Looking for some limited-edition or even one-of-a-kind animation art to hang on the wall? Rare, hand-drawn relics are on the block this week at Propstore, including an art-deco moment from Batman: The Animated Series, a monster family portrait from some Flintstones guest stars, and some very cool Akira mementos.
Check out the full London-based auction here, where you’ll also find information on how to bid and pricing.
Batman: The Animated Series (1993)
This framed, hand-painted original animation cel hails from “The Man Who Killed Batman,” an episode from the first season of Batman: The Animated Series; it shows the exterior of the Gotham Diamond Exchange—just the sort of joint Batman’s foes like ripping off.
Akira (1988)
Three original Shotaro Kaneda hand-painted animation cels with drawings from Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira. Fun fact from the auction catalogue: “These cels were initially obtained from a VHS video store in the early 1990s, where they helped promote the Manga film genre, which was new to the UK at the time.”
Akira (1988)
From that same video store comes these two original, hand-painted animation cels showing Akira’s Tetsuo Shima.
Bugs Bunny in King Arthur’s Court (1978)
Bugs Bunny—wearing his knight ensemble from a Looney Tunes TV special—gets the spotlight in this framed display of an original animated cel and pencil drawing. Both are signed and dated by legendary animation director Chuck Jones.
Foghorn Leghorn: Various Productions (1981 and 1983)
Animation legend Friz Freleng autographed both of these original hand-painted production cels spotlighting everyone’s favorite Looney Tunes rooster. You can see him dancing with a couple of lady pals on the left (that’s from 1981’s Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie), and doing a solo strut on the right in 1983 release Daffy Duck’s Fantastic Island.
Pinocchio (1940)
Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket appear in this framed, limited-edition, hand-painted animation cel titled “Anytime You Need Me.” According to Propstore, “this cel was published by Walt Disney Art Classics in 1996,” and “Disney artists used traditional techniques, hand-inking lines onto acetate cels over original animation drawings and then hand-painting the artwork using 30 Disney-approved acrylic colors. A Disney artist also reproduced the printed background using the original paintings, sketches and frames as reference.”
Pinocchio (1940)
A similar limited-edition creation to the previous slide (this one was published by Disney Art Editions in 1995), this oversized cel shows several Pinocchio characters in action, including the title character and the huckster “Honest John.”
The Flintstones (1960-1966)
The familiar prehistoric family doesn’t appear here—instead, it’s all about the Gruesomes, The Flintstones’ answer to the monster families of the 1960s like the Munsters and the Addams Family. (Dig the prehistoric hearse and their “spooky” pets!) This limited-edition cel was issued in 1998 and is titled, appropriately, “Meet the Gruesomes.”
The Flintstones/The Jetsons
Two iconic cartoon moms star in this mash-up titled “A Mother’s Work” designed by Iwao Takamoto. It’s a limited edition animation cel and features autographs from Penny Singleton (the voice of Jane Jetson) and Jane Vander Pyl (the voice of Wilma Flintstone).
Tiny Toon Adventures (1990-1995)
If Bugs Bunny as a knight wasn’t enough for you, here’s Buster Bunny in disguise as yachting enthusiast Biff Vanderbunny. This animation cel is from the 1990 Tiny Toons Adventures episode “The Wacko World of Sports,” specifically the putt putt-centric segment “Miniature Goof.”