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Friday, February 7, 2025

Original Production Animation Drawings of Mickey Mouse and Bobo from "Mickey's Elephant" 1936

Original production animation drawings of Mickey Mouse and Bobo the Elephant from "Mickey's Elephant," 1936, Walt Disney Studios; Graphite and red pencils on peg hole paper; Mickey Mouse numbered 121 & Bobo numbered 40 both in pencil lower right; Size - Mickey Mouse: 4 x 3", Bobo The Elephant: 3 3/4 x 4 1/2", Sheets 10 x 12"; Unframed.

"Oh boy! Won't Pluto be surprised when he sees you and your swell new house." - Mickey Mouse

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

"Mickey's Elephant" (originally released on October 10, 1936) is a Walt Disney Company animated short film that was distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Dave Hand and written by Vernon Stallings. The short is notable in that it was the first appearance of Bobo the Elephant from the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip and it is the only time that Pluto's Shoulder Devil appears without Pluto's Angel.

The plot summary of "Mickey's Elephant" is that Mickey Mouse (voiced by Walt Disney) receives a baby elephant named Bobo (voice by Lee Miller) from the Rajah of Gahboon. Pluto (voice by Lee Miller) is very skeptical Bobo and Pluto's Devil (voiced by Don Brodie) appears on his shoulder and convinces him that he is being replaced. To create trouble for the elephant, Pluto's shoulder devil spots some red pepper and convinces Pluto to blow it on Bobl causing his trunk to itch and making him sneeze.
 
Mickey tries to tend to Bobo, but to no avail, as he continues to uncontrollably sneeze and ends up accidentally destroying both his house and Pluto's doghouse. Pluto and Mickey are in shock, but the shoulder devil does not care and laughs at the destruction and misfortune. Pluto realizes he has made a terrible mistake and smacks the devil to the ground with his paw. 
 
This is a pair of original production animation drawings of Mickey Mouse and Bobo from the 1936 Walt Disney short film "Mickey's Elephant." A great drawing set of Mickey Mouse and Bobo rendered in graphite, red, and green pencils; and both images are full figure executed in exciting poses. These are rare pieces of vintage Disney animation artwork, and would be a great addition to any collection!

Original Production Animation Drawing of Ursula from "The Little Mermaid," 1989

Original production animation drawing of Ursula in blue, red, and graphite pencils from "The Little Mermaid," 1989, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 31 lower right; Animation ladder lower right edge; Size - Ursula: 5 x 7", Sheet 12 1/2 x 17"; Unframed.


"If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again." - Ariel
"That's right. . . . But - you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, innit? Oh - and there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know." - Ursula
"The Little Mermaid," is an American animated musical fantasy film and the 28th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures to theaters on November 17, 1989. The film was based on the Danish fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, which tells the story of a beautiful mermaid princess who dreams of becoming human. The film was written, directed, and produced by Ron Clements and John Musker; with music by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The voice cast includes: Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Buddy Hackett, and René Auberjonois.

"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 role 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." Caroll also served as the live action model of the character. 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!

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."

This is a wonderful original production animation drawing of Ursula the Sea Witch from the full length feature film "The Little Mermaid," 1989. This large drawing is from the scene when Ursula brings up the issue of payment for transforming Ariel, from a mermaid into a human. Ursula is full figure as she spins upside down looking at Ariel, has a wonderfully wicked expression, and says "Oh - and there is one more thing. We haven't discussed the subject of payment. " A spectacular drawing from the "Pour Unfortunate Souls" song sequence, and an absolutely beautiful and rare drawing which would be a great addition to any animation art collection!

Original Production Animation Drawing of Cinderella from "Cinderella," 1950

Original production animation drawing of Cinderella holding the invitation to the Ball in blue and graphite pencils from "Cinderella," 1950, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 30 lower right; Animation ladder center right; Size - Cinderella 6 3/4 x 4 1/2", Sheet 10 x 12"; 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.

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.

This is a wonderful and very delicate production drawing of Cinderella. She is masterfully rendered in graphite and blue pencils. It is from the scene in the film, when the invitation to the King's Ball is delivered to the Tremaine home. A rare image of Cinderella holding and looking at the invitation. The scene was supervised by the great animation artist Les Clark, one of Walt Disney's master animators known as his "Nine Old Men." I wonderful addition to any animation art collection!

Original Production Animation Drawing of Pinocchio from "Pinocchio," 1940


Original production animation drawing in red, green, and graphite pencils of Pinocchio from "Pinocchio," 1940, Walt Disney Studios; Production stamp and animation ladder lower right; Numbered C31-A in pencil lower right; Size - Pinocchio and Shadow: 5 3/4 x 7", Sheet: 10 x 12"; Unframed.

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

"Pinocchio," 1940 was the second animated feature film produced by Disney, and followed on the success of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." 1937. It was released to theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on February 23, 1940 and was based on the Italian children's novel "The Adventures of Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi. The general plot of the film involves an old wood-carver named Geppetto, who carves a wooden puppet that he names Pinocchio. One night the puppet is brought to life by the Blue Fairy, who informs him that he can become a real boy if he proves himself to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish". Pinocchio's journey to become a real boy is challenged by his encounters with an array of scrupulous characters.

"Pinocchio" became the first animated feature to win an Academy Award; it won for both Best Music - Original Score and for Best Music - Original Song for "When You Wish Upon A Star." Most critics and audiences agree that "Pinocchio" is among the finest Disney features ever made, and one of the greatest animated films of all time. In 1994, it was added to the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Due to the huge success of "Snow White," Walt Disney wanted more famous voice actors for "Pinocchio." He cast popular singer Cliff Edwards (who had made the first record selling over a million copies) as Jiminy Cricket. Disney also wanted the character of Pinocchio to be voiced by a real child. The role ended up going to twelve year old actor Dickie Jones, who had previously been in Frank Capra's enormous Hollywood hit, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

Animation began in September 1938 and just as in "Snow White," live-action footage was shot for "Pinocchio" with the actors playing the scenes; which was supervised by Hamilton Luske. The animators then used the footage as a guide for their animation drawings by studying the human movement and then incorporating many of those poses and scenes. The title character was animated by Milt Kahl (initial design), Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston. "When I was doing Pinocchio," Johnston said, "I thought of the character being real, a living person, not a drawing."

"Give a Little Whistle," one of the memorable songs featured in "Pinocchio," was composed by Leigh Harline with lyrics by Ned Washington. The song is sung by Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards), and the performance and animation is one of the nicest sequences in the film. In the song, Jiminy tries to explain the matters of being a conscience to Pinocchio, and tells him if he needs him all he has to do is "give a little whistle." This is a wonderful drawing from the "Give a Little Whistle" sequence and the image of Pinocchio is perfect; he is eyes open and giving a little whistle into his hat. The drawing is rendered in red, green, and graphite pencils on peg hole animation paper, and this would be a great addition to any animation art collection!