ello CELMAIL.
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all.
This is the official relaunch of the CELMAIL newsletter. I am committing
myself to send you your weekly newsletter each and every week this coming
year.
In order to do this, I will need all postings for CELMAIL to be received by
9 P.M. (PST) every Friday. The newsletter will then be e-mailed by 9 P.M.
(PST) every Sunday. I will do my job, but I need help from you in order to
get this newsletter back to the powerful information medium that it was in
past years.
First: All members that post any items for sale and have a website MUST
place a link on their home page directly to CELMAIL. If you mention a
website and CELMAIL link is not there, then you are using a free forum for
profit without giving anything back and we will block all future postings
from you.
Membership to CELMAIL is indeed free and we do not advertise.
The only way to get the word out about the newsletter is to get as many of
you as possible to link to the site as possible. If I cannot get more
cooperation than in the past, I will start charging a fee for posting items
to sell and I will use the money to advertise CELMAIL on the Internet.
Second: Postings about any form of animation, animation art and animation
related items is permitted. Do not post items for sale that are not
cartoon or comic related. Do not offer postings of fine art prints or oil
paintings that are not relevant to animation fans.
Third: We must get participation from the studios. It has been brought to
my attention that Warner Brothers has used our website to obtain email
addresses of members (without asking, of course), but the company
officially does not join our group or offer direct postings to the
newsletter. I¹d really like to hear from you about how we can get the
studios to officially post information to CELMAIL.
Fourth: Effective immediately, CELMAIL will accept postings about
animation art at auction. We will require a full description of each item
to be listed, with auction location, starting and ending dates, linking
urls, etc.
We understand that many of you participate in online auctions
and it is important to allow the postings of offers as well as postings of
satisfied buyers, disappointed buyers, etc.
Fifth: Please run a spell check on your postings. It could save me hours
cleaning up your misspelled words.
Sixth: If CELMAIL is to succeed as the premier source of animation art
related information, we need your participation to some degree. So, I
expect to hear from more of the members that have never posted to the group
before, and I hope to continue to hear from those of you that have taken
hours of your time in the past to help educate the rest of us.
Thank you for sticking with CELMAIL during our lean times. Now - Lets get
FAT with data once again.
Steven Grossfeld - Moderator
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THE FOLLOWING ARE NEW
POSTINGS BY CELMAIL MEMBERS:
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Hi fellow Celmailers!
I was wondering if someone could help me with some information:
I just bought an original background, which was used in the Cartoon Network
"What a Cartoon"-special titled "Tumbleweed Tex", produced by the
Hanna-Barbera Studios.
I'd like to know production year, director, animators, etc. Any information
on this cartoon would be helpful.
Please reply to Celmail and/or Hans Walther <>
======
1989 was a magical year for little girls and the people who love 'em.
Ariel, the teenage mer-daughter of Triton, King of the Sea --- together
with her friends, Sebastian and Flounder; her "nemesis" Ursula and the
object of her desire, Eric --- brought such innocent happiness to the
surface from their fantastic fantasy world.
1989 is also an historic year in animation at Walt Disney Studios. The
Little Mermaid was Disney's last full-length feature film produced using
hand painted production cels. An exhibit of these cels has just arrived
at our SoHo Gallery from the deep archives of Walt Disney Studios. Please
click on the link below for a preview:
======
Does anyone know what a production cel from the very first Tom & Jerry
production "A Midnight Snack" would go for? I have a quote for one & am
wondering if it's way above it's value, or right on the money. I told my
girlfriend about it & her response was "God, it's not a Rembrandt!" thanks!
======
Hello CELMAIL subscribers. Please allow me to introduce our company,
Animation Alley of Toronto, Canada. Please do not confuse us with
our namesake that some of you may be familiar with. * We are an
Authorized Gallery for Disney, Fox, Peanuts, and Linda Jones Enterprises.
* We operate a street-front gallery in addition to our internet site. * We
sell only original and limited edition animation art. * Everything we sell
is framed in acid-free materials and done on-site by our very skilled and
experienced Certified Picture Framer (CPF). * We have been in business
since 1995. Unfortunately, our delay in embracing internet commerce
resulted in us missing out on the logical domain name for our gallery. We
can be visited at Our newly expanded site has
been getting rave reviews from regular clients, and we are now in the
process of promoting it to animation fans around the world. More than 300
pieces of art are available for viewing and on-line purchase. We ship
internationally, and American customers in particular can do very well
considering the low value of the Canadian dollar and the fact that no
Canadian sales taxes are payable on exports. Hats off to Steven
Grossfeld for his work with CELMAIL. From what we hear it is an excellent
resource for animation lovers, and we look forward to becoming
enthusiastic members of the CELMAIL community! Steve Watt
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I was really into collecting back in 1993. Since then, I chose not
purchase any more artwork or even keep up with the hobby. I still enjoy
it, but have "lost" the passion. I was curious about others who have had
similar experiences. I have received celmail for many years and have
thoroughly enjoyed it. It is and still is the ONLY resource of animation
collecting that I actually read and sometimes respond too (but VERY
rarely, if ever). My parents told me that it was a "fad" and that I would
eventually come to my senses. Maybe they were right; as far as I AM
concerned. What has happened to collecting animation? Since 1997, I have
noticed a decline in the level and passion of this worthwhile hobby. I
would really be interested in listening to folks' opinions and
reflections. Sincerely, Mike Lamb - +
(Charlotte, NC)
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Greetings Celmailers!
For a long time I've been looking for artwork from some obscure (and less
obscure) animated productions. If anyone could help me, I'd appreciate it
enormously.
They are:
- THE BEATLES, the television-series which was made by King Features and
which was broadcasted from 1965-1969.
- ANIMAL FARM (1954), British animated feature made by Halas & Batchelor.
- BUTTERFLY BALL (1974), video for the Roger Glover song "Love is All", also
made by Halas & Batchelor
- LE ROI ET L'OISEAU (1979), French animated feature made by Paul Grimault,
also known as "La Bergere et le Ramoneur", and released in the States under
the title "Mr. Wonderbird"
- KIRIKOU ET LA SORCIERE (1998), Luxembourg animated feature made by Michel
Ocelot, released in the States as "Kirikou and the Sorceress". It won the
Grand Prize at the Annecy Festival and the Best Animated Feature Award (by
both the adult and the children's jury) at the Chicago Festival.
I know these are not the easiest films to find artwork from as they're quite
different than Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop or the Pink Panther. Nevertheless I
hope that someone can help me find artwork from those productions. Even a
clue of where to begin to search would be helpful.
Please reply to Celmail
and/or Hans Walther <>
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Perhaps I'm stating the obvious and I'm the naive one, but my impression
is that interest in collecting animation art has significantly declined
in the past few years from its hay-day. Publications folding. Auction
houses dropping or cutting back animation auctions (Howard Lowery,
Sotheby's). Lack of posts in CELMAIL.
What do others think?
I actually assumed this would happen and thought I'd welcome it.
(If demand goes down then prices could go down and availability go up.
Sounds good to me. :-) ) However, I do miss the energy the industry
used to have.
Dave Lennert <>
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The following posting came in to CELMAIL in mid November:
Margaret Smith Gallery in Historic Ellicott City, Maryland is hosting a
special exhibit of original feature film cels from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"
for the month of September. Take a look at our web site
to see them.
Prices range from $275 for a sericel to $2700 for an outstanding Jessica
Rabbit! Call us toll-free at 888.227.8670.
======
Thanks for continuing to do a great job with CELMAIL. I still find it
very informative. However, I wonder why there are so few listings from the
animation galleries across the USA?
In the last issue of CELMAIL you posted my request for "The Evolution of
Bugs Bunny," a Grinch piece (The Great Train Robbery?) and RON LEE Warner
Brothers and Disney collectible sculptures. I really thank the one CELMAIL
reader who responded with the Evolution of Bugs Bunny piece. Unfortunately,
there were no other responses. So, if possible, I would like to post the same
request.
I am looking for "The Evolution of Bugs Bunny" Chuck Jones signed limited
Edition cel. Will pay up to $500 for that piece framed w/COA. I am also
looking for Ron Lee sculptures. Please email me with you Ron Lee sculpture
lists. Lastly, I am looking for reasonable prices Jessica Rabbit production
cels. Please email me with your selection. Thanks.
Thanks
======
The terms "Courvoisier cel" or "Courvoisier multi-plane artwork" are
often mentioned in discussions on Disney production art. Could you give
me a brief history of how the special cels with original backgrounds
were created by the Courvoisier Gallery in association with Disney?
Cels from "Snow White" with images showing each of the main characters
with a woodgrain background are often for sale. How many of these are
out there? Are they limited editions or one-of-a-kind?
Also, the Galleries created multi-plane glass artwork in the 1940's.
Were there a limited number of these images created? Were the images
hand drawn on the glass pieces or silkscreened? How valuable are they?
Finally, does the Gallery still exist and do they sell these older
pieces?
Thanks for a most enjoyable newsletter.
Rick Schram
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THE FOLLOWING ARE REPLIES
TO PREVIOUS POSTINGS
BY CELMAIL MEMBERS:
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Hi,
There was the following post on your forum. I'm not entirely sure when it
was posted but I was wondering if you could have the person who made to post
to contact me with a scan of the Last Unicorn cel.
Thanks.
Missy -
PS Here's the post
Hello!
We have a very rare and special LAST UNICORN cel for sale. This cel
comes with the ORIGINAL, MATCHING, hand-painted background. This is the
only cel I have ever seen from LU with a background. A beautiful shot
of the unicorn running down a gorgeous forest road. LU cels are very
hard to find now as they came from Japan. I was very lucky to find this
one and hope I can pass this on to a collector who will love it just as
much as myself.
Please e-mail for a scan, asking price of $1200
<NO EMAIL Provided> Send request to CELMAIL.
======
>Chuck Jones came up with the Acme Corporation. In Chuck Jones'
>autobiography "Chuck Amuck" on page 222 and 223 he discusses the genesis of
>'Acme'.
Chuck tells a good story, but Acme mail order items were delivered in
Warner Cartoons before he started using them. The first was in a Bob
Clampett Porky cartoon. (Perhaps that has something to do with his
memory lapse...)
See E O Costello's Warner Brothers Cartoon Companion
See ya
Steve
Vintage Ink & Paint
Animation Art Restoration, Authentication, Appraisal & Sales
======
> Has anyone ever had any dealings with Ed Cederquist and/or Classified
> Auctions? I just participated in an online animation art auction with them,
> and was curious if anyone out there had ever dealt with these folks. Any
> insight would be much appreciated. Thanks!
>
I have dealt with Ed Cederquist some years ago when he still had Sterling
Auctions. Slow shipping and very bad packing were my experience.
My advice would be to stay far away from Mr.Cederquist and his company.
Hans Walther
<>
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Why Cel Mail will Die
It seems that like so many animation art related items Cel mail is about
to die.
I have some ideas why this might be happening.
First and foremost the length of time that cel mails are now taking to
arrive I think is among the chief reason. On this approximately monthly
schedule there is not the sense of urgency to write a reply because you
have a month rather than a week to get the reply in - of course once two
weeks have gone by you have forgotten to reply and then you wind up
posting no response.
The standard reply is that there was not much to send but if it is even
one post does it not deserve a timely delivery. I seem to remember some
gallery events that were listed in the pages had passed by the time that
I received the Cel Mail.
Second there seems to be no real effort to include news in this
newsletter. Is this because there is so little news available?
Perhaps, Perhaps not.
I would think that it would be the responsibility of the gallery owning
members to share this information since they are the ones who have the
most direct sources to getting the news.
There was a time I would receive mailings from several galleries about
upcoming releases now I seldom see anything. Why isn't Cel Mail keeping
me informed? Is it really that difficult for Galleries to help inform its
customer base? Mailings may be an expense the gallery can't afford but
what is the excuse for not sending a Free posting.
Collectors also seem to not to share the information they have. Of course
there are some exceptions like the regular contributors, In particular
Steve Worth, seem freely willing to share the information or opinions
that he has. Should Cel Mail indeed die, I for one would like to thank
him for all the information he has shared. I believe his insight has made
me, and probably others, a better collector.
As a collector surely you have some area of expertise, book you read like
"Hollywood Cartoons that you saw very insightful and would recommend to
all members,collecting stories to relate, questions you have answered.
There is no reason why you can't write an article about your subject of
interest and post it here. Even if it is just letting the group know who
you are and what you collect.
I once answered a question to a celmail participant who had posted their
own e-mail address. As I recall I was not particularly helpful.
Eliminated some places to look combined with some tidbits of information
I had found. That e-mail has led to a two year exchanging of ideas on
animation art. The give and take aspect of this correspondence has let to
many interesting discussions. Sometimes we have a question or topic of
discussion spill over into cel mail with a prompting inquiry. Often the
discussion was not picked up.
It can become discouraging. Is that leading to non participation no one
else answers so you won't either. There have been a few topics that have
sparked interest.
Perhaps Steve should comb through the archives and repost some of the
more interesting discussions that have appeared in Cel Mail. My
recommendation would be to start in the beginning issues of Cel mail.
Perhaps this "Flashback" section might again spark interest.
How about another survey. Readers could submit questions to be included.
The Moderator could create or select a topic for discussion with each
cel-mail. Questions like
"Are you finding that pieces available are of lesser quality then they
once were?"
"Do you think Gallery prices are to high and why?"
"Is your interest in Animation art waning?"
"Was there ever a piece of art that you wish you had bought but didn't?"
"Is there a purchase you regret? and why"
" If it existed what piece would you like in your collection"
"what was the best advice you received on collecting"
"what was the worst advice you received on collecting"
Might be likely candidates.These questions are subjective there is no