The Little Mermaid, Ariel animator study (artist uncredited)

Y’know, those folks at Heritage are no dummies. Not only do they have some of the most friendly and helpful people in our hobby, they also don’t miss a trick. While I’ve been watching their comic art auctions for years and years, I didn’t start directly participating (that is to say, I didn’t open my own account) until just a couple of years back. It should go without saying that most of the items I followed were comics related. At the same time, we all know that many of those auctions also include animation related art. The assumption could be made that it’s probably a lot easier to take down an animation piece than some high-profile comic page. And having stopped working three years ago, and being a fan of animation as well, the idea of being able to participate in somewhat less competitive auctions and perhaps winning some nice artwork, was naturally very appealing. Long story short, after a few near misses, I was finally able to win a fabulous drawing from my absolute favorite animated film, Beauty and the Beast.

Getting back to my opening remark, Heritage did not miss a beat. Before I won the B&B piece, all they ever sent me were the comic art auction catalogs. But after that first animation win, I got not one, but TWO catalogs for their next Animation auction. Not that I’m complaining at all, but it certainly did give me quite a chuckle. Those catalogs were wonderful. And filled with so many amazing pieces that I almost wish I hadn’t looked through them. When the auction went live, I think I actually ended up tracking more pieces in that animation auction than I have ever tracked in any of their comic art auctions. LOL! I honestly thought I was going to end up buying about a half dozen pieces. But I very quickly learned (much to my dismay), that the animation auctions were indeed every bit as competitive as the comic art auctions. I did manage to win one piece though, which brings us to this absolutely delightful character study.

The auction listing does not credit an artist. Instead, the description speculates that this was done by an assistant or staff animator. Surprisingly, even without a major animator’s name attached, it still went for a lot more than I reckoned (almost 3 times what I got my B&B piece for). Obviously it was under my max bid, but I honestly didn’t expect it to go anywhere near that. Ultimately, I’m happy that I won it. It’s not exactly like getting four drawings for the price of one. But more like dividing the final price by four (for each individual drawing) which made it easier to swallow. I love the linework here. So smooth, clean, and strong. And I really love the four distinct facial expressions. I was struck by how much attention was paid to the eyes in each one. I think the study does a great job of capturing the emotional range of the character. If I had to nitpick, maybe I would have liked to see an example of sadness among the expressions. But I honestly can’t complain about the drawings that are there. Just exquisite stuff. So, so, happy to add this to my Disney collection.

As always, thanks for popping by.