Animation cels

[cbrubaker]

So how much of animation cels from Looney Tunes survive to this day?

My understanding is that most of the cels were scrapped or reused after filming, so very few are around. Has anyone seen any?

[Studio Toledo]

So how much of animation cels from Looney Tunes survive to this day?

My understanding is that most of the cels were scrapped or reused after filming, so very few are around. Has anyone seen any?
I've seen one or two pop up on eBay.

[Ray Pointer]

So how much of animation cels from Looney Tunes survive to this day?

My understanding is that most of the cels were scrapped or reused after filming, so very few are around. Has anyone seen any?

I would doubt that there is anyone here who would know. Such things were never "inventoried." And if you consider that many of the cels in the 30s and 40s were washed off and reused, many were latter discarded or burned, being flammable celluloid. The fact that the galleries were displaying replica Warner cels, recreated to represent the cartoons, it is apparent that there are not very many that survive outside of private collections. And those are extremely rare.

[Gasmask Ted]

While they are not the most common item in the world, they are not impossibly rare. WB cels from the '60s and later are not unusual. WB art beyond cels is not especially unusual, even for somewhat older material. (Keep in mind that rarity is all relative; every individual production cel is technically unique; older Looney Tunes cels are few enough in number that only a tiny tiny proportion of people who love the cartoons will ever own one, but within the marketplace, there are enough to go around without impossibly high prices if you take a wide enough view of "older Looney Tunes".)

Disney had the best documented official cel sales, with the Disney Art Corner/Courvoisier system, but other studios (including Schlesinger) had what appear to be official cel releases as well. I've seen examples with mechanically reproduced text on them from Schlesinger, Lantz and Columbia.
See the Lantz cel at:
http://tag.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=244895
for an example (you can see paint loss can be a problem on these; many Schlesinger cels of this kind are actually shellaced to backgrounds, which while it sounds horrifying, tends to get around the paint loss problem). I've seen at least one Schlesinger example that came in the same type of frame as the Lantz cel did (I think I saved the eBay photos of the cel, but they don't seem to be on this computer). Presumably the frames came from the original source, but they could have just come through a reseller who framed them all together, or even a single owner.

Scroll down a little at
http://vegalleries.com/wbopc.html#mis
to the Little Pancho Villa cel; it wouldn't surprise me if this is one of those shellaced cels, but they don't mention a backgorund at all, and if it's only been trimmed slightly it probably wouldn't take off the text.

You can see three Schlesinger examples at lot 103 of the following auction catalog, on page 17/129 in the navigation bar at the top, tho the page is numbered 30 in the image itself:
http://www.juliensauctions.com/auctions/2008-summer-sale/icatalog.html
It's not the best way to look at images, but it's better than nothing.

I've attached an example of a Columbia one (image taken from eBay in February 2009) at the end of this message. Apparently no one was name recognized enough at Screen Gems to warrant their "signature" on the cel, unlike Lantz and Schlesinger...
file:///Users/ted/Pictures/ColumbiaScreenGemsHouseJackBuilte6c1_1.JPG

[mulroz]

I bought two cells some time ago which seem to be from "little beau porky". The are in color, so I haven't got a clue where they came from. Maybe from a later coloured version? Or from someone very creative with a lot of time on his hands?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

I bought two cells some time ago which seem to be from "little beau porky". The are in color, so I haven't got a clue where they came from. Maybe from a later coloured version? Or from someone very creative with a lot of time on his hands?
Most likely it is from the colored version done in the late 60's, supervised by the Fred Ladd. Films of the black and white Looney Tunes were sent to Korea where the images were badly traced and the cels painted in odd hues.

[mulroz]

Most likely it is from the colored version done in the late 60's, supervised by the Fred Ladd. Films of the black and white Looney Tunes were sent to Korea where the images were badly traced and the cels painted in odd hues.

Very well possible, I also have a Betty Boop one from the same source with horrible almost fluorescent colours.

[Studio Toledo]

Very well possible, I also have a Betty Boop one from the same source with horrible almost fluorescent colours.
Amazing these cels exist at all when all of 'em should be burned!

[gdX]

Surely this finite amount of production art is solely in the hands of deep-pocket collectors by now, but there was a time during the 90s when it was possible to find and collect these items. No deep pockets here, but I was fortunate enough to collect for a few years. They're gone now ($), but I did photo-document them (poorly) for insurance; a few are attached here.

Yes, they were re-used for sure. I had one Warner cel from the 40s that retained impressions of inklines from at least 4 different recognizable shorts going back to the late 30s.

Enjoy.

[gdX]

More...

[gdX]

And one for the road...

[Ray Pointer]

So how much of animation cels from Looney Tunes survive to this day? My understanding is that most of the cels were scrapped or reused after filming, so very few are around. Has anyone seen any?

Is your question being addressed?

[cbrubaker]

I'd say I get the idea of how much survive.

[Brandon Panther]

You have an Egghead cel?! :eek:

[Studio Toledo]

Hate to show off the oldest cel in my collection, but here you go!

[nickramer]

Hate to show off the oldest cel in my collection, but here you go!

Wow, that's a great Disney cel!