BTAS: Animation Cels??

[Maria Catalano]

There's an art gallery near my place that is authorised to sell some of the WB
animation cels. So, they have Looney Tunes stuff, Animaniacs and lately have
had the odd Batman piece. I spoke to the gallery owner and he said there are
three types of pieces available:
1. A copied print of the cel
2. A limited edition (500 copies), hand painted copy of an original cel
3. An actual cel from the series and very hard to get
My question is whether anyone can shed some light as to the actual value of
these pieces? I realise that a copied print of the cel probably isn't worth
much, and an original cel is probably worth spending the money and a
collector's piece. But, with regard to the hand painted copied cels are they
really a collector's item and worth speding the few hundred dollars that
they're asking? I'd like to also hear from anyone that's already bought any of
this stuff.
TIA
Maria

[Max]

I don't know anything about that gallery, but I DO know that the Warner
Bros. Studios Store HAS been selling BTAS Animation Cels, lithographs
and the like for quite a while. This stuff is moderately expensive
($300-$500) and NOT something to be bought on an impulse.

There WERE some things I like myself, but I can't see myself spending
that amount of change on ONE picture when I could own a laserdisc (CAV)
or video collection that has ALL the pictures in a format that I can
easily afford!

But seriously... Try the rec.arts.animation newsgroup and ask there IN
ADDITION to checking out a Warner Bros. Studio Store IF there is one in
your area. Maybe an employee at the WB Store could help you (although I
DOUBT IT in most cases).

--- Max

[Matt Muth]

In article <4srh2f$o...@nyx10.cs.du.edu>, wdw...@nyx10.cs.du.edu
says...
>
>!!!!cross-posted to rec.art.animation where this topic belongs!!!!

>
>Maria Catalano <mcat...@vprpmel1.telecom.com.au> wrote:
>>1. A copied print of the cel
>>2. A limited edition (500 copies), hand painted copy of an original
cel
>>3. An actual cel from the series and very hard to get
>>My question is whether anyone can shed some light as to the actual
value of
>>these pieces? I realise that a copied print of the cel probably isn't
worth
>>much, and an original cel is probably worth spending the money and a
>>collector's piece. But, with regard to the hand painted copied cels
are they

>>really a collector's item and worth spending the few hundred dollars

that
>>they're asking? I'd like to also hear from anyone that's already
bought any of
>>this stuff.
>

>I am willing to answer any questions concerning collecting animation
>art. I have been a collector (mostly specializing in BTAS/Harley
work) for
>over three years now, so I do have a fair bit of knowledge in what you
>are looking at....
>
>The quickie/semi-complete answer is this:
>
>1) sericels are akin to silk-screened t-shirts. You create the
perfect
>scene, tell the machine to spit out a few thousand copies, and sell to
>novice collectors for about $50-300 US dollars. They have very little
>worth on the secondary market and as a rule will NOT hold their value.
>I own none of these.
>
>2) limited-editions are a weird middle-ground in the animation art
>world. They are limited to a relatively small number of copies
>(25-500), painted by hand, and depict the perfect stereotypical scene
>of the characters in question. Sold to novice collectors and people
>looking to capture a cel from a scene/character that is WAY ABOVE
their
>price range (ala Disney movies). They will usually hold their value
and
>in some rare cases appreciate. Prices range from $250-$3000 (guess
>which side Disney is closer to?). I own three of these.
>
>3) production artwork occupies the top-shelf. The cel you see before
>you is the only one that looks EXACTLY like it. Keep in mind frames
per
>second....so there will be a small number of cels that are close to
>this piece. As is obvious, these cels were used in the production of
>the movie/show/commercial/etc. Prices range wildly. Typical prices:
>non-WB/Disney commercials...$10-75, anime...$50-500, new
WB...$200-1000,
>old-WB...$500-$5000, TV-Disney...$350-800, new
Disney-movies...$1000-$5000,
>old-Disney..."the mind wobbles" These cels will typically appreciate
>in value (given a good scene/pose/character). I own twenty of these.
>
>4) other production stuff: drawings, storyboards, backgrounds... This
>field is usually reserved for the true animation art collector.
>Drawings are !MUCH! cheaper than their cels, storyboards rarer and
more
>expensive, and backgrounds are VERY expensive (remember that MANY cels
>will use the same background). Appreciation is a little too new to
call
>(most collectors have just recently discovered this type of artwork).
>I own two backgrounds and five drawings (one of Red Hot signed by
Preston
>Blair).
>
>5) weird stuff: lithos, one-of-ones, model sheets... This field is
>just "out-there". Lithos are just pretty colored pieces of heavy
>paper. Lithos can be limited and/or signed (which will cause the
prices
>to be higher). Model sheets are poses of a character from various
>angles used by the studio to keep some measure of character continuity
>in the film amid the hordes of animators/in-betweeners. Mass-produced
>by the studio and fairly cheap. One-of-one is something invented by
>Chuck & Linda Jones when they realized they owned a bunch of drawings,
>but very few cels from his work. Thus, take the drawing and create a
>new cel from it and marry the two together in a single frame.
Consider
>this a drawing with a very-limited edition cel. Since two pieces are
>being sold together, prices are usually higher than limiteds, but not
at
>the level of production art. Appreciation of these pieces (all of the
>above) is doubtful in most cases. I own two lithos (one of which is
>signed by all the BTAS bigwigs).
>
>Now the big question is : IS IT WORTH THAT MUCH MONEY?
>
>Remember that animation art is ART. Art has no intrinsic value.
>Personally, I believe (given enough time) that my gerbil could create
a
>Jackson Pollack piece. I recently saw Dali's Persistence of Memory.
>I was amazed! My friend thought it would make a great ashtray. Art
is
>personal. THE most important question in buying animation art (or any
>art) is: DO YOU LOVE IT? Do you really love it? Do you want to live
>with it? Do you want to look at it every day? (No doubt, similar
>questions should be asked before getting married!) Don't think about
>resale value (unless it is for insurance). If you hold on to a piece
>for twenty years....will you really want to sell it after all that
>time?
>
>So...it sounds like you found a limited that you like. First question
>is emotional....do you love it and want to live with it for a long
time?
>If the answer is "HELL, YES!" (nothing less than that should really be
>considered), then the second, more practical, question must be asked:
>Can I afford it (either up-front or through deferred payments)? If
both
>of those answers are YES, then buy the piece NOW! Waiting will only
bring
>sorrow. Animation artwork is popular and pieces sell quickly. I have
>"lost" pieces many times because I waited too long (even a matter of
>minutes, in one case).
>
>Well, that is the opinion from a REAL collector (sorry, laserdisc
dude).
>If you have any other questions, feel free to email me or look at my
>web page on animation art.
>
> Fuzzy.
> fu...@infinet.com
> http://www.infinet.com/~fuzzy/cels/anim_art.html
You are actually very accuate in the Cel buz, especially when you
mention the fact the prices that are being asked may not be worth it.
As a manager in the WB studio store system, our stor in Milwaukee lost
our gallery about a year ago because nothing was selling. We had to
ship all of our stuff down to Chicago and on the off chance someone
wants something that is where they have to go.

[David Fuzzy Wells]