Heritage Auctions Posts Rare Disney Animation Art: “Song White”, “Pinocchio”, Mary Blair Originals

Heritage Auctions Posts Rare Disney Animation Art: “Song White”, “Pinocchio”, Mary Blair Originals

December 12th, 2019

Jerry Beck

A magnificent Master setup from Disney’s first animation feature could bring $50,000 or more in Heritage Auctions’ Animation Art Auction Dec. 13-15 in Beverly Hills, California. The first animation auction to span three days, the event is the largest ever held, with 1,832 lots, and includes one of the most coveted Looney Tunes lots of all time, the estate of the man referred to as “the world’s greatest animator” and lots from the “Disney Renaissance” that helped bring film animation back to its highest levels.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Snow White Production Cel on Master Production Background (Walt Disney, 1937) is from one of the most terrifying scenes in the film, in which the Huntsman tells Snow White to “Run! Run away, hide, anywhere, never come back, go, go go, go, hide!” after realizing that he can’t bring himself to kill her. J.B. Kaufman writes in his the book Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – The Art and Creation of Walt Disney’s Classic Animated Film: “Invited to create expressionist imagery for Snow White’s flight into the forest, the studio concept artists rose to the challenge with wildly evocation sketches and paintings.”

“This is an extraordinary image from one of the most beloved Disney films of all time,” Heritage Auctions Animated Art Director Jim Lentz said. “The trees with the angry faces were the creation of Disney artist Gustaf Tenggren, and an idea Walt Disney originally rejected. But he eventually gave in, and those backgrounds eventually became an important part of the film.”

A Pinocchio Concept Painting by Gustaf Tenggren (Walt Disney, 1940) depicts Geppetto’s workshop and the surrounding village, with children running off to school. The 16-by-11-inch museum-quality painting (estimate: $35,000+) is labeled “Seq.1A, Pinocchio” and signed by the artist, appears on page 90 in the book Pinocchio by Pierre Lambert and is an exceptional item from an important artist and a historic Disney film.

Also from the studio’s first animation feature film comes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Snow White Bashful and Sneezy Production Cel and Key Master Background (Walt Disney, 1937), with a pre-auction estimate of $25,000+, shows Snow White kissing Bashful goodbye, warning him to “Be awful careful … because if anything happened to you … I’d …” The historically important Key Master setup of Snow White sending the dwarfs off to work is hand-inked and hand-painted, with characters ranging in size from five to eight inches tall. Backgrounds in the film were painted by Samuel Armstrong, Claude Coats, Merle Cox, Phil Dyke, Ray Lackrem, Mique Nelson and Maurice Noble.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Storyboard Art by Gustav Tenggren (Walt Disney, 1937) actually is a museum-worthy pair of storyboards from the scene in which the Prince startles Snow White at the well, and then greeting her. “Hello … did I frighten you? Wait, wait. Please don’t run away.” Tenggren became Chief Illustrator and one of the art directors on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs shortly after getting hired by Disney in 1936, and his work was used in theatrical release posters, lobby cards and even in a two-month series in Good Housekeeping magazine before the film’s release.

The sale features a trove of lots from the films sometimes called the “Disney Renaissance,” a group thought to be responsible for boosting animation’s popularity up to its highest popularity that includes Disney favorites like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc.

Among the top lots in the group are:

Beauty and the Beast Production Vertical Pan Background (Walt Disney, 1991)
The Little Mermaid Ariel Production Cel and Key Master Background (Walt Disney, 1989)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit Daffy Duck and Donald Duck Production Cels (Walt Disney/Amblin, 1988)

The sale is the first of several in which Heritage Auctions will be offering the Robert Forbes Collection. Forbes spent the about four decades compiling this extraordinary collection. With an assortment of rare hand-painted production cels, animation production drawings, backgrounds and concept art, it is thought to be one of the finest in private hands. Among the top attractions among the 154 lots, including:

Fantasia Mickey Mouse as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Production Cel on Master Production Background (Walt Disney, 1940)
Pinocchio Blue Fairy and Pinocchio Production Cel (Walt Disney, 1940)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Old Hag Courvoisier Production Cel Setup (Walt Disney, 1937)

Another popular group in the sale is a gathering of more than 50 lots by legendary Disney artist Mary Blair, who was considered Walt Disney’s favorite artist and was inducted in 1991 into the Disney Legends group. This sale includes the largest “It’s A Small World” art collection ever brought to auction. Among the top lots by Blair are:

Mary Blair Cinderella Original Concept Painting (Walt Disney, 1950)
Mary Blair “It’s a Small World” Concept Painting (Walt Disney, 1964/66)
Mary Blair Peter Pan Original Concept Painting (Walt Disney, 1953)

For more information about this auction – and to see ALL the lots CLICK HERE.

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.