The record-breaking heritage auction shows that the art of animation is serious business

Charles Schulz, Winsor McCay, Mary Blair and Ub Iwerks have drawn comic and cartoon characters, fun aimed at children of all ages. But in 2020 their achievements are as revered and prized as fine arts, as evidenced by the fact that their original works have brought record sums to the Heritage Auctions " Animation Art record event held from 11 to 13 December.

The auction achieved more than $ 4,27 million - much more than any previous animation art auction. The sale included renderings and storyboards, production films and master backgrounds from a myriad of beloved titles shown on large and small screens. More than 4.700 bidders worldwide took part in the historic sale which saw an almost unheard-of sell-through rate of over 99% and resulted in the highest price ever paid for an original Peanuts work created by Schulz.

"Not so long ago, sales of animation art were usually on the order of a million dollars“Says Jim Lentz, Director of Artistic Animations at Heritage Auctions. "In June, we set a new record at $ 3,7 million, only to break it just six months later. This is a serious number for any art auction, but for animation art it is absolutely historic. "

The auction saw the largest art sale ever made for the innovative Fleischer Brothers project Superman a cartoons from the early 40s, a day full of Disney, and the first epic sale of the Warner Bros. Animation archives since the company's stores closed nearly 20 years ago. There was something for everyone, from story sketches sketched and painted by storyboard artists Peter and Harrison Ellenshaw, whose auction debut was topped by a 20.000 leagues under the sea painting he made $ 26.400, to cel from Super friends for Heavy Metal moments.

The Animation Art auction got off to a momentous start on the first day, when the drawings made by Schultz "The Peanuts Album" sold for $ 288.000. This broke a previous record for Schulz's original art only last month, when November 17, 1950 Peanuts daily strip grossed $ 192.000 at the Heritage's Comics & Comic Art event. These charming portraits of eight beloved characters, including Charlie Brown and Snoopy and Lucy, were made as a tribute to a newspaper in 1953; Until this sale, these early iterations of the classic characters had never been seen in public or available for auction.

Good old Charlie Brown and Snoopy starred in another of the auction's best-loved lots: a 12-cel sequence by the playful couple from CBS Saturday morning from the 80s The Charlie Brown and Snoopy show. Estimated at $ 5.000, the piece is as playful, fun and familiar as any other Peanuts image, sold for $ 30.000.

Another extraordinary rarity set a record during the second selling session, when Iwerks' Minnie and Mickey Mouse designs made $ 43.200 - the highest auction price ever paid for original Disney designs. The quantity shouldn't come as a surprise, as these pieces were made for the 1928 landmark Steamboat Willie, which marked the official debut of both beloved characters and was among the first fully synchronized sound cartoons. And, like Schulz's piece, these drawings had never been auctioned.

A drawing from another pioneering cartoon, 1914 Gertie the dinosaur, made $ 33.600 - the most anyone has ever paid to own a piece of the cartoon called one of the greatest ever in a 1994 survey of animators. Winsor McCay has long been a respected figure among animation historians; now, it seems, the rest of the world is getting closer to the meaning of the man responsible for the revered comic as well Little Nemo.

This art animation event has been populated all over the place by illustrators, animators and fine artists and authors who have elevated cartoons to new artistic heights, from legendary artists from Disney history to director Tim Burton to The Simpsons by author Matt Groening.

A cel production for one of the most famous and surely loved sequences in the history of Disney: the "Bella Notte" scene from 1955 Lady and the Tramp - was among the biggest hits of the event, making $ 37.200. This cel, from The Joe Rinaldi Collection, is a familiar moment to anyone who has ever seen a cartoon; is one of the most imitated and adored moments ever dedicated to celluloid, when Tony and his cook serenade the dogs as they share their spaghetti dinner behind the Italian restaurant.

Mary Blair, one of Disney's "queens of animation" and Walt's favorite artist, was represented in this auction by about four dozen pieces ranging from her first work on Dumbo to his late career resurgence as a design selected by Disney for his "It's a Little World" attraction. It should come as no surprise that of the first 20 lots up for auction, 12 were touched by Blair.

His most popular piece in the Animation Art event, however, featured no iconic characters. Instead it was a conceptual representation of the mermaids made for Peter Pan, which made $ 48.000. Not far behind was his 40s painting of dancing flowers for a never made film, Flower festival, sold for $ 40.800.

With it being Christmas time, of course, no animation event would have been complete without the offers from CBS's 1966 adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which appears to be on the remake treadmill recently. A production cel setup and the main background of the Christmas banquet sequence - signed by its director, legendary Chuck Jones - made a winner's heart grow three-dimensional the day it was sold for $ 20.400.

Says Lentz of the final results: "It's so satisfying in these difficult times to see Animation Art - the artwork of smiles - grow to record levels in 2020. It was just the right time."