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Monday, May 12, 2025

Original Production Animation Cel of Madame Medusa from "The Rescuers," 1977

 

Original hand painted production animation cel of Madame Medusa set on a lithographic background from "The Rescuers," 1977, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 87 in ink and Walt Disney seal lower right; Size - Madame Medusa: 9 3/4 x 7 1/2", Image 11 x 15 1/4"; Unframed.


"Give you time? You bungler! You have been down there for three months. Bottles. What Bottles?" - Madame Medusa

"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 was 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 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."

When Madame Medusa is first introduced in the film "The Rescuers," she is barging into her back room of her pawn shop to answer a ringing telephone. "Madam Medusa's Pawn Shop Bou-tique," she says. Geraldine Page, the Oscar winning actress, provided the voice to this wonderful villain and the way that she increases her voice tone with the words pawn shop boutique is just so wonderful and extremely memorable.

This is an original hand painted production animation cel of Madame Medusa. A wonderful image from a key scene in the film when she is talking on the phone to her henchman Snoops and says to him, "Give you time? You bungler! You have been down there for three months. Bottles. What bottles?" Medusa is eyes open staring into the mouthpiece of the phone, frowning, and she is holding the telephone in her left hand. A great addition to any animation art collection!

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Sunday, May 11, 2025

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 1/4 x 12"; Unframed.

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."

The next two paragraphs are excepts from "The Disney Villain," by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston:

"It is not often that true villains as unique as Kaa and Shere Khan confront each other. In "The Jungle Book" the meeting was not a a victim-villain relationship because thy had nearly equal strengths. It was more a game of "keep away." Kaa will not admit that he has Mowgli hypnotized high in the tree as the tiger suspects. In a cold but polite manner Shere Khan tries to intimidate the crafty Kaa by suggesting, 'I thought you might be entertaining someone up there in your coils.'"

"The tiger is almost unbeatable, but he is unable to find out if Mowgli is really up in the tree. Any other character would have been terrified by the treatment Kaa is receiving, yet the snake continues to be evasive. He is a slippery antagonist, withstanding threats and humiliation in order to keep Mowgli for himself. It is an entertaining standoff for these two powerful predators, but it is Mowgli who eventually wins the day."

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, his right ear is up in the air, and he has a wickedly evil smile. It really does not get better, just a spectacular cel of the villainous tiger that is perfect for any animation art collection!

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Friday, April 25, 2025

Original Production Animation Cel of Cruella De Vil from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," 1961

 

Original hand painted production animation cel of Cruella De Vil and Blanket from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," 1961, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Cruella De Vil and Blanket: 7 1/3" x 10 3/4", Image 8 1/2" x 12"; Unframed.

 
"Dognapping!" Can you imagine such a thing? "15 puppies Stolen." They are darling little things. Anita and her... and her bashful Beethoven! Pipe and all!" - Cruella De Vil

"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.

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.

Cruella along with Maleficent are two of the most favorite of all the Disney villains, and they were both animated by Marc Davis. The character of Cruella De Vil was created by Dodie Smith for his novel "101 Dalmatians" in 1956, but it was Davis's visual interpretation that the world remembers. Although some of Cruella's traits were based in the novel, Davis along with Bill Peat, morphed the character by making her razor thin and exaggerating her oversized coat onto her thin frame. The long cigarette holder was modeled on one Davis used himself. Inspiration was also drawn from Hollywood legends Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis, and Rosalind Russell. Movement, according to Davis, was consistent "like someone you wouldn't like," and another inspiration was based on "one woman I knew who was just a monster. She was tall and thin and talked constantly - you never knew what she was saying, but you couldn't get a word in edgewise."

The voice of Cruella was provided by Betty Lou Gerson. She had worked for Disney prior as the narrator for Cinderella, but her voice talent as Cruella De Vil is her tour de force! The highly pitched phrase "Anita Darling!" is completely iconic and has become part of Disney pop culture.
 
Cruella De Vil is one of the rare Disney villains that has a theme song, which was written and composed by Mel Leven; an American composer and lyricist that had a long relationship with the Walt Disney Company. In the feature film, the villainess song was written and performed by Roger Radcliffe (voiced by Bill Lee), who had just finished the jazz melody and was inspired by Cruella's name. The lyrics are below:
 
Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil
If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will
To see her is to take a sudden chill
Cruella, Cruella
She's like a spider waiting for the kill
Look out for Cruella De Vil 

At first you think Cruella is a devil
But after time has worn away the shock
You come to realize
You've seen her kind of eyes
Watching you from underneath a rock 

This vampire bat, this inhuman beast
She ought to be locked up and never released 
The world was such a wholesome place until
Cruella, Cruella De Vil

This is absolutely fantastic cel of Cruella De Vil holding her cigarette and holder in one hand and a newspaper in the other. She is lying in bed, wearing a black fur night jacket with a pink ribbon, her hair is in curlers, eyes are closed, head is tilted back, and she is laughing hysterically while reading the newspaper headlines about stolen dalmatian puppies. A great addition to any Disney Villain or animation art collection!
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Thursday, April 24, 2025

Original Production Animation Cel of The White Rabbit from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951

 

Original hand inked and hand painted production animation cel of the White Rabbit from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - White Rabbit: 2 1/2 x 3 1/2", Image 9 1/4 x 10 3/4"; Unframed.

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

"Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! No time to say goodbye - Hello! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" - White Rabbit

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (commonly shortened to "Alice in Wonderland"), is a 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson who wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. Disney reworked the story to fit with both a younger audience and a time frame suitable for an animated film (it's run time is only 75 minutes).

Kathryn Beaumont, who was born in London England, was just 10 years old when she was chosen for the voice of Alice. Walt Disney personally cast Beaumont after seeing her in the film "On an Island with You," in which the child actress had a small role. Disney was so impressed by her that she was also chosen to be the model for Alice, and would also go on to provide the voice for Wendy in "Peter Pan," 1953. Beaumont has also reprised her voice acting role as Alice in two episodes of the animated series, Disney's "House of Mouse," and as both Alice and Wendy in the video game "Kingdom Hearts." She did not retire as the voice of Alice and Wendy until 2005, when her role for these two characters was taken over by Hynden Walch.

The White Rabbit is one of the most well known and referenced fictional characters in Lewis Carroll's book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." He first appears in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Alice follows him down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, and encounters him again when he mistakes her for his housemaid Mary Ann. Soon Alice becomes trapped in his house after growing too large. The Rabbit shows up again in the last few chapters of the book, as a herald-like servant of the King and Queen of Hearts.

However, in Walt Disney's animated version of the story, the White Rabbit seems to be the most logical of all the Wonderland characters; and appears throughout the film to lead Alice along further into Wonderland. The Rabbit is perhaps most famous for the little song he sang at the beginning of the film - "I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" He was animated by various animators including: Fred Moore, Ward Kimball, Judge Whitaker, and Wolfgang Reitherman. But most of the work was done by either Fred Moore or Ward Kimball; both of whom were wonderful at bringing this type of exaggerated character to life.

The White Rabbit was voiced by American Radio and Voice Actor Bill Thompson. Thompson had an extraordinary career spanning from the 1930's until he passed away in 1971. He worked extensively for Walt Disney Studios, and can be heard in many shorts and features, often in either dialect parts or a variation of his famous and masterful Wimple/Droopy voice. For "Alice In Wonderland," he was the voice of both the White Rabbit and the Dodo. He went on to be the voice of Mr. Smee (and the other pirates) in "Peter Pan," and also King Hubert in "Sleeping Beauty."

This is a wonderful original production animation cel of the White Rabbit. He is a very nice full figure image and he is wearing his eyeglasses, blue Victorian collar, and red heart tunic. This is an absolutely beautiful piece of vintage Walt Disney animation art and a great addition to any animation collection!

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Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Original Production Animation Drawings of King Stefan and King Hubert from "Sleeping Beauty," 1959


Original production animation drawings of King Stefan and King Hubert in red and graphite pencils from "Sleeping Beauty," 1959, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 216-B and C-23 lower right in graphite pencil; Size - King Stefan: 9 x 4", King Hubert: 8 1/2 x 6 1/2", Sheets 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

"Sleeping Beauty" is a Walt Disney animated full length feature film and was based on "The Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault and "Little Briar Rose" by The Brothers Grimm. The film was the sixteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and it was released to theaters on January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution. This was to be the last Disney adaptation of a fairy tale for many years, both because of its initial mixed critical reception, and because of it's under performance at the box office. The Walt Disney studio did not return to the fairy tale genre until 30 years later, with the release of "The Little Mermaid" in 1989.

"Sleeping Beauty" was directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman, under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi. The story was written by Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, and Milt Banta. The film's musical score and songs, featuring the Graunke Symphony Orchestra, was under the direction of George Bruns. Arrangements and/or adaptations were derived from numbers from the 1890 "Sleeping Beauty Ballet" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In addition, Igor Stravinsky's music compositions were also adapted into the film. "Sleeping Beauty" was the first animated film to be photographed in the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process, as well as the second full-length animated feature film to be filmed in anamorphic widescreen; following "Lady and the Tramp" four years earlier. In select first-run engagements, the film was presented in Super Technirama 70 and 6-channel stereophonic sound.

King Stefan is humble, a loving father, and is married to Queen Leah. When Maleficent appears in his castle's throne room, he remained silent but with a stern and intimidating expression. However, after Maleficent casts her curse on Princess Aurora, he commands his palace guards to "Seize that creature!" For the rest of the film Stefan is mostly seen as a soft-spoken man; especially during his scenes with the more boastful King Hubert. King Stefan, was the first Disney King not to have grey hair, and was animated by John Lounsbery and voiced by Taylor Holmes.

King Hubert seems to be a very jolly character; and his Queen is never mentioned in the film. Hubert has one son Prince Phillip, and is good friends with Princess Aurora's father, King Stefan. In one scene, Hubert becomes angry at Stefan due to a perceived slight against his son Phillip. This leads to a fight with Stefan, and they use fish as weapons instead of swords. However, they both soon realize that the whole encounter is silly and laugh at their foolishness. King Hubert was animated by John Lounsbery and voiced by Bill Thompson.

This is a great set of two original production animation drawings of King Stefan and King Hubert. Both King drawings are accomplished in graphite and red pencils, and King Stefan is full figure. A tipsy King Hubert is holding a cooked fish, that he had previously grabbed off of a dining table and used as a sword, attempting to have a duel with King Stefan. A fantastic set of drawings that would make a wonderful addition to any animation art collection!

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Monday, April 21, 2025

Original Production Animation Drawing of The Minstrel from "Sleeping Beauty," 1959

  Original production animation drawing of the Minstrel from "Sleeping Beauty," 1959, Walt Disney Studios; Graphite and red pencils on peg hole paper; Numbered 112-A in graphite pencil lower right; Size - Minstrel: 7 1/2 x 8", Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.


"Sleeping Beauty," the 1959 Walt Disney full length motion picture, introduced two characters that would become universal favorites; Maleficent and Princess Aurora. Aurora, along with Snow White and Cinderella would be forever immortalized in the public's view as the three greatest Disney Princesses. The original design for Aurora and her peasant disguise Briar Rose was developed by Tom Oreb, who based the character on the famed Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn; known for her thin frame and a very graceful demeanor. Marc Davis, the head animator, would continue the development process by morphing her general appearance and the clothing of the heroine. The fine tuning of the character continued so that she could be combined with the very angular forms present in the Eyvind Earle hand painted backgrounds.
 
The Minstrel (also referred to as The Jester or The Lackey) is one of King Stefan's loyal servants and he serves as the maitre d' of the castle. The Minstrel is thin, with light brown medium length hair, wears a yellow and orange striped shirt with a hat with a very long red feather, and carries his mandolin. His longest sequence in the film occurs when he is summoned to serve King Stefan and King Hubert wine to celebrate the soon to be wedding between Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora. While the two kings bicker about their plans, the Minstrel secretly helps himself to a few glasses of wine, gets hiccups, drunk, and falls asleep under the table with his legs sticking out and his head inside of his mandolin. The Minstrel was masterfully animated by Milt Kahl and his live action performance model was Franklin Pangborn, who was an American comedic character actor.

This a very large and fantastic drawing in graphite pencil of the Minstrel, he is drinking wine from a goblet and he has his mandolin in his arms. A wonderful addition to any animation art collection!


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Sunday, April 20, 2025

Original Production Cel of Dumbo from "Dumbo," 1941

 

Original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Dumbo set over a Courvoisier air brush background from "Dumbo," 1941, Walt Disney Studios; Walt Disney Productions stamp verso; Size - Dumbo: 3 3/4 x 2 3/4", Image 7 3/4 x 6 1/2"; Unframed.

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

"Here is a baby with eyes of blue, straight from heaven right to you." - Stork

The Walt Disney full length feature film "Dumbo," released in 1940, introduced to the world one of the greatest characters in the Disney pantheon, Dumbo the flying elephant! Dumbo was the only character in the film who never uttered a single word, and yet he is one of the most remembered Disney stars. All of his feelings were conveyed through body movements and facial expressions. The extraordinary animation skill needed in order to do this with a human, but in this case a baby elephant, can not be underestimated.

The Disney Studio animation artists were still fairly new to feature animation, having only started in 1937 with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The film prior to "Dumbo" was "Fantasia," with one of the most successful sequences being "Night on Bald Mountain." Here again, the main character Chernabog, a huge winged devil, sitting on top of a mountain, commanding the undead below, and never uttering a single word; made a huge impression on the viewing public.

The Disney animator Vladimir "Bill" Tytla created the devil-giant for "Fantasia's" "Night on Bald Mountain," and for the next film he was given the task of animated the film's star, Dumbo. He said: 

"I gave him everything I thought he should have," said Tytla. "It just happened. I don't know a damn thing about elephants. It wasn't that. I was thinking in terms of humans, and I saw a chance to do a chracter without using any cheap theatrics. Most of the expressions and mannerisms I got from my own kid. There's nothing theatrical about a two-year-old kid. They're real and sincere- like when they damn near wet their pants from excitement when you come home at night. I've bawled my kid out for pestering me when I'm reading or something, and he doesn't know what to make of it. He'll just stand there and maybe grab my hand and cry... I tried to put all those things in Dumbo."

Certainly the greatest theme of "Dumbo" was the wonderful friendship between the mute baby elephant Dumbo and his unlikely friend, a mouse name Timothy. Various Disney animators were involved with the creation and animation of Timothy Q. Mouse including Fred Moore, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Ward Kimball. Edward S. Brophy was an American character actor, voice artist, and comedian; and he provided the voice for Timothy Mouse even though he was not credited in the film for the role.
 
In fact, none of the voice ctors for Dumbo received screen credit. The pompous matriarch of the elephants was voiced by Verna Felton, who also voiced the Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella," the Queen of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland," and Flora in "Sleeping Beauty." Other voice actors include Sterling Holloway as Mr. Stork, Cliff Edwards (better known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket) as Jim Crow, and John McLeish (best known for narrating the Goofy "How To" cartoons) providing the opening sequence narration. 
 
Mr. Stork was animated by Art Babbitt and voiced by Sterling Holloway, who would later provide the voice for Winnie The Pooh. Mr. Stork was the last of his group of flying storks to deliver his baby. Confused, Mr. Stork stops on a cloud with his bundle of joy in order to check his map. He hears the sounds of the circus train Casey Jr. below and eventually finds his way to the elephant car, where he locates the expecting Mrs. Jumbo. Mr. Stork sings "Happy Birthday" to the baby, but needs to stop the song and ask for the baby elephant's name, "Ah, Happy Birthday to you. Ah, Happy Birthday, dear; ah, dear Dear me. What's his name?"

This cel is from the scene in the film when Dumbo, the world's smallest elephant, is dropped off by Mr. Stork as a bundle of joy to Mrs. Jumbo. This is a wonderful full figure, eyes open production cel of Dumbo from his first appearance in the film, and would be a highlight to any Walt Disney animation art collection!

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