Heritage now claims the six most successful animation art auctions ever held, with the addition of its latest four-day event which wrapped up on August 19: The History of Animation: The Glad Museum Collection Signature® Auction realized $4,043,971 in total sales across more than 1,500 lots with every lot sold. This collection, built by animation connoisseur Mike Glad, represents the sweep of beloved artists and animation studios that have shaped the entire history of the art form, from Disney to UPA to Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, Max Fleischer and many more.
The summer event was the highest-grossing auction to encompass works from all animation studios, and in that spirit follows Heritage’s June 2023 record for the highest-grossing single-studio auction, which showcased a century of Disney and realized $4.87 million. Bidding topped $1 million before the auction even opened, and its top four lots each sold for more than $50,000.
The top sellers ranged in date from the turn of the last century to the late 1980s: In a tie for the top-selling lot and setting an auction record, Ub Iwerks’ Mickey and Minnie Mouse animation drawing from the 1929 short Plane Crazy sold for $72,000 (the highest price paid for a Disney animation drawing), matched by another Disney piece — a 1959 concept painting of Sleeping Beauty villain Maleficent by her creator, Marc Davis. Iwerks appeared again in the third highest-selling lot for his 1928 animation drawing from the seminal Mickey Mouse short Steamboat Willie, which realized $57,600. Disney continued to make its mark in the event’s top sellers the $51,600 for the hand-painted Key Master setup and background production cel by Eyvind Earle for the “Bella Notte” scene from 1955’s Lady and the Tramp, and the Disney Animation Renaissance was well represented throughout, including a production Key Master cel of a scowling Ariel and Ursula in 1989’s The Little Mermaid, which brought $36,000.
“Mike Glad’s lifetime vision and love of animation art shined bright throughout, with one highlight lot after another from the early 1900s right up through cartoon properties of today,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage’s Vice President of Animation and Anime Art. “Never have so many museum-exhibited lots, from so many different studios, been brought to market in one sale before. The across-the-board success of this four-day sale showcased the global interest and passion for hand-drawn animation art!”
Disney works dominated the top 20 lots in the event, and no Disney-featured auction would be complete without the art of Mary Blair. Blair’s 1941 concept painting for Dumbo’s montage scene scored by the lullaby “Baby Mine” reached $31,200, and her circa 1940s concept and color key painting of Christopher Robin, Piglet, Kanga and Roo for Winnie the Pooh sold for $28,800.
Other auction records reached during the event: The highest price paid for a work from an Alice Comedy series short, an animation drawing of a sports crowd from 1927’s Alice the Collegiate, sold for $15,600; and the highest price realized for an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit work was $20,400 for an animation drawing sequence from 1928’s The Sky Scrapper.
This auction showcased finds from every major animation studio, not just Disney. Max Fleischer’s 1941 outing Superman (The Mad Scientist) scored a top-10 spot with a production cel featuring the Caped Crusader holding up the Daily Planet building, which sold for $39,600.
Other incredible results came from Winsor McCay, the originator of animated cartoons, for his original production cel for 1918’s The Sinking of the Lusitania which brought $15,600; Fleischer Studios’ 1936 production cel and Key Master background for Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor which went for $21,600; and MGM’s 1941 production cel for the Tom and Jerry short “The Night Before Christmas” attributed to Joseph Smith, which sold for $10,200. The studio UPA delivered a winning production cel for 1952’s Madeline featuring the cartoon’s full cast in a zoo scene, which sold for $11,400; and Fox’s Homer Simpson found his place in the auction spotlight with the sale of this Simpsons production cel from 1989’s “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” signed by creator Matt Groening, which brought $6,600. Inevitably, a work from Warner Bros.’ 1957 Chuck Jones’ Bugs Bunny masterpiece What’s Opera, Doc? had its moment: The Color Key/concept painting by Maurice Noble sold for $15,600.
“Long before the animation art craze that kicked off in the 1980s and early ’90s, Mr. Glad was contacting the world’s great animators and collectors, acquiring whatever they were willing to part with – often entire collections,” says Lentz. “He compiled vast assortments of original art from the great studios dating back to the dawn of the art form. Mr. Glad’s trove is considered the very best of the best, and Heritage has been thrilled to work with him and his spectacular collection.”
Complete results for Heritage’s August 16-19 The History of Animation – The Glad Museum Collection Signature® Auction can be found at HA.com/7375.
Animation lovers will also want to check out Celebrating the 1990s – The Animation Art of Nickelodeon, MTV and the Cartoon Network showcase auction coming soon, August 24-25 at Heritage.
