"On Ice" (1935 [1 of 4] - Donald Cel and Pencil

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings!

Since I will be away for part of December, I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some Christmas/Holiday related art. To see other holiday related items, select "Category-Holiday" from the "Content by Category" list on the right.


If you're looking for a great character image of Donald, this one is pretty good! You get a chance to see his longer beak. AND a super shot just before he runs into the snow... Below the cel, is a rough concept pencil of Donald from the Ingeborg Willy Scrapbook -- in which you can see a great example of Donald's longer beak

Fantastic Donald Cel

Donald Pencil Sketch from Ingeborg Willy Scrapbook

----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “On Ice” (1935). Large cel of Donald from rear as he skates. The longer beak is interesting from this angle. May have been a publicity cel. [Image: 11-7/8"W x 9-3/8"H] Acquired 1998. SeqID-0325 11/29/2008

"On Ice" (1935) [2 of 4] - Pencil Background and Minnie Cel

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings!

Since I will be away for part of December, I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some Christmas/Holiday related art. To see other holiday related items, select "Category-Holiday" from the "Content by Category" list on the right.


Here is a very interesting piece. To start with, when we bought this in 1990 there wasn't much interest in backgrounds, so dealers would "spruce up" by adding something else to enhance the value of the piece.

From a historical perspective, the background is a great piece. Good detail. A nice mix of background elements. Good examples of registration notes. Good approval instructions, with a sign-off by "Fergy." The cel of Minnie was cut from another cel and mounted on a cover cel over the background. When the piece if viewed by those new to animation, the combination of cel and pencil art does get their attention and gives me a chance to explain more about the process and the various notes on the page.

Minnie Cel on "Fergy" Pencil Background

The sheets are "hinged" in the frame so that the entire sheet can be seen -- including the notes at the bottom


----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “On Ice” (1935). A Cel of Minnie is overlaid on a very good background pencil of the ice pond and warm up hut. Pencil background signed by the animator: "Fergy". (Fergy refers to Fergison, who did the Witch from Snow White and Goofy). Minnie skating, but ready to fall. [Image: 12"W x 9.5"H] Acquired 1990. SeqID-0096

"On Ice" (1935) [3 of 4] - Pencil of Mickey Skating

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings!

Since I will be away for part of December, I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some Christmas/Holiday related art. To see other holiday related items, select "Category-Holiday" from the "Content by Category" list on the right.

Here's a nice image of Mickey skating. Good action. Nice facial expression. AND I like the rough circles drawn to help the animator construct the image.

Pencil of Mickey Skating

When we showed the entire sheet, the image of Mickey just got lost. Since I don't like trimming any historic art, we decided to frame the entire sheet and cut a section out to provide more focus on Mickey. I would normally have an opening that provided some "lead room" on the left side of Mickey, but there was a stain on the sheet, hence the left-sided cut. We chose an "ice colored" frame to help communicate the Winter atmosphere.


----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “On Ice” (1935). A pencil sketch of Mickey ice skating. [Image: 10”W x 6”H] Acquired 1993. SeqID-0094 8/15/2005

"On Ice" (1935) [4 of 4] - Miniature Cel of Horace and Clarabelle

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings!

Since I will be away for part of December, I thought this would be a good opportunity to post some Christmas/Holiday related art. To see other holiday related items, select "Category-Holiday" from the "Content by Category" list on the right.


Continuing with Holiday images... I thought I'd pull out some items from the 1935 "On Ice" film.

When I first saw this miniature cel of Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow skating, I was amazed! I was first struck by the cel's tiny nature. Up until then, all we had picked up were the large image cels that were the main focus of the scene. It never really struck me that there were a number of other cels that were running in the background... As I moved closer, I was impressed with the level of detail. In looking at this image, please remember than the characters are only about 1-inch square!

Close-up of Miniature Cel of Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow

Rather than trim the cel, we put the entire piece in the frame and the large matte area actually draws attention to the small piece in the center.




----- DATABASE NOTES -----

From “On Ice” (1935). A small (2x2") cel of Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow ice dancing. Very small and precise. [Image: 2-5/8"W x 2"H; Frame: 11"W x 10-3/4"H] Acquired 1990. SeqID-0095 8/3/2005