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Cel and Background Painting from Lady and the Tramp, 1955

Artists: Frank Thomas (Penciller) , Walt Disney Studio (All)

5 Comments - 8,653 Views - 4 Likes

Cel and Background Painting from Lady and the Tramp, 1955 Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Cel and Background Painting from Lady and the Tramp, 1955
Artist:	Frank Thomas (Penciller)
Artist:	Walt Disney Studio (All)
Media Type:	Mixed Media
Art Type:	Animation
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	8,653
Likes on CAF:	4 5
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	7/31/2006
Comic Art Archive:

Description

The Story of Disney Backgound Paintings, Pt. 2.

Most of the Art Props cel and background setups are somewhat small. The bacgrounds used were often sections of larger backgrounds which were cut down by studio employees. I know of a few, however, for which have full, long, technarama backgrounds were used, including my larger Sleeping Beauty forest piece, a set up showing Br'er Rabbit hopping down a path through a stylized wooded scene, and one from the Bella Notte sequence of Lady and the Tramp (more on this below).

There is another group of technirama backgrounds and cels which were put together at the studio in the 1970s for inclusion in fundraising auctions for KCET, the PBS station in Los Angeles. In the mid-1980s, an animation dealer friend and I visited a home in the San Fernando Valley which had three setups obtained at KCET auction(s) hanging in the living roon. One was a pan background of the London sky and top of the Darling residence with Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael, and John flying into an open, gabled window. Unfortunately the figures should have been flying the opposite direction, i.e., out of the window. Another, smaller set up showed Alice with the Queen's cards painting white roses red. The third was a smaller pan background with the classic scene from The Jungle Book in which Baloo floats down a river with Mowgli on his belly. All three were bought a few years later by by a major animation collector from Northern California.

A Note on the Art Props Setups of the Spaghetti Eating/Bella Notte Sequence from Lady and the Tramp.

I know of five Bella Notte setups that were prepared by Disney's Art Props Department which show the title characters seated at a classic Italian table in the alley behind Joe's Italian restaurant. This sequence, where Tramp courts Lady under a night sky filled with laundry on lines between apartments is used to show the moment when Lady fell in love with Tramp. It is undoubtedly the most famous sequence from Lady and the Tramp and one of the most famous moments in all of Disney animation. Setups from this sequence are therefore very sought after.

The five studio-produced setups which have appeared to date on the animation art market are as follows:

-- the aforementioned pan setup with Lady and Tramp at the table in the alley with Tony and Joe serenading them. The full figures look rather small on the wide background painting and the dogs have not yet started to eat.
-- the setup which was used on the cover of the auction catalogue for Christie's East's 19 June 1990 sale. The same figures as shown on the pan setup are shown on a smaller alley background. In my opinion this setup is much more impressive since the cels aren't dominated by the background. The set up sold for one of the highest prices of all time, just under $100,000 with buyer's premium -- bought by a lawyer who speculated in high-end animation art for a couple of years.
--another setup of similar overall size which shows just the dogs , without Tony and Joe. The dogs are shown closer up, so the images are larger with just their upper bodies emerging from behind the table. This is probably the most iconic image of the four used for these setups.
--another setup of similar size [10. X 12.5 overall] was sold for $57,500 with buyer's premium at Christie'sEEast on 20 June 1996. It was consigned by a Henry Kaiser, had an authentic Disney signaturee on the mat, and was prepared by Courvoisier Gallery. Tramp is in a 3/4 pose with Spaghetti hanging from his mouth; Lady is in profile.
--my own setup [11 X 17 in. overall] has the largest figures of Lady and the Tramp. Tramp looks proud and Lady gazes out with the twinkle of a star in her eyes. This is the very moment when she falls in love, and the remains of the spaghetti and meatball which helped win her heart are still evident on the plate in front of the characters.

As I recall, none of these setups have the actual cels which were photographed against their backgrounds, but all look perfect in size and came from the spaghetti sequence. The backgrounds all have the requisite hanging laundry and were all photographed for use in the feature. And, perhaps of equal importance, all have actual held cels of the table.

The reason why there are so few setups of the spaghetti eating scene is the extreme rarity of cels of the table. Since the tables were always held, additional table cels were only made for changes in close up shots and various angles used in showing the love birds..er, love dogs.

Other than my setup, which is one of my most highly prized possessions, over the years, I have owned several sets of Lady and Tramp cels from the scene without tables. Since these cels all register to a table, they have irregularly shaped lower bodies on the dogs. I also owned a great set of medium-view cels [same scene as the third setup, above], with a strand of spaghetti hanging between the dogs' mouths, plus a table. The

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Joined:	April 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/17/2009

Lovely!

Mark Levy
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/5/2021

Awesome painting and description!

Monty B
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/19/2021

Stunning Set-Up!!!

Wonderful World of Animation Gallery
Member Since 2021

Posted on 7/5/2024

gorgerous, gorgeous piece!

S�ren M
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/27/2025

Ok !! You nailed it with this one..! I am stunned..!

Many congrats !!

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