
general."
This
is a spectacular cel of Madam Medusa! She is eyes open and smiling.
Both of her hands are visible in this very large image, and a
towel is wrapped around her hair. A great piece of Disney animation
artwork, perfect for any collection!
