On July 1, 2014, Heritage Auctions will auction off a massive collection of animation cels from the 1960s and 1970s – the “heyday of Saturday morning Cartoons.”
“The gold standard has always been classic Disney animation, and that’s still the case in large part,” said Jim Lentz, Director of Animation Art Auctions at Heritage, “but we’ve seen a very decided and marked entrée into the market of Gen-X collectors hungrily demanding the material that populated the long Saturday mornings of their youth now that they are in a position to collect. It’s a fascinating shift to watch and, looking at the cyclical nature of the animation market, I’d say it’s right on time.”
This is a going to be a big auction with cels from Challenge of the Superfriends, Scooby-Doo Where Are You?, Hong Kong Phooey, and more go up for sale. A breakdown of some of the items on the auction block include:
Challenge of the Super Friends Title Cel (Hanna-Barbera, 1978): After the success of Super Friends (1973), and The All New Super Friends Hour (1977), Hanna-Barbera brought to ABC this third installment of the popular franchise that pit the Justice League of America against the Legion of Doom. This show still shows on Boomerang in the US. This is the amazing hand-painted main title cel on an original background painting that features the entire cast of heroes and villains.
Star Trek Production Title Cel Setup and Master Background (Filmation, 1973): An original 12 field hand-painted title cel from the NBC Saturday morning animated series, a continuation of the live-action Star Trek series.
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop Presentation Cel (Hanna-Barbera, 1969): This cel has it all… Penelope Pitstop (voiced by the great Janet Waldo), The Hooded Claw (voiced by the hilarious Paul Lynde) and the Ant Hill Mob. This is a hand-inked and hand-painted published publicity cel. It was used on page #158 in the 1989 Ted Sennett book The Art of Hanna-Barbera — 50 Years of Creativity by Viking Studio Books. To top it all off, it is hand-signed by Janet Waldo, and the late Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
Scooby Doo and Friends Publicity Cel (Hanna-Barbera, 1976): A very rare hand-inked and hand-painted in-studio publicity cel of Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble and Scooby Doo. An outstanding image, placed over a clay-coated color background.
Scooby Doo Where Are You? Publicity Cel (Hanna-Barbera, 1969): Original hand-painted publicity cel featuring Scooby Doo along with Freddie, Thelma, Daphne and Shaggy in the MYSTERY MACHINE. Used for press and publicity purposes for the Hanna-Barbera marketing team, this 12 field cel is placed over a great Scooby Doo print background.
Laff-A-Lympics Yogi’s Yahooeys Mini-Pan Production Cel (Hanna-Barbera, 1977): Hanna-Barbera launched this cartoon parody of ABC’s Battle of the Network Stars reality show with a cast of more than 45 Hanna-Barbera characters, and it is a cult favorite among die-hard Saturday morning cartoon watchers. The series starred three teams of competitors and this rare hand-painted publicity cel features Yogi’s Yahooeys, which included 15 Hanna-Barbera characters from the early 1960s. This cel was used in almost all of the marketing efforts for the show.
Hong Kong Phooey Cover Page Cel (Hanna-Barbera, 1974): Hanna-Barbera launched the Hong Kong Phooey series, featuring the voice of Scatman Crothers, to take advantage of the kung fu craze of the 1970s. This is one of the rarest pieces associated with the series, a hand-painted cel used to create a cover page for script development for the new show in 1973, featuring the working title “Kung Fooey.” A true treasure of Saturday morning cartoon history.
Inch High Private Eye Cover Page Cels (Hanna-Barbera, 1973): One of the favorite cult shows in the Hanna-Barbera library is the Saturday Morning NBC series about a private eye who is only 1″ tall. This pair of rare hand-painted cels was used for early script development covers; the first one is titled “Danger Plus Two,” which was the original series title, and the second one with the final title but showcasing a different color scheme for our hero. The latter also has a revised character design. Both are 12 field cels, created circa 1971/72.
Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels Captain Caveman Publicity Cel and Background (Hanna-Barbera, 1977): This fan-favorite debuted on Sept. 10, 1977. Captain Caveman was voiced by none other than Mel Blanc. This is a rare hand-painted publicity cel of Captain Caveman that has been placed over a striking Hanna-Barbera hand-painted production background.
Interjections! Schoolhouse Rock Storyboards (Walt Disney, 1974): HEY! Wow! Cool. “Interjections!” is one of the most loved and remembered of the classic first season of Schoolhouse Rock. These 6 pages of storyboards from that episode have graphite notations on them, and many panels have been partially hand colored as well. Each page is signed by Director/Designer Phil Kimmelman. 12 panel storyboard pages each.
This comes a day before I head out on the road, so in addition to making sure the site and podcasts are ready for release, I’m going to be hitting the refresh button a number of times as I try to get my hands on a few of these.
