Early Snow White Production Cel Up for Auction
BOSTON, MA—(August 8, 2014) A very early original preliminary production cel featuring Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, will be featured in an upcoming auction devoted entirely to Animation Art later this month, by Massachusetts-based RR Auction.
The Snow White cel was created circa 1935, shows the character wearing a long pink dress with a blue bow in her hair. This rarity is on a full animation cel, complete with peg holes and a cel number at the bottom right, not to be mistaken for a color model.
The image measures 2.25 x 5, with overall dimensions of 12.25 x 9.75.
It is the first full-length cel animated feature film and the earliest in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series.
By the summer of 1936, friction had heightened between animators over portrayal of Snow White, as more of a sophisticated young temptress, one that did not match the charming innocence that Disney required.
“Walt Disney changed this design of the princess because he felt it was too ‘cartoony’—too risqué and reminiscent of Betty Boop—to be used for final production in a more serious film,” says Bobby Livingston, Exec VP at RR Auction.
“This considerable re-designing would result in the most perfect embodiment of the fairy-tale feminine ideal of purity and innocence that would be achieved in the film,” adds Livingston.
Among the other items featured in the Animation Art auction:
- Original production cel featuring the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, showing the villain flipping through a book of potions.
- A highlight included from Fleischer Studios, is an exceptional production setup of Popeye and donkey from 1934’s Let’s You and Him Fight.
- A visually stunning concept painting of Mickey as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice conducting the universe from The 1940 American animated film Fantasia.
- Original pan production cel featuring Briar Rose, Merryweather, and a dancing mop from Sleeping Beauty.
- Original production drawing featuring Gertie and Winsor McCay from Gertie the Dinosaur, showing McCay beside Gertie with a whip in his hand.
- Original production key master cel and background setup featuring Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio, showing him chasing after Pinocchio while misbehaving on Pleasure Island. Also featured, a superb key master setup featuring Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio, showing him unhappily perched on a shelf.
The Animation Auction from Boston, MA based, RR Auction opens for online bidding Aug 14, 2014 & ends Aug 21, 2014 at 7PM. More details, including a preview can be found online at www.rrauction.com.
