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Cels and Background by Eyvind Earle from Sleeping Beauty, 1959

Artists: Walt Disney Studio (All) , Eyvind Earle (Painter)

2 Comments - 9,317 Views - 2 Likes

Cels and Background by Eyvind Earle from Sleeping Beauty, 1959 Comic Art

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Eyvind Earle Painting This Very Background, c. 1959

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Artwork Details

Title:	Cels and Background by Eyvind Earle from Sleeping Beauty, 1959
Artist:	Walt Disney Studio (All)
Artist:	Eyvind Earle (Painter)
Media Type:	Mixed Media
Art Type:	Animation
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	9,317
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Favorited on CAF:	2
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	8/15/2006
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This cel and background set up was prepared by Walt Disney Studios. The cels were photographed in making the feature, Sleeping Beauty, but the background does not appear in the movie. Instead, it was painted by Eyvind Earle to be used in a film about the making of Sleeping Beauty. This film, which was shown on television to promote the newest Disney animated feature, has been included on recent videos and DVDs of Sleeping Beauty. In it, Eyvind Earle is actually shown as he paints this very background, which makes it the best documented of his work at Disney. It is also one of the very best forest backgrounds he painted during the making of that great feature.

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The Story of Disney Backgound Paintings, Pt. 6.

I badly wanted an Eyvind Earle background painting from Sleeping beauty since I first saw one .Although I didn't buy any of those fhat had once graced a hallway of the Disney Stuio, at about the same time one was included in a Collector's Showcase auction which was probably a piece once auctioned to raise funds for KCET. It showed Aurora in her Blue dress at a dressing table in her father;s castle, with all three fairies also shown. I underbid it, but it sold for over $2,500, substantially more than the highest price asked for any of the hallway pieces.

I patiently waited for another Sleeping Beauty background that I liked to turn up. Like so many others, I really wanted an Eyvind Earle forest background.A possible opportunity presented itself when I attended the viewing of Sotheby's Roger Rabbit auction at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in June 1989. As I walked by a table at which auction catalogues were being sold, I saw that a young woman was consigning an Art Props setup of Briar Rose on a forest background. As she walked away from the table, I approached her. It turned out that she was the daughter of a 1940s movie star who had been given the setup by Walt himself. She told me that Sotheby's estimated that her setup would sell for $4,000 to $6,000. The piece was nice, but small -- the cel was on a fragment of a background. I offered her $7,500 in cash if she would go back and retreive her piece. After a lengthy discussion, I thought I had convinced her that my offer was significantly higher than what she was likely to receive from Sotheby's after commissions and costs were deducted and taxes were paid. She went to get the piece but returned without it. The Sotheby's representative told her that the set up could sell for more than the estimate. We talked further, and she told me that she would get the art back to sell to me when she went to New York the following week. I called her after she returned to LA, when she told me that she had decided to leave the piece with Sotheby's. I was a little bitter that she never followed through with what she had said she would do, so I decided that I would no even bid on the piece. Ultimately, the setup sold at auction for a hammer price of a little over$4,000, netting her less than half what I had offered her in cash.

It took another year, but I finally bought a much better Art Props forest setup in the spring of 1990. I had been looking for a decade without success when one day, out of the blue, I received a fax from the London dealer who had been bidding on my behalf at English watercolor auctions. All I could see in the fax were the eyes of an owl and a white collar. I called my friend, who told me that he had gotten a Sleeping Beauty piece and wanted to know if I wanted it. I said that I probably would. He asked me what it was worth, but, since I had no idea what it looked like, I just told him what I had offered for the piece that ended up selling for less at Sotheby's. He said he would be happy with $6,000 and that he would send it to me on approval

When the setup arrived, I couldn't believe how great it was. Not only was the forest background clearly by Eyvind Earle, but it was large (close to the original size), in perfect condition, and from one of the best sections of the forest sequence. The cels, although not matching, worked very well on the background, as was typical with Art Props setups. And the piece had a provinance that was very likely much more important than a piece once owned by a movie star, The setup was inscribed and signed by Walt himself to Michael McMillian. Considering that the art came from England, where Harold McMillian was the prime minister of the UK when Sleeping Beauty came out, it is very possible that this setup was given by Walt to the prime minister's son. I couldn't have been happier. This setup is still one of my favorite possessions, and it came to me without any effort on my part.

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	C E
Joined:	April 2006
Last Login:	August 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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William B.
Member Since 2004

Posted on 4/29/2009

INCREDIBLE!

Craig M
Member Since 2007

Posted on 12/20/2013

Eyvind was an artist that had an amazing vision. I always thought that one of Walt's amazing skills was assigning correct artists to correct features. This set up is absolutely stunning! I am stunned to see this original Eyvind. Your collect continues to amaze me (I don't have time to post a comment to each of your images but know I am checking them all out!) Thanks for sharing!!!

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