"The Sea Witch...?"

I bought this one on eBay not too long after the Ursula cels. Although not a have-to-have shot, I do love the clear expression and sizeable shot in this cel. Although I have actually seen better cels from this sequence (some extend all the way to her tail, which is also painted), this one is significant in that it is the only cel from this sequence that I have seen that has a seal. For a collector who collects only legitimate cels, that made this cel much more significant. Often when I find cels without seals from a sequence, I find several cels from that sequence, all without seals. That makes it harder to get ones with seals.

This cel was sold on eBay as an auction. Unlike my Ursula cel this one attracted a few more bids and I was a little more worried that I wouldn't get it (ah, the rush of sniping on eBay). In total it had six bid, including mine, and the final price was $US968.79. It comes with a photographic background which does not match the scene, and a couple of images with alternate presentations, this one included, were also on the listing. I fell this presentation format, a white background which emphasises the image clearly, is best. It's unframed so I can have it arranged that way when I get around to framing.

This piece cost $US968.79. Photographic background (or not :P). Unframed. The authentication seal is in the bottom-rightcorner.

"A Thing for This Human"

Hot on the heels of my first Ursula cel came my second. This one I bought on eBay. Although it was a bidding auction I was the only bidder. I fail to see why; it has and excellent expression. Ursula is not too big in this cel; she only takes up about half the cel real-estate. Nevertheless, the face has clear expression, the posture and mannerisms that are iconic of Ursula are present and you can even see the beginning of her tentacles!

This piece cost $US895.00. Photographic background. Framed in black. The authentication seal is in the bottom-rightcorner.

"Practically Starving!"

Leslie Combemale does it again! This fabulous depiction of Ursula, including a gratuitous shot of her colossal behind, came from ACME (who are apparently running very low on LM cels at the moment).

The strangely truncated image is due to editing of a slightly poorer shot to bring the image into proper proportion. Hey, it's hard taking a picture of a cel with good lighting and at the right angle on an iPhone!

This piece cost $800. Photographic background. Unframed in an ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is in the bottom right corner.

"Walking Around On Those..."

I got this piece from eBay a few months ago. It was difficult because I am registered in Australia and the seller had closed their listings off to those outside the USA. Because of this I missed out on another cel he was selling. Fortunately this one didn't sell the first time and I conviced him to repost it. I then changed my geographical location to USA so that I could actually bid on it. They shouldn't make it this difficult to bid on this sort of thing; I was going to have it sent to a friend in the USA anyway!

This came already nicely framed and I think it's a beautiful frame from this sequence. At the time of writing, a similar cel is available from celmates.com for US$4250. This one was only $US1,295 and I think this one is better given her expression, which gives me the opinion that CelMates is a bit overpriced (or I'm a really good bargain hunter)!

This piece cost $US1,295. Photographic background. Framed in black. The authentication seal is in the bottom-left corner.

Update and Cel Stalking

Well, it's been a little while since I updated, partly because since becoming unemployed I have had limited funding for purchasing cels. Just as my last employer let me go, however, I had scraped up enough to buy one more piece, which I will upload when I find the good shot that I have lying around in my archives.

Lack of cash doesn't stop me from watching cels pass by though. Several auctions have popped up over the last few months on eBay and have subsequently been sold. Fortunately no "Have-To-Have" cels sold at ridiculously low prices but outside my grasp; none that I'm aware of anyway. Shots like Sebastian jumping and singing and his face is contorted, as such:

Keep in mind here that the clam wasn't included in the shot, so the setup was rather empty.

Another one that went was one of Ariel and Sebastian:

I don't think the cel setup was a key-setup (all cels belong to the same frame in the movie).

So as you can see, not much being missed out on in the bargain bin.

On the higher end (around the US$5000 mark) however, someone has been buying up some choice cels. A cel of Ariel and Eric waving from their wedding ship, which had been on eBay on-and-off for over a year finally sold. At the same time a cel of Ariel and Eric's first kiss sold to the same buyer. And also at the same time, several cels in this price range sold at CelMates. I'm suspecting that it's the same guy <Insert Shifty Eye Glance Here>. These were really good cel setups, even if they cost twice as much as any of those in my collection. Maybe it is getting harder to get these cels. Every time a cel changes hands, there is the chance that the new owner (like me) has no intention of letting it go again. So eventually, cels are going to become scarcer and more expensive.

Another interesting lot of sales that dangle around the bargain bin (to clarify, <US$1000) were actually "Buy-It-Now or Best-Offer" items on eBay. Taking a look at the Buy-It-Now price alone puts them in the lower-mid-range price bracket (US$1500 - US$3500). However, a seller (representing animationandfineart.com) who had several pieces up in this range caved in for lower offers. A really nice cel of Sebastian poking out his lips, which had been listed for US$2250 sold for only US$750. I wish I had made an offer!

Another shot of Ariel, Eric and Grimsby (made not-so-desirable as Eric was heavily obscured by Grimsby) was originally listed for US$3300 (I'm guessing the seller was placing a lot of value in the presence of each character) but sold for only (if I remember correctly) US$1300. Probably still not quite worth it, if you're into perfection (if you're just in it for Ariel alone, or even Grimsby, then by all means). Nevertheless, a huge reduction in asking price across the board.

They've all been sold, according to the Animation and Fine Art website. At the time of writing this post, you can see the prices they were originally asking for in their listings http://www.animationandfineart.com/Animation/Disney.html. I think the one of Ariel and Eric at sunset sold for it's asking price, but the rest went waaaay down (according to eBay).


Leslie from ArtInsights has recently told me about a vertiable fire sale at the ACME Archives: they recently sold a number of pieces at the bargain price of US$800 each. I haven't seen what these pieces were, but they sold fast. I was told there were a couple of Ursula, a couple of Folsom and Jetsam and one of Ariel at the puppet show. Maybe they'll turn up some more. I have a little funding stored up for just the right bargain, so here's hoping!

"Wedding Announcement"

This piece came from eBay as a Buy-It-Now. Slightly less spectacular than some of my other pieces, but it's still a great shot of the main character without too much distortion from mid-movement and a decent display of emotion. This appears after Ariel hears of the wedding and is about to rush downstairs to find Eric. Before she does, she turns and scoops up Sebastian and kisses him. This cel is when she is in transition from the former to the latter.

 

This was the first cel I bought that did NOT come with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA), but it DOES have a seal (trimmed image doesn't show it, but it's there). The seal is the most important. From what I have gathered, the COA isn't as important because it can be transferred to other pieces; a seal is branded onto the piece.

The real kicker is that this cel only cost me $60; my cheapest acquisition to date! The main problem was that the seller wasn't doing international shipping by default, and I had to POUNCE on this fast! So I had the cel sent to Leslie, who was quite happy to receive it, and rather surprised by the price too. The cel wasn't in an ACME envelope, and although all the pieces being sold by the seller came in the same cling-wrap-like packaging, Leslie couldn't find anything remarkable about the presentation to discern anything about the cel's past.

The seller was also selling two other pieces from this movie: one was a cel of Eric and Max dancing on the ship, and one was of the entire Under The Sea ensemble with the lobstering at the front, facing the fourth wall, claws up.

The first cel I didn't like, even though it was only $50, because Eric was in mid-motion and his hair was swooped over most of his face so that he looked kind of emo. The second cel, which was $60, I missed out on to someone else (don't know why they didn't buy this one too) who re-posted it on eBay two weeks later for $350.

That's still pretty cheap, but I'm not interested in giving someone a $290 payoff because they can hit the Buy-It-Now button faster. Naturally, some schmuck bought it and is probably happy with it. At that price, there's no reason not to, unless you know how the guy got it, how much he paid for it and you don't believe he deserves the money.

The reason these cels were being sold so cheaply was that they were being sold by someone who really didn't know their worth. From what I could gather, he was selling them for a friend who had divorced her husband. The cels were his but they seem to have been given to her in the settlement, and she was trying to get what she could for them. I hate to dance on someones marriage wreck, but it worked out good for me!

This piece cost $60. Photographic background. Unframed in plastic wrapping. The authentication seal is in the corner.

"First Sight"

Before I saw this piece, I knew I wanted at least one cel from this shot. This appeared on eBay in late 2010 and I spent ages deciding whether to get it. I hesitated not because I didn't think it was a great shot, but because it wasn't the perfect shot. In this shot, Ariel transitions (or "melts") from shock at having seen Eric for the first time to a completely adoring expression.

The reason this shot is technically not "perfect" is because the final shot of her transition is different from the others. While there are about 12 frames showing almost identical expressions to this one, the final piece has her face in full transition, with her pupils dilated, her smile fully formed and her eyebrows properly set. It's also probably the longest cel shown in the whole film, as the lack of character movement is compensated for by zooming in on Ariel.

Still, I loved this piece for its own merits (it's soooo lovely!) and decided to get it. If that other piece surfaces, I can get that one too! This one is itself distinct in the film. On her right hand there is a little ink missing from the line between her middle fingers. That isn't something that has happened since the film, it can also be seen in the movie. None of the other cels around it have this mark, so you can easily see it as the frame ticks by.

The person who sold this to me assured me that I was getting a good deal for it, and that he paid well over $3000 for it. For the price I bought it from him for, I think I paid slightly on the steeper side, as many cels like this have been sold in recent years for between $1000 and $2000. The reason he paid so much for it was that he bought it from a Chuck Jones Gallery, who are notorious for overpricing. Considering he bought it eight years ago, when cels from this movie were nowhere near their highest in popularity, I'd say he definitely paid too much. Then again, each piece is one-of-a-kind, so it's hard to place a set price on this sort of thing in the first place.

This piece cost $2000. Photographic background. Unframed in an ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is in the bottom right corner.

"Under The Sea"

This was bought at the same time as the "Go On And Kiss The Girl!" and "What Is It?" cels. Again, I almost didn't get this one due to affordability (When buying these things more than one at a time, it frays the purse strings somewhat!). Nevertheless, I was really keen on this cel as it shows Sebastian in his element, in the full swing of the award winning song Under The Sea. His expression is clear (unlike most frames from this shot, which are somewhat distorted).

 

I haven't actually come to posess this piece physically. When I bought it, I did so under an extended lay-away plan with ArtInsights. I paid the piece off well ahead of time, but opted to leave it at the gallery until I could afford to have it framed or negotiate in trade. It seems, however, that every time I get some money, I buy another cel. Leslie is currently holding four pieces for me, all of which I hope to have framed by her... eventually.

From what I know, there is one cel for sebastian, one or two for some of the clams, and the rest of the clams are on the background. I think the mood of this piece is vibrant, exciting and absolutely wonderful!

This piece cost $1000. Photographic background. Unframed in an ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is in the bottom right corner.

"Go On And Kiss The Girl!"

This one was bought at the same time as the "What Is It?" cel. I almost didn't get it because it was quite dim and the photograph they sent of it wasn't the best. Leslie convinced me that I would be happy with it, and I'm really glad she did! If you look at it in the right lighting (certainly not direct lighting!) it's a really good shot of the pair of them in the boat smiling, looking at each other and holding hands. It's also one of the few shots which actually shows both of them and some of the singing wildlife at the same time. I consider it a wonderful addition to my collection!

As you can see, really hard to get a good photo of. In the movie, the fireflies had airbrushed cels, which are missing here. The cel setup is curious too: One for the water, one for the boat, one for the couple, and two for the fireflies. I think that the overall thickness of the cels makes it that much more difficult to take a decent picture, and the flies are on the top. Removing them gives a clearer view of Ariel and Eric. Maybe it is best there's no airbrushed cels; you mightn't see anything at all! The thickness also makes the whole setup heavier to hold.

This piece cost $1500. Photographic background (original background sold at Sotheby's in 1990). Unframed in an ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is on the right, towards the bottom.

"What Is It?"

A little while after the last round of cels was paid off and I was hunting around again for more, I found a couple and asked Leslie for her opinion. She asked if I was in the market for more cels and sent another request to ACME for any more cels they might have found (apparently, they don't even know what they have!).

This one came in an email with a list of others, and was the one above all others in the email that I though "definitely!". Such a close-up with a strong expression. Although she's large in this image, in the movie there are only two frames in total from this shot (this one included) that are decent; all the others are in a form of tweening.

A bright beautiful expression on this one! This cel is a little smaller than all my other cels, but the image is still quite quite large. Under the cut-off line around her elbows, you can see the outlines of her forearms, waist and part of her tail. These are good examples of the extra unseen work that the animator does when drawing. As I once read: To know what the head is doing, you must know what the shoulders are doing; to know what the shoulders are doing, you must know what the torso is doing. Hence they draw more to get her posture right.

This piece cost $1500. Photographic background. Unframed in an ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is on the right, towards the bottom.

"What Would I Give...?"

I almost didn't get this piece, not because I didn't like it, but because I couldn't afford it at the time. It was shown to me at the same time as my second and third pieces, but I could only afford two and I initially chose the other two.

The reason I managed to get this one in the end was because ACME accidentally sent me this one instead of the "Gee, You Must Have Really Been Through Something" cel. By the time they had realised their mistake, sent me the correct one and waited for me to get back from my holiday (they were pretty nice about it) I could feasibly afford this piece. I made a deal with Leslie Combemale to pay it off under a layaway plan (and managed to pay it off well ahead of schedule).

ACME was happy; they didn't have to reacquire the piece. But I must note: This was an exceptional situation. Neither ACME nor ArtInsights are in the habit of sending off pieces of artwork that you haven't bought in the hopes that you will buy it :P

I like this piece because it's another beautiful shot of Ariel, in a tender moment with Eric. Her eyes are full of love and she's actually singing (her mouth is forming the "v" in "give").

This piece cost $1800. It has no background, just a white sheet backing (the original background was a pan background and was sold with another cel at Sotheby's in 1990). Unframed in an ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is in the bottom right-hand corner.

"Gee, You Must Have Really Been Through Something..."

My second/third piece (bought at the same time as the "Look At Ya" cel) which I bought through Leslie Combemale from ArtInsights. When I saw this one, I knew immediately that I wanted it. While waiting for Leslie to get back to me with prices (she showed them to me first to see if I was actually interested) I was losing sleep wondering when she was going to reply (she being approximately 13 hours behind me; and hence is on a completely different timetable) or even IF she had replied as I was lying in bed, trying to sleep.

This is one of my very favourites. It has that tender gazing into the eyes and closeness of the two main characters. The expressions on their faces accurately capture their feelings: concern and helplessness on Eric and Ariel respectively. I've seen other cels from this scene, and none of them have captured the mood as well as this one.

This cost $1800. Both characters are on the same cel. Photographic background (original background was sold at Sotheby's with another cel from this scene in 1990). Unframed in ACME cardboard envelope. The authentication seal is on the right, around the middle.

"Look At Ya!"

This was the second piece that I bought, at the exact same time as my third. It was found by Leslie Combemale from ArtInsights especially for me through her contacts at the ACME Archives. She actually contacted them looking for any Little Mermaid cels still lying around. Of course I had a list of favourites, and of course they've run out of shots from those scenes, bu they did have some beautiful ones I had never thought of before!

It's another nice shot of Ariel with a happy expression. Not the best pose of Scuttle but his gesture captures what he's saying.

This piece cost $2200 and is the most expensive on in my collection to date. It's actually an interesing setup as each component is on a separate cel (4 total): Scuttle, Ariel, Ariel's Reflection and one just for the ripples in the water. Photographic Background (original background was sold at Sotheby's in 1990 with another setup). Currently unframed; came in a cardboard envelope that ACME uses to distribute cels. The authentication seal is on the bottom left.

"You Monster!"

This was my first cel ever. I bought it on eBay in May, 2010. It turns out that I actually purchased from a gallery, Animation Sensations (a.k.a Georgetown Frame Shoppe), who use eBay as a tool for offering some of their products at discounted prices.

It wasn't what I would call a "HAVE to have" moment, but I am happy with it all the same, and feel excited to look at it and have it displayed. It's an excellent moment in the film, one of the few times that Ariel is genuinely full of hatred. It's a full body shot (so head-to-tail; none of the rest of my current collection is like that) with a clear, emotional expression.

It's funny, because soon after I acquired this one I managed to find Leslie Combemale and started talking to her about cels from this film. I mentioned a cel of her cowering under Ursula, which she said was a "Lady in a Muzzle" shot (referencing Lady and the Tramp, a shot undesired by most collectors because it shows their beloved heroine in distress). She then added "But that's not the worst in this movie. There's this one shot of King Triton as a plant creature. That goes beyond a Muzzle shot. That's just... ewww!" My response was to show her this piece XD.

There is a small problem in the framing: apparently the Disney Store used to use a certain type of sticky tape to bind the cel to the background. This tape has been found to pose a threat to the cel over a period of time. As far as I know this hasn't been corrected and so I'll need to get it fixed sooner rather than later!

This piece cost me $1100, not including postage and handling. It was a little annoying, because the seller advertised the item with a $50 postage charge for international postage, and then found out that it was actually $150. They asked me to meet them half-way ($75). I obliged, but reminded them that it was their responsibility to make sure their listing was accurate.

It's on a photographic background with silver Disney Store framing. The authentication seal is in the bottom right-hand corner. Two cels: one for Ariel and one for the Polyp.

Cel Photos

After attempting to discover a better way to get images of the pieces in my collection, I've decided to just take photos of them. The problem, as previously mentioned, is that with a flash part of the cel is obscured and without, the image is too dim.

I don't have access to a lot of secure places to try to get the best ambient lighting I can, so what I have done is taken two pictures: one with a flash and one without. Some cels were taken in a different location, which is why there is some lighting inconsistency.

I will have a separate post for each piece, so that I can explain each better.

Update

Didn't realise I hadn't posted on here in so long!

My passion for collecting cels hasn't dies down at all. In fact I am in the process of acquiring yet another piece for my collection (and possibly even more, if I'm lucky). Still need to take proper pictures of my current collection, but I can't get good pictures of them :(

On the note of expanding my collection, I recently attempted to acquire a very nice cel from a gallery, who had a sneak-peak promotion for their latest pieces. The conditions were that you had to be the first to call up on that particular date at 11am to secure the piece.

I placed a pre-order on the piece and called up at 11am PST to attempt to secure the piece for myself. Unfortunately I was told that the piece had already gone. I was terribly upset. I decided that I would have preferred to have not known about that piece at all, since I know now that it may be many years before it becomes available again.

As for the gallery and their practices (whom I will NOT name to avoid giving any publicity; I will only say that it was NOT ArtInsights, since I have mentioned them previously), I have decided that the practice of sneak-peaking would be from a gallery who cares more about money than their customers' individual needs. If you encounter a gallery like this, don't form a lasting bond with them: you can do better!

Scanning Cels

I have confirmed that cels are indeed scanned by flatbed scanners. While this concerned me, I was reminded that this was only once, so I guess it's not too much damage. The alternate way is to take photos.

So now I have a problem: either
a) Find a flatbed scanner large enough to scan the cels, while putting them at slight risk of damage.
b) Figure out a way to take photographs of the cels without the flash interfering with the shot.

Both are tricky, but I'll figure it out!

ArtInsights and Leslie Combemale

After I purchased my first cel through eBay, I found that it was sold through a gallery (I guess they were trying to get rid of it, becasue they certainly don't list their whole stock on there).

Anyway, I began looking for more information about galleries that sold animation art. Naturally, I wanted to see more of what was out there! I also started doing general research into cels. At this point in time I became aware of the abiliy to ask a gallery to seek specific artwork.

Eventually I stumbled upon some YouTube videos by a woman named Leslie Combemale, who owns ArtInsights: Animation and Film Art Gallery (http://artinsights.com/). These videos, known collectively as the ArtInsights Collector's Education Series (ACES) seek to teach collector's more about their hobby, including thisngs to think about when collecting.

The first video I watched is below:




You will note that she mentions The Little Mermaid specifically at the end in regards to seals. These authenticity seals (or lack thereof) are the bane of collecting these things! If the cel does not have a seal, and its provenence cannot be traced back to a specific set of animators (who got a few cels as part of their contract for the project) then it was highly likely removed illegally from the studio.

I am not interested in building up a collection of stolen artwork, but I see soooooo many pieces being carried by other galleries. One even appeared on Amazon.com!

After watching a few ACES videos (Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/artinsights) I decided to contact Leslie with a small list of requests (in reality, there's something from almost every scene I'd be interested in, but I did have a few favourites on my mind), who replied and actually got right onto my request! Naturally, all these scenes were gone from the achives, but she found me some BEAUTIFUL pieces, which I bought (and will upload when I get the scanning thing figured out) and am VERY happy with.

I mainly deal with Leslie and ask my questions of her. Not only does she not touch those nasty unsealed pieces with a forty-foot pole, but she is extremely knowlegeable about Disney and the artwork she is dealing with (you'd be shocked at how little some galleries know about the stuff they're selling). There's also that personal touch she adds, which is becoming harder and harder to find with the advent of e-commerce.

Occasionally a piece will appear on eBay or somewhere else which has nothing to do with ArtInsights, but I still generally consult Leslie and keep her involved in my growing collection.

So if you collect production artwork from ANYTHING Disney, or you'd like to start, certainly get into contact with Leslie!