April 9th, 2025 
Jerry Beck 
Heritage’s Heartbeat of a Cartoon – The Art of the Disney Animation Drawing Volume III boasts the largest auction ever held for these timeless treasures! The auction runs from May 10th to May 11th and is our third Disney animation drawing showcase. It promises to be better than ever, so be sure to grab your pixie dust, magic carpet, and fairy godmother for over 1,000 lots of priceless masterpieces and as much Disney magic as we can fit in two days!
Disney has been enchanting audiences with their groundbreaking animation, moving storytelling, and loveable characters since the Alice Comedies in the 1920s and they haven’t slowed down for a moment. They have continued to grow and innovate for more than a hundred years and have never lost their creativity or resolve to tell incredible stories that bring a little magic into our lives. Their enduring legacy promises to continue with even more films set to be released this year, including Elio and Zootopia 2, and even more on the horizon in 2026. This auction offers the largest number of animation drawings from the studio yet with a selection that is truly worthy of the Cave of Wonders and celebrates both the studio’s roots and how they have helped animation grow as a medium over the decades.
Collectors will be able to explore the early years of Disney like never before with historic animation drawings from the Alice Comedies, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Disney’s innovative Silly Symphonies with memorable pieces from classics like “Alice the Fire Fighter”, “The Sky Scrapper”, “Rival Romeos”, “Toby Tortoise Returns”, “Mother Goose Goes Hollywood”, and “The Ugly Duckling”. It also wouldn’t be a Disney auction without Mickey Mouse and his friends in the “Fab Five” and we’ve got some of their greatest appearances in iconic shorts like “The Cactus Kid”, “On Ice”, and “Goofy and Wilbur” for collectors to bring home.
Get ready to sing “Heigh-Ho” because the auction also offers all of the animation drawings you could want from the Golden Age of Disney, starting with the studio’s groundbreaking first animated feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The films that followed – Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi – strove to surpass that success with exciting innovation and out of this world craftmanship, something you see in the wide selection of animation drawings from these films. Not to mention, collectors will also find a treasure trove of hard-to-find, beautiful animation drawings from the Fabulous 50s with Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and, of course, Disney’s 1959 masterpiece Sleeping Beauty.
We’re not only giving Disney heroes the spotlight either! Fan favorite Disney villains like Cruella De Vil, Jafar, Chernabog, and Captain Hook are hatching their next evil scheme in the showcase, and you won’t want to miss it. Fans and collectors who want to relive the Disney Renaissance are also in luck because we have a little bit of everything from that beloved era for you to make a part of your world. This includes art from the beginning and end of the era like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Lilo & Stitch as well as popular films that defined the Renaissance like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan.
Whether you’re a longtime fan, an avid collector, or an animation enthusiast, there is something in this showcase for everyone with so many different characters and eras to choose from. Not to mention work signed by Disney animators themselves! We look forward to having you join us for a sale that is sure to be spectacular – just don’t forget your glass slipper when it’s over!
Heritage’s “Showcase Auction #40293 Heartbeat of a Cartoon – The Art of the Disney Animation Drawing Volume III” will be held on May 11-12 on the Heritage Auctions website.
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