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Saturday, May 19, 2018

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


Original production animation drawings of Pinocchio in red, and graphite pencils; Numbered D57A; And Stromboli in blue, red, and graphite pencils; Numbered C53; Both from "Pinocchio," 1940, Walt Disney Studios; Production numbers on each sheet lower right; Size - Pinocchio: 3 1/4 x 3 1/4", Stromboli: 4 x 6 1/2"; Sheets 10 x 12"; Unframed.

To purchase this drawings 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.

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."


Original production animation drawing of Pinocchio.


Close up of the original production animation drawing of Pinocchio.


Close up of the production number.

"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."


Original production animation drawing of Stromboli.


Close up of the original production animation drawing of Stromboli.

Close up of the production number. 

Although Pinocchio encounters a wide range of antagonists, two of the cruelest are the Coachman and Stromboli; the evil puppeteer, showman, and gypsy whose only goal was to make money. Both the Coachman and Stromboli were voiced by Charles Judes who added a heavy Italian accent. Stomboli is also the only Disney Villain who cursed, however it was obscured by being done in Italian.


Close up of the production stamp and the production number.

Hamilton Luske directed the live-action footage of most of the actors posing as characters for Pinocchio. Luske admitted to the fact that the character, acted by story man T. Hee dressed in full gypsy garb, was a bit understated but that he did not want Stromboli's animator Vladimir Tytla doing "too many things." Tyla was a tall and imposing personality and he had a physical build that was similar to that of Stromboli, which may account for him being given the character to animate. It is known that while Tytla was working out sequences for Stromobli in his room, that he would perform the story aloud and that Eric Larson stated that he "thought the walls would fall in." Obviously the performance worked because the villainous Stromboli is one of Walt Disney's greatest memorable villains!

This is a great pair of original production animation drawings of both Pinocchio and the main villain of the film, Stromboli. A great addition to any vintage Walt Disney animation art collection!

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Original Production Animation Cel of Edgar from "The Aristocats," 1970



Original hand painted production animation cel of Edgar from "The Aristocats," 1970, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Numbered 93 in ink lower right; Size - Edgar: 8 1/2" x 8 1/2", Image 8 3/4 x 11 3/4"; Unframed.

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

"The Aristocats," 1970 is an animated feature film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions.  This was the last film project to be approved by Walt Disney himself, as he died in late 1966, before the film was finally released to theaters by Buena Vista Distribution on December 11, 1970. "The Aristocats" featured the voice talent of Eva Gabor, Hermione Baddeley, Phil Harris, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway, Scatman Crothers, and Roddy Maude-Roxby.

The film is based on a story by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, and centers around a family of aristocratic cats. After the mistress's butler kidnaps them (to gain his mistress' fortune which was intended to go to the cats) an unlikely alley cat acquaintance helps them escape and be returned to their home.  

It is Paris 1910 and Madame Bonfamille tells her lawyer Georges Hautecourt that she has decided to leave all of her stocks, bonds, mansion, treasures, jewels, and her entire fortune to her beloved cats rather than to her butler, Edgar Balthazar. When Edgar overhears this he fears the cats will outlive him, and that he will never see a penny of the inheritance. He then realizes that he has to get rid of the cats; "I'll be gone, no oh no... they'll be gone," he says. Edgar decides to put sleeping tablets into the cats milk and when they fall asleep, he takes them in a covered basket on his motorcycle far away from the city of Paris. 


Original production animation cel of Edgar without the background. 

The character of Edgar was voiced by Roddy Maude-Roxby, an accomplished English actor. He was just wonderful in the role with the delightful snooty English butler voice, that could also morph into a scheming cunning timber perfect for a Disney Villain. This is a very nice three quarter image of Edgar and would be a great addition to any animation art collection!

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Original Production Animation Cels of Ariel and Matching Bubble Effects from "The Little Mermaid," 1989


Original hand painted production animation cels of Ariel and matching Bubble Effects on a lithographic background from "The Little Mermaid," 1989, Walt Disney Studios; Disney seal lower left; Production numbers in ink lower right; With original Walt Disney World receipt and Disneyana Certificate of Authenticity; Size - Ariel: 6 1/2 x 4 1/2", Image 11 1/4 x 17"; Unframed.


"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.


Original production animation cel of Ariel without the background.

 Close up of the original production animation cel of Ariel without the background.


Close up of the original production animation cel of Bubble Effects without the background.

There was more money and resources dedicated by the Walt Disney Studios to "The Little Mermaid" than any other Disney animated film in decades. Aside from its main animation facility in Glendale, California; Disney opened a satellite feature animation facility in Lake Buena Vista, Florida that was within the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World. Their first projects were to produce an entire Roger Rabbit cartoon short, "Roller Coaster Rabbit," and to contribute ink and paint support to "The Little Mermaid." Another first for Disney films of recent years, was the filming of live actors and actresses for motion reference material for the animators. Broadway actress Jodi Benson (who was predominantly a stage actress when she was cast) was chosen to play Ariel, and Sherri Lynn Stoner, a former member of Los Angeles' Groundlings improvisation comedy group, acted out Ariel's key scenes.


Close up of The Walt Disney Company seal.

The Little Mermaid's supervising animators included Glen Keane and Mark Henn on Ariel, Duncan Marjoribanks on Sebastian, Andreas Deja on King Triton, and Ruben Aquino on Ursula. Originally, Keane had been asked to work on Ursula, as he had established a reputation for drawing large powerful figures, such as the bear in "The Fox and the Hound," 1981 and Professor Ratigan in "The Great Mouse Detective," 1986. Keane however, was assigned as one of the two lead artists on the petite Ariel and oversaw the "Part of Your World" musical number. He jokingly stated that his wife looks exactly like Ariel "without the fins." The character's body type and personality were based upon that of Alyssa Milano, who was starring on TV's "Who's the Boss?". The effect of Ariel's hair underwater was based on footage of Sally Ride when she was in space; and scenes of Sherri Lynn Stoner in a swimming pool were used in animating Ariel's swimming. A challenge in animating Ariel were the colors required to show her in various changing environments, both under the sea and on land. By the end of the film, the animators required a total of 32-color models; not including costume changes. The sea-green color of her fin was a hue specially mixed by the Disney paint lab, and the color was named "Ariel" after the character.


Disneyana Certificate of Authenticity.


Walt Disney World receipt and price tag.

"The Little Mermaid," 1989 was the final Disney film using hand painted animation cels. This is an outstanding original production animation cel setup of Ariel and matching Bubble Effects. A great eyes and mouth open image of a full figure Ariel; with her long red hair flowing down her back. This would make a wonderful addition to any animation art collection!

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Friday, May 18, 2018

Original Production Animation Drawing of Happy from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937


Original production animation drawing of Happy from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937, Walt Disney Studios; Red, blue, and graphite pencils on peg hole paper; Numbered 216 lower right; Stamped production numbers lower left; Size - Happy: 5 x 3 1/4", Sheet 10 x 12"; Unframed.


Development on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began in early 1934, and by June Walt Disney announced to The New York Times the production of his first feature, to be released under Walt Disney Productions.  Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Disney studio had been primarily involved in the production of animated short subjects in the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series.  However, Disney hoped to expand his studio's prestige and revenues by moving into features, and he estimated that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs could be produced for a budget of $250,000 (this was ten times the budget of an average Silly Symphony).

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be the first full-length cel animated feature in motion picture history, and as such Walt Disney had to fight to get the film produced. Both his brother and business partner Roy Disney, as well as his wife Lillian attempted to talk him out of it.  The Hollywood movie industry mockingly referred to the film, while is was in production, as "Disney's Folly."  Disney ended up having to mortgage his house to help finance the film's production, which would eventually ran up to a total cost of $1,488,422.74; an absolutely massive sum for a feature film in 1937!

Although the initial concept designing of the dwarfs was relatively easy for the Walt Disney animation department, the actual animating of them proved to be difficult. The animators, already finding human figures difficult to animate, now had to animate dwarfed human figures. The great Disney animator Vladimir Tytla noted that the dwarfs should walk with a swing to their hips, and Fred Moore commented that they had to move a little more quickly in order to keep up with the other human characters.

Happy is bubbly, bright, very friendly, and the most cheerful of all the dwarfs. His gleeful attitude prompts him to laugh often, and he is a singer, yodeler, and musician. Happy is plump and although six of the dwarfs have eyebrows that were modeled after Walt Disney’s; Happy has eyebrows that are white and bushy. Various Walt Disney artists were involved in the animation of Happy throughout the film including: Vladimir Tytl, Fred Moore, Shamus Culhane, and Les Clark. The former vaudevillian comedic actor Otis Harlan provided the voice of Happy.


Close up of the original production animation drawing of Happy.


Close up of the production number.


Close up of the production numbers stamp.

This is an absolutely wonderful original production animation drawing of Happy. The drawing is from the scene when Snow White tells the Dwarfs her story, about how she escaped from the Evil Queen. Grumpy states that the Queen can make herself invisible and might be the room "right now!" Both Happy and Dopey are startled by the possibility and Dopey lifts Happy's beard to check underneath. Happy "klonks" Dopey on the head for his ridiculous action. This is a very nice image of Happy with both eyes and mouth open. A great addition to any vintage Walt Disney animation art collection!

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Original Production Animation Drawing of Alice from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951


Original production animation drawing of Alice in graphite, red, and brown pencils from "Alice In Wonderland," 1951, Walt Disney Studios; Alice's dialogue of "UPSET" in pencil upper right and numbered 123 in pencil lower right; Size - Alice: 7 1/2 x 3 1/2", Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

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

"Goodness, if the people here are like that I must try not to upset them!" - Alice

"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.

Initial design for the character of Alice was accomplished by Mary Blair during the storyboard phase and also by Les Clark. Alice was animated by Ollie Johnston, Don Lusk, and Marc Davis who animated her for the tea party scene.


Close up of the original production animation drawing of Alice.

Close up of the production number.


Close up of Alice's dialogue of "UPSET" in pencil upper right.

Towards the end of Alice's first encounter with the Cheshire Cat, she was advised to seek "The Mad Hatter... or... The March Hare," who is "mad too." Alice says that she does not "want to go among mad people," and the Cheshire Cat replies "Oh, you can't help that... most everything's mad here." In the last scene of this sequence Alice then says, "Goodness, if the people here are like that I must try not to upset them!"

This is a wonderful full figure original production animation drawing of Alice. She is eyes and mouth open, her hands on her hips, and she looking above her at the Cheshire Cat. An absolutely beautiful piece of vintage Walt Disney animation art and a great addition to any animation collection!

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


Original hand inked and hand painted production animation cel of Cinderella holding the Invitation to the Ball set on a lithographic background from "Cinderella," 1950, Walt Disney Studios; Size - Cinderella: 6 1/4 x 4 1/4", Image 6 1/2 x 7 1/2"; Unframed. 

To purchase this cel 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."


Original production animation cel of Cinderella without the background.

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 original production animation cel of Cinderella. It is from the scene in the film, when the invitation to the King's Ball is delivered to the Tremaine home. A rare and perfect image of Cinderella holding and looking at the invitation in her right had while holding the wooden handle of a broom in the other. The scene was supervised by the great animation artist Les Clark, one of Walt Disney's master animators known as his "Nine Old Men."

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Original Production Animation Drawing of Peg from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955


Original production animation drawing of Peg in graphite, blue, and red pencils from "Lady and the Tramp," 1955, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 102 in pencil lower right; Size - Peg: 7 1/2 x 7 3/4", Sheet 12 1/2 x 15 1/2"; Unframed.

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

"He's a Tramp, but they love him. Breaks a new heart everyday. He's a Tramp, they adore him. And I only hope he'll stay that way!" - Peg

"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.


Close up of the original production animation drawing of Peg.


Production number.

Besides Lady and Tramp, the standout character is the film is Peg, a Pekingese who is one of the dogs encountered by Lady when she ends up at the dog pound. Peg is named after and slightly resembles her voice actress, Peggy Lee. Peg's highlight in the film was her singing the song "He's A Tramp" in the dog pound. 

Peggy Lee was an American pop and jazz singer, songwriter, and actress who provided the original speaking and singing voices of not only Peg, but Si and Am and Darling. Lee also composed the majority of the film's soundtrack with Sonny Burke; as well as performed "He's a Tramp", "La La Lu", "What Is a Baby?", and "The Siamese Cat Song."

Peg was wonderfully animated by veteran Disney animator Eric Larson. From Walt Disney animator Andreas Deja:
"Eric usually downplayed his capabilities as a draughtsman when compared to animators like Kahl, Davis or Frank and Ollie. But his assignments for the film Lady and the Tramp show clearly that he was not only a great actor with a pencil, but that his drawings were right on par with the studio's high standards. Peg's animation during her song "He's a Tramp" is beautifully timed in its rhythm and elegant moves."

This is a very large and wonderful full figure, eyes and mouth open, original production animation drawing of Peg. Just a perfect image and a great addition to any animation art collection!

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