Animation (cartoon) cels as art and

[McAldon International Inc.]

|I have just started collecting animation art and was wondering
|what people thought about them as an investment. The market
|does seem to be growing at a pretty quick clip. With much
|animation going to computers, the prices of the original cartoon
|cels seem to be going up.

Noel Blanc (son of Mel, a major Disney voice) was interviewed on
TV a day or so ago. He and his mother are cleaning out his
father's files and having an auction here in LA soon. He showed a
couple of cels that will be sold. One very old cel of Mickey
Mouse, I believe, signed by his father was said to be worth
between $3 & 4,000. Quite a spread:-)

|1) What do you think of animation art as investment?

There may be some bargains still around but I doubt it. Prices
have dropped quite a bit in the past few years but should start
rising again, IMHO, along with other art forms. Signed cels are
most valuable but quality and history are essential.

|2) Are there magizines/journals/books that cover this market?

There was an outfit ( in Kansas City, I think, where Walt Disney
started his career) that published a catalog of animation cels
with prices but I've forgotten details. There was also a magazine
named Animation published in LA but I don't know if it's still
around. UCLA, USC, and Cal-Arts all have major departments
for teaching animation. You might write them. DMcKenzie

[Mark Robert Thorson]

I've heard that conservation is a problem with these cels. Not having
been designed for a lifetime beyond the time it took to photograph them,
they were made with unstable materials, such as paint that flakes off.