Coach Ben

Coach Ben
Coach Ben

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Vintage Disney Cels--Good and Bad

In a previous post, I talked about animation cels. I found these examples online, which were all used in Disney cartoons.
The first is from 1937, "Little Hiawatha". If you look at the headband, skin and trousers, you'll see some discoloration. Also, the white paint on the feather was flaked off in one area. Paint has also flaked off in the area over the character's nose.
The next cel is also from 1937: "Don Donald".  This cel is in very poor condition, and paint is flaking off all over. There are certain galleries that specialize in repairing cels, and some of the restorations are breathtaking. They are probably VERY expensive!
The last two cels are from "Sleeping Beauty", which was released in January, 1959. Since the film took more than 6 years to make, it's possible that these cels were made between 1954 to 1958. Sleeping Beauty was the last feature film at Disney's to be traced by hand. All the features after that up to "The Rescuers Down Under" used cels which were traced on a xerox machine, so they aren't as beautiful.
If you notice the colored lines used to trace the character, you will see that they are done with a high level of artistry that had evolved at Disney's over the decades.
 These images belong to the respective copyright owners.

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