NORTHBROOK, Ill. – On Thursday, May 20, commencing at 4 p.m. Central Time, the suburban Chicago auction house Universal Live will offer more than 265 animation cels, prints and original animation artworks. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Martin Shape, the auctioneer and president of Universal Live, said the auction will contain original cels (cels from a TV show or movie that are one of a kind), sericels (which are produced for art purposes in limited-edition quantities) and lumicels (sericels that have many images and which “talk” when motion activated).
“The auction also includes animated dolls and rare production cels from Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and Nickelodeon,” Shape said.
The auction inventory represents a who’s who of classic animated characters and includes such favorites as as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, 101 Dalmatians, Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Ren & Stimpy, Bambi, Pinocchio, Nemo, Lion King, the Beatles and SpongeBob.
Martin Shape observed: “There is an unusual phenomenon occurring in the animation-cel marketplace. We’re noting that SpongeBob is the most popular of all the cels we have sold. The buyers are making their own cel scenes by purchasing hand-painted background cels and combining them with the foreground cels.”
According to Shape, Universal Live has “the largest available online auction animation selection.” Among the artworks available in the May 20 sale are a Patrick Duerrstein signed limited-edition giclee-on-canvas print depicting SpongeBob and his buddy Patrick enjoying sun time at the beach. Titled Bikini Bottom Break, the 2005 artwork is from an edition of 100 and measures 30 inches square.
Another SpongeBob lot expected to draw fans to the auction is an original closeup animation art cel and background from the Nickelodeon TV show SpongeBob Squarepants. In the cel, SpongeBob is shown standing in a doorway, with a concerned expression on his face.
From Warner Bros., home of Looney Tunes, comes an animation cel featuring a quintet of musicians, including Bugs Bunny. The hand-painted sericel measures 22¾ inches by 31¾ inches and was hand-signed in Sharpie pen by the great director and animator Chuck Jones.
Disney fans may wish to consider the rare, limited-edition, hand-painted animation cel setup from the beloved 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The scene portrays Snow White awakening from an evil spell after receiving a kiss from a prince, her true love. The 11½-inch by 12¾-inch cell is titled “Dreams Come True.”
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Martin Shape at 847-412-1802 or email sales@universallive.com.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
