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Friday, September 23, 2016

Original Production Animation Drawing of Tinker Bell from "Peter Pan," 1953 Signed By Marc Davis


Original production animation drawing of Tinker Bell in blue and graphite pencils from "Peter Pan," 1953, Walt Disney Studios; Signed Marc Davis and numbered 39 in pencil lower right; Size - Tinker Bell: 10 1/4 x 4", Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2", Mat 17 x 21"; Triple matted, gold wood fillet, and an inset brass label.

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

The author J. M. Barrie first used Peter Pan as a character in a section of the adult novel "The Little White Bird" in 1902. He returned to that character with his stage play entitled "Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," which premiered in London on December 27, 1904. The play ran until 1913, and it was later adapted by Walt Disney for the animated feature film entitled, "Peter Pan," in 1953.


Close up of the original production animation drawing of Tinker Bell signed by Marc Davis

Tinker Bell was designed and animated by Walt Disney veteran animator, Marc Davis (who supervised the animation and contributed to the design of: Cinderella, Alice, Wendy, Tinker Bell, Aurora, Maleficent, and Cruella De Vil). Without the aid of a vocal performance, he relied on Tinker Bell's facial and body expressions for the animation; taking inspiration from previous pantomime characters such as Mickey Mouse's dog Pluto and Dopey from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Once "Peter Pan" was released, Tinker Bell received critical acclaim and would continue to be one of Disney's trademark characters. She has become one of the main spokes-characters for The Walt Disney Company and one of its most popular and iconic characters since her creation. Many people remember the opening to the TV show "The Wonderful World of Disney," as Tinker Bell would fly towards the center of the screen with a thin wand in her hand, waving it, and causing fairy dust to fly out towards the viewer!


Close up of the production number

From veteran Walt Disney animator Andreas Deja:
"To me Tinker Bell is perfection. Her character arc in the story is very strong. Because of her affection for Peter Pan she is jealous of Wendy, which gets her into trouble. But toward the end of the film she saves Peter's life as well as the other kids. Her animation throughout is flawless. Occasionally based on live action reference, Marc animated her beautifully. She always feels like a small figure, but the acting has great range and subtlety. Marc said he really enjoyed the challenge of a mute character, where pantomime is the name of the game."


Triple matted original production animation drawing of Tinker Bell signed by Marc Davis

Because of the public's love of the character, DisneyToon Studios decided to create a series of films staring Tinker Bell; and the movies were extremely popular and very well received. The voices of Mae Whitman, Raven-Symoné, Lucy Liu, America Ferrera, Kristin Chenoweth and Pamela Adlon are featured in the series of films. Each of the first four films is set around one of the four seasons: "Tinker Bell," 2008 centered around Spring, "Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure," 2009 around Autumn, "Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue," 2010 around Summer, and "Secret of the Wings," 2012 around Winter. A fifth title, "Pixie Hollow Games," 2011 was supposed to be based on all four seasons, but it was released before "Secret of the Wings" and the film was scaled down. A sixth film, entitled "The Pirate Fairy," was released on April 1, 2014, followed by the release of a seventh film "Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast" on March 3, 2015. The film series was a spin-off of and prequel to the animated feature film "Peter Pan" and to its sequel, "Return to Never Land."


Close up of the brass inset plaque

This is a wonderful original production animation drawing of Tinker Bell that was drawn by Disney Directing Animator Marc Davis in development of a scene in Walt Disney's animated feature "Peter Pan," 1953. The drawing is from the scene when she has landed on a mirror located in the Darling nursery and, while admiring her reflection, begins to try and determine if her hips are too wide. Tinker Bell is centered on the sheet, eyes open, and the drawing is accomplished in blue and graphite pencils. Original animation artwork of Tinker Bell from "Peter Pan," is very rare, and this is an exceptionally large three quarter figure drawing; with the addition of the hand signature of her creator, Marc Davis.

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


Original hand inked and hand painted production animation cel of Lady, Tramp, Trusty, and Jock set on a lithographic background from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Lady, Tramp, Trusty, and Jock: 13 x 4 3/4", Cel 12 1/2 x 16", Image 10 3/4 x 15 1/2"; 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.

Lady was wonderfully animated by the great Disney artist Ollie Johnston and she was voiced by Barbara Luddy. Barbara Luddy (1908 — 1979) was an American actress from Great Falls, Montana and she starred in silent pictures in the 1920s. She was also a prolific radio performer; known for her performances on the long running radio show "The First Nighter Program" which aired from 1936 until 1953.

However, Luddy is perhaps best remembered for her voice work in Walt Disney animated films; with her most memorable role being that of Lady from Lady and the Tramp.  She also performed in Sleeping Beauty (voice of Merryweather), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (voice of Rover), Robin Hood (voice of both Mother Church Mouse and the Mother Rabbit), and the Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too) all of which she provided the voice for Kanga.


Close up of the original production animation cel of Lady, Tramp, Trusty, and Jock.

Initially Tramp was called Homer and although he was first conceived as Lady's suitor, he ended up as her ex-dog pound mate in the initial 1943 storyboard pitch. A few years after that version was scrapped, Walt Disney read a story called "Happy Dan the Cynical Dog" in Cosmopolitan Magazine and decided that this was they type of character that was needed to enhance the film. Although Walt wanted his new character to be called Tramp, the animators feared that audiences would take offense in such a name, due to the word's sexual connotations that had been popularized by the song "The Lady Is A Tramp." The animators first called the character Rags, then Bozo; before Walt insisted that that name Tramp would be acceptable.

Tramp is a very laid-back dog and acts more like a kid. He's flirtatious and has history of having had a multitude of girlfriends; and he's known for his street smarts, able to both avoid dog catchers and deal with junkyard dogs. However, he dreams about living with a family and in a loving home. Tramp was animated by Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, and Wolfgang Reitherman who animated the rat fight scene. Larry Roberts (1926 - 1992), an American voice actor and comedian who was most active in the 1950s, is best remembered for his role as the voice of Tramp.


Original production animation cel of Lady, Tramp, Trusty, and Jock without the background.

Trusty is the oldest dog in the film and he is a bloodhound and neighbor to Lady. He is a retired service dog who is very loyal, but a bit clumsy and forgetful. He was animated by Ollie Johnston and Milt Kahl, and was voiced by Bill Baucom.  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 Lady, Tramp, Trusty, and Jock from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955. It is rare to have more than one character to a cel and this one has all four dogs eyes and mouth open, and all are full figure. This is just a wonderful piece of animation art history.

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Thursday, September 22, 2016

Original Production Animation Cels of Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam from "The Little Mermaid," 1989


Original hand painted production animation cels of 1) Ursula 2) Flotsam & Jetsam; Both on a lithographic background from "The Little Mermaid," 1989, Walt Disney Studios; Production numbers in ink lower right of both cels; Size - Ursula: 6 1/2 x 5 1/2", Flotsam & Jetsam: 5 3/4 x 4 1/2", Image 9 1/2 x 12 1/2"; Unframed.

To purchase these cels or to visit the Art Gallery, CLICK HERE

"Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys. The boss is on a roll." - Ursula 

"The Little Mermaid," 1989 was the final Disney film using hand painted animation cels. Disney Studios, specifically Ron Clements and John Musker, adapted the Hans Christian Anderson story to give the villain a much bigger role. The first choice to voice the character was Beatrice Arthur who turned down the part. It was eventually accepted by veteran stage actress Elaine Stritch; however she clashed with the music stylist. The voice was finally given to Pat Caroll who described the role as, "part Shakespearean actress, with all the flair, flamboyance and theatricality, and part used-car salesman with a touch of con artist." Although I would have loved to have heard Arthur and Stritch sing "Pour Unfortunate Souls," Ursula is the absolute embodiment of Caroll and I think she was the best choice!


Close up of the faces of Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam.

The animation of the character was initially offered to Glen Keane, however after hearing Jodi Benson sing "Part of Your World" he wanted to animate Ariel instead and so Ursula ended up going to Disney animator, Ruben Aquino. Aquino credits Ursula as his favorite character in which he has ever worked and said, "When animating Ursula, I was inspired mainly by the voice and by the story sketches, but of course, I also worked very closely with the directors (John Musker and Ron Clements) to realize their vision. Given a great voice, the scenes almost animate themselves, and that definitely was the case with Pat Carroll's amazing vocal performance. I also did a lot of research on octopus locomotion to make sure Ursula's movements were convincing."


Original production animation cels of Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam without the background.

Flotsam and Jetsam are a pair of slender green moray eels. Their eyes are odd and notable as one is yellow for one and the other opposite is white for the other. The eels are named after the phrase flotsam and jetsam which means "useless or disregarded objects". Flotsam and Jetsam speak in unison, they finish each other's sentences, and are constantly entwining their bodies. They can also merge their white eyes to form a single crystal ball; which creates a portal through which Ursula can view the outside world while still within her cave. Both eels were both voiced by Paddi Edwards, who also was the voice of Lucy the goose in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians: The Series" and Atropos the Fate in "Hercules."

This is an outstanding two cel setup from Ursula's famous song "Poor Unfortunate Souls," one of the true highlights of the entire film!  It features Ursula leaning over and speaking to Flotsam and Jetsam; who are full figure, eyes and mouths open. The lyrics that she is singing from this cel setup are below:

Ursula: "Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys. The boss is on a roll."
To view the scene which these cels were used to create, click on the short video below:
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Original Production Animation Cels of the Vultures and Mowgli from "The Jungle Book," 1967


Original hand painted production animation cels of 1) Vultures: Buzzie, Dizzy, Ziggy, and Flaps 2) Mowgli; Both from "The Jungle Book," 1967, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Size - Vultures: 8 1/4" x 3 1/4", Mowgli: 3 3/4 x 2 1/2", Image 10 x 12"; Unframed.

To purchase these cels 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.

Wolfgang Reitherman began working for Walt Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of classic Disney shorts, including "The Band Concert," "Music Land," and "Elmer Elephant." Reitherman worked on various Disney feature films produced from 1937 to 1981, including "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (animating the Slave in the Magic Mirror) up to "The Fox and the Hound," where he was the co-producer. Beginning with 1961's "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," "Woolie", as he was called by friends, served as Disney's chief animation director. In addition to "101 Dalmatians," Reitherman directed "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), "The Jungle Book" (1967), "The Aristocats" (1970), "Robin Hood" (1973) and "The Rescuers" (1977).


Original hand painted production animation cel of the Vultures: Buzzie, Dizzy, Ziggy, and Flaps without the background

One of Reitherman's productions, the 1968 short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In addition, all three of Reitherman's sons — Bruce, Richard, and Robert provided voices for Disney characters, including Mowgli in "The Jungle Book," Christopher Robin in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," and Wart in "The Sword in the Stone." Not only did Bruce Reitherman provided the voice of Mowgli in "The Jungle Book," but he also acted out certain scenes as live action reference for the animators. The character of Mowgli was animated by quite a few animators, however Milt Kahl set the final design and the majority of Mowgli's scenes were animated by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

The vultures (Buzzie, Dizzy, Ziggy, and Flaps) are very memorable characters in Walt Disney's "The Jungle Book" and appear close to the end of the film. After Mowgli escapes from Kaa, the four vultures are bored and trying to think of something to do (a running gag consists of Buzzie asking Flaps "So what are we gonna do?", only to get an "I don't know" in response). They eventually see Mowgli and decide to investigate him, by first poking fun at his "stork"-like legs. Mowgli walks away, not caring if they laughed and the vultures, feeling sorry for him; end up sympathizing with him since they themselves aren't always the most popular animals in the jungle. To help lift Mowgli's spirits, they sing "That's What Friends Are For", accidentally giving Shere Khan, the tiger, enough time to discover and corner Mowgli. As Baloo the bear holds off Shere Khan, the vultures take Mowgli to safety and then help him scare the fierce tiger away with fire. In the end, they remark how dull it's going to be without Mowgli around, and go back to wondering what they should do to pass the time.


Original hand painted production animation cel of Mowgli without the background

The vulture's number, appearance, hair, look, and talk are freely based on the British pop group; The Beatles. During production, the development staff had thoughts of the famous band voicing the four vultures -- and it appears Disney actually tried to book the real deal. Walt Disney met with the Beatles in 1965 to discuss the possibility of the group voicing the birds, but according to movie composer Richard Sherman, "John (Lennon) was running the show at the time, and he said [dismissively] 'I don’t wanna do an animated film.' Three years later they did "Yellow Submarine"; so you can see how things change." The vulture's song "That's What Friends are For" is a barbershop-style song rather than the 60's classic rock, that one would expect from their Liverpool accents. The 60's rock sound was dismissed because Walt Disney thought it would be too dated for the longevity of the film.

The appearance for the four vultures and their Fab Four models is listed below:
Buzzie: Slightly obese vulture, bald, black feathers (based on Ringo Starr)
Flaps: Slender vulture, blonde hair, black feathers (based on Paul McCartney)
Dizzy: Slender vulture, black hair, black feathers, hair over his eyes (based on George Harrison)
Ziggy: Slender vulture, brown hair, black feathers (based on John Lennon)

The voices of the four vultures were J. Pat O'Malley, Lord Tim Hudson, Chad Stuart, and Digby Wolfe.  James Patrick O'Malley was an English singer and character actor. Walt Disney engaged O'Malley to provide voices for animated films such as the Cockney coster in the "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" sequence in "Mary Poppins" (1964); Cyril Proudbottom, Winkie and a policeman in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949); and the role of Colonel Hathi and the vulture Buzzie in "The Jungle Book" (1967). His voice can be heard in Alice in Wonderland (1951), in which he performs all the character voices in the "The Walrus and the Carpenter" segment (besides Alice), including Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Walrus, the Carpenter, and Mother Oyster. In addition, he performed the roles of the Colonel and Jasper in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961) and in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction in several roles including the original voice of the Pirate Captain dunking the magistrate into the well.

This is a rare and wonderful two cel setup of all four of the vultures: Buzzie, Dizzy, Ziggy, and Flaps with Mowgli. Each vulture is full figure and Mowgli is full figure with his eyes and mouth open. An absolutely spectacular setup, which would make a great addition to any animation art collection!

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Monday, September 12, 2016

Original Production Animation Cel of Tigger and Rabbit from "Winnie The Pooh and Tigger Too," 1974


Original hand painted production animation cel of Tigger and Rabbit set on a lithographic background from "Winnie The Pooh and Tigger Too," 1974, Walt Disney Seal lower left; Numbered 776 in ink lower right; Walt Disney Studios; Unframed; Size - Tigger and Rabbit: 3 1/2 x 5 1/4", Image 11 3/4 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

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

"The wonderful thing about tiggers / Is tiggers are wonderful things / Their tops are made out of rubber / Their bottoms are made out of springs / They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun / But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is I'm the only one / IIIII'm the only one!" - Tigger

Tigger is one of the most loved characters in the Walt Disney pantheon! It is practically imposssible to find anyone who does not love him. In the case of the Pooh stories, there were no real Villains; the closest thing would be Rabbit, who was the main antagonist. However, Tigger was simply fun loving and without question had some the best lines such as "The name's Tigger! T-I-double-guh-ER! That spells Tigger!" Tigger also has one of the best songs, "The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers."


Original production animation cel of Tigger and Rabbit without the background.

"The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh," 1977 was composed of a series of featurettes Disney produced based upon the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. Walt Disney wanted to introduce the public to the Pooh characters slowly over time and the released featurettes include, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," 1966, "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day." 1968, and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too," 1974. For the full length film in 1977, extra material was added and used to link the three featurettes together. A fourth, shorter featurette was added at the end of the film and was based on the final chapter of "The House at Pooh Corner."


Close up of the original production animation cel of Tigger and Rabbit  .

In "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too," Rabbit was animated by the great Don Bluth and was voiced by Junius Matthews; a veteran radio actor who also voiced the owl Archimedes in the Disney film "The Sword In The Stone," 1963. Tigger was animated by one of the greatest Disney animators ever, Milt Kahl and voiced by Paul Winchell. Winchell was a ventriloquist, actor, and comedian who would later  provide the voice of Gargamel and Dick Dastardly. Winchell appeared in acting roles on numerous TV shows from the 1950's on through the 1970's. What many people do not know is that Paul Winchell, who had some medical training and was also an inventor; became the first person to build and patent a mechanical artificial heart which was implantable in the chest cavity. He was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for all of his work in television.


Close up of the Walt Disney Seal.


Close up of the production number.

In this cel Rabbit, frustrated that Tigger had bounced him and in the process made a mess of his garden, had concocted a plan to lose Tigger deep in the forrest. So Rabbit along with Pooh and Piglet, take Tigger on an exploration on a very foggy morning through the forrest of the Hundred Acre Wood. Unfortunately Pooh, Piglet, and Rabbit become lost as the ever excited Tigger bounds far ahead deeper into the woods. Pooh and Piglet find their way out of the woods but Rabbit is hopelessly lost. Until Tigger bounces him, because as everyone knows, "Tiggers never get lost!" This is an absolutely wonderful cel taken at the perfect time when Tigger is sitting on top of Rabbit, just after being bounced by him!

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Friday, September 9, 2016

Original Production Animation Cel of Eeyore from "Winnie the Pooh And The Honey Tree," 1966


Original hand-painted production animation cel of Eeyore on a lithographic background; From "Winnie the Pooh And The Honey Tree," 1966, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Eeyore: 2 x 3", Image 9 3/4 x 11 3/4"; Unframed; $600 or Pay Over Several Months!


"There now. Did I get your tail back on properly, Eeyore?" - Christopher Robin
"No matter. Most likely lose it again, anyway." - Eeyore

"The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh," 1977 was composed of a series of featurettes Disney produced based upon the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne. Walt Disney wanted to introduce the public to the Pooh characters slowly over time and the released featurettes include, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," 1966, "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day." 1968, and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too," 1974. For the full length film in 1977, extra material was added and used to link the three featurettes together. A fourth, shorter featurette was added at the end of the film and was based on the final chapter of "The House at Pooh Corner."

Wolfgang Reitherman began working for Walt Disney in 1934, along with future Disney legends Ward Kimball and Milt Kahl. The three worked together on a number of early classic Disney shorts and Reitherman worked on Disney feature films produced from 1937 to 1981, including "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (animating the Slave in the Magic Mirror) up to "The Fox and the Hound," where he served as the co-producer for the film. Beginning with 1961's "One Hundred and One Dalmatians," "Woolie" (as he was called by friends) served as Disney's chief animation director.

One of Reitherman's productions, the 1968 short "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day," won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In addition, all three of Reitherman's sons — Bruce, Richard, and Robert provided voices for Disney characters. Bruce Reitherman was the voice for Christopher Robin in "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree."


Close up of the original production animation cel of Eeyore.

"Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," 1966 is a film that combined live-action and hand painted cel animation. It was released by The Walt Disney Company, directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, and was based on the first two chapters of the book "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A. A. Milne. This was the only Winnie the Pooh production to be released under the supervision of Walt Disney before his death on December 15, 1966. Music and lyrics were written by the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman); with background music provided by Buddy Baker. Sterling Holloway provided the voice of Winnie The Pooh and Ralph Wright was the voice of Eeyore.

This cel of Eeyore is from his very first scene in the film, which also represents the first time Eeyore is ever seen on film. Christopher Robin has just reattached his tail, and Eeyore looks back to admire it. He is eyes open, full figure, and his tail is complete with a pink bow and the nail head that was used for recent reattachment.

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