"Wise Little Hen" (1934)
Here is what has been called: Probably the earliest known production cel of Donald Duck. Hype aside, it is an exceptionally nice cel of Don with his early extended beak. Thank heavens he got a Nose Job later! But he certainly didn't lose any of his temper!!! [Note: sorry about the junk at the bottom of the frame. I was taking the photo for insurance purposes.]
The background is only a photostatic copy and not a Master Background. I gather that one of the former owners of this piece paid quite a bit for it thinking that Donald was on the Master Background from the scene.The pieces framed up nicely and the colors pop off the page more than is shown in these images.
----- DATABASE NOTES -----
From “Wise Little Hen” (1934). Probably the earliest known production cel of Donald Duck from his first appearance. A full, untrimmed cel on a photostat background from the opening scene. Acquired 2004. SeqID-1454 Updated: 8/1/2005
Wow Bob!
ReplyDeleteAmazing cel of early Donald. Where are your favorite places to collect animation art? Or is that a secret?
Stunning website. Thanks for logging on to mine. Otherwise, I would have never seen yours. And I'm so glad I did.
Brian from celspotter.blogspot.com
Brian - Thanks for the comment! No special place, actually. I stopped collecting a few years ago. There has been interesting stuff pop up at Heritage, Bonhoms, eBay, etc. Actually, eBay has some interesting things, but you need to be careful.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the stuff I've put up - a couple of thousand left!
-Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteKudos on the collection, very impressive! I'm a novice collector myself, and have been combing the desert as it were for production drawings and cels of Donald in his debut in "Wise Little Hen." I was shocked to come across your piece here! I have to ask however, at what point in the film does this frame occur? I understand that the background it is on is not production and will not match the frame in the actual movie, but I've carefully watched the movie a half-dozen times looking for that particular frame of Donald and could not find it. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
-Jeremy
Jeremy- Thanks for your comment. (1) The background is a reproduction from the movie, so you should be able to see a match there. (2) I'll try to find a copy of the cartoon and see if I can match the Donald, however the wife and I are in the middle of buying a new house in the Phoenix area, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to sit down and ID the segment. Best Wishes.
ReplyDelete-Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteAfter a bit more research I'm afraid to inform you that this cel is not from Donald's first appearance in "The Wise Little Hen." While the background clearly is, the cel of donald is actually from "The Band Concert", 1935. You'll find this pose about 3:46 into the animation just after Donald has fought off a bee. This is still a wonderful piece, considering "The Band Concert" was the first "Mickey" to be produced in color...however, it should be noted that the background and the donald cel are actually from two different movies.
I'm enormously jealous of your collection!
All the best,
-Jeremy
Jeremy- Thanks, again. I've forwarded your comment on to the individual that sold me the item for his response.
ReplyDelete-Bob
No problem Bob, here's a link to a screenshot if you'd like.
ReplyDeletehttp://img176.imageshack.us/img176/8526/donaldrv1.jpg
-Jeremy
Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Bob
Hey Bob,
ReplyDeleteJust curious what the individual who sold you this piece had to say about its actual origins.
Love seeing all your new postings!
-Jeremy
- No, I have not heard back as of yet. I do know that he has been traveling, so he can't get to his files... As soon as I hear anything, I'll post it.
ReplyDelete-Thanks for checking!
-Bob