Willie Ito - Adventures of the Gummi Bears - 1985 - Publicity Poster Concept Drawing

Absolutely beautiful “Adventures of the Gummi Bears” main cast publicity poster concept drawing by the great Willie Ito (signed 1985), featuring all the main Gummi Bears that was created for a proposed studio publicity poster. Adventures of the Gummi Bears was the first animated production created by Walt Disney Television. The piece is rendered with graphite, blue pencil, and black ink on 15" x 11.75" paper, which is affixed to a 16 field sheet of animation paper. Images of all the characters are 5" - 9", and the drawing is impressively large!
I loved watching the Gummi Bears as a kid, so I’m very happy to add this to the collection… :-)



A little on Willie Ito (Wikipedia):
Willie Ito (born July 17, 1934) is an American animator. Ito was born in San Francisco, California to Japanese immigrant parents. Seeing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in a cinema as a child inspired his love for animation.
Ito's family was incarcerated during World War II, first at the Tanforan Assembly Center, and later the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah. Following his family's release from Topaz, Ito and his family returned to San Francisco. After completing high school, Ito began to pursue an art career, attending the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.
In 1954, Ito began working for Walt Disney Studios as an assistant to animator Iwao Takamoto on the film Lady and the Tramp. He later joined Warner Bros. Cartoons, where he worked with the animators Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng.
In the 1960s, Ito moved to Hanna-Barbera Productions and continued working there for 14 years, contributing to shows including The Jetsons, The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, and Josie and the Pussycats. Ito returned to Disney in 1977, where he worked in its consumer products division. His work consisted of designing Disney merchandise.
In addition to animation, Ito has illustrated several children's books.
Ito received an Inkpot Award in 2014. In 2021, he received the Winsor McCay Award from the International Animated Film Society at the 48th annual Annie Awards, in recognition for his career accomplishments in the animation industry.