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Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Original Production Animation Color Model Cel of Patch the Dalmatian Puppy from "101 Dalmatians," 1961


Original hand painted production animation color model cel of Patch the Dalmatian Puppy from "101 Dalmatians," 1961, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Patch: 3" x 4 1/4", Cel: 11 3/4 x 12", Image: 9 1/2" x 12"; Unframed.

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.


Close up of the original production animation cel of Patch the Dalmatian Puppy.

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.


Original production animation cel of Patch the Dalmatian Puppy without the background.

Patch is one of the original fifteen puppies born to Pongo and Perdita. He was voiced by Mickey Maga, and his name is derived from the black coloration surrounding his right eye. This is a large eyes open image of Patch, and he has been placed on a very colorful lithographic background. A great addition to any animation collection!

1 comment:

  1. I like this animation color cel due to the black being on Patch's left ear like in the sequel. Also, Patch is one of my most most favorite puppies in the 101 Dalmatians franchise, cuz of his animation film design (Black on left ear & red collar) & you know what? I think he deserves all the spotlight. What do you think?

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