Highlights from Heritage Auctions’ Latest Animation Art Auction

Highlights from Heritage Auctions’ Latest Animation Art Auction

June 9th, 2019

Jerry Beck

The largest offering of artwork from the 1955 Walt Disney classic film Lady and the Tramp ever brought to market will be among the items in highest demand at Heritage Auctions’ Animation Art auction June 15-16 in Dallas, Texas.

The sale includes more than 75 lots from Lady and the Tramp, including one-of-a-kind hand-painted production cels, animation drawings, concept art, storyboards, backgrounds and the Holy Grail of animation art collecting: Key master and Master cel and background setups.

Nearly 1,300 lots from every major animation studio will be featured in this auction showcasing the “Art of Animation.” Among the legendary artists whose works will be featured are Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, Gustaf Tenggren, David Hall, Mel Crawford, Chuck Jones, Ken Anderson, Mel Shaw, Ub Iwerks, Mike Ploog and Tim Burton.

Sleeping Beauty Prince Phillip and the Dragon Production Cel and Key Master Pan Production Background (Walt Disney, 1959) captures Prince Phillip battling Maleficent the fire-breathing dragon. This hand-inked, hand-painted production setup (estimate: $25,000+) includes cels of Prince Phillip with his Shield of Virtue and his Sword of Truth as he squares off with Maleficent. The background is an artistic masterpiece on its own in this image that has an image size of 29 by 11 inches in a frame that measures 39 by 22 inches.

The Mad Doctor Mickey Mouse Production Cel and Key Master Background (Walt Disney, 1933) (estimate: $25,000+) shows Mickey Mouse looking into the House of Dr. XXX to look for Pluto in a short that was deemed so frightening that it was banned in the United Kingdom and in Nazi Germany. The image is a rare Mickey Mouse full nitrate black and white cel Key Master setup, with Mickey painted in at a later date by the studio to be used on page 69 of the Disney story book Mickey Mouse Movie Stories. The setup originally was part of the prestigious Herbert Black Collection of Disney Animation Art.

Bambi Concept Painting by Gustaf Tenggren (Walt Disney, 1942) is a stunning piece from Tenggren, one of the Walt Disney Studio’s most influential artists who is highly regarded for his work and influence on such films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi. One of his final projects with the Disney Studio was painting the forests and opening scenes of Bambi. The museum-quality painting offered here (estimate: $25,000+) appears on page 36 of Pierre Lambert’s Bambi art book and on page 173 of Didier Ghez’s They Drew As They Pleased – The Hidden Art of Disney’s Golden Age (the 1930s).

Other top lots include a Little Hiawatha Production Cel Courvoisier Setup (Walt Disney, 1937); Gertie the Dinosaur Animation Drawing (Winsor McCay, 1914); Plane Crazy Mickey Mouse with Minnie Mouse and Plane Animation Drawings Group of 2 (Walt Disney, 1928-29); Mary Blair Cinderella Coach and Castle Concept/Color Key Painting (Walt Disney, 1950). Tons more. Check it all out 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.