1959 Disney Sleeping Beauty Signed Maleficent Diablo Original Production Cel

MALEFICENT & DIABLO PRODUCTION CEL WALT DISNEY STUDIOS GOUACHE ON CEL, 1959. Original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Maleficent and Diablo from "Sleeping Beauty, " 1959, Walt Disney Studios; Set on a lithographic background; Signed Marc Davis in ink lower right; Unframed. Let us leave our noble prince with these happy thoughts.

"Sleeping Beauty" is a Walt Disney animated full length feature film and was based on "The Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault and "Little Briar Rose" by The Brothers Grimm. The film was the sixteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and it was released to theaters on January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution.

This was to be the last Disney adaptation of a fairy tale for many years, both because of its initial mixed critical reception, and because of it's under performance at the box office. The Walt Disney studio did not return to the fairy tale genre until 30 years later, with the release of "The Little Mermaid" in 1989. "Sleeping Beauty" was directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman, under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi. The story was written by Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, and Milt Banta.

The film's musical score and songs, featuring the Graunke Symphony Orchestra, was under the direction of George Bruns. Arrangements and/or adaptations were derived from numbers from the 1890 "Sleeping Beauty Ballet" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In addition, Igor Stravinsky's music compositions were also adapted into the film. "Sleeping Beauty" was the first animated film to be photographed in the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process, as well as the second full-length animated feature film to be filmed in anamorphic widescreen; following "Lady and the Tramp" four years earlier. In select first-run engagements, the film was presented in Super Technirama 70 and 6-channel stereophonic sound.

The style for "Sleeping Beauty" was based on the art of Eyvind Earle, who was known for his'Pre-Renaissance' style; accomplished with strong vertical lines combined with Gothic elegance. Earle was involved with the design of all the characters in the film, and he designed and painted most of the backgrounds. The early sketches for Maleficent depicted a hag-like witch, however it was later decided that her final design should be more elegant; as it better suited Earle's backgrounds. The principal animator for Maleficent, Marc Davis, decided to make Maleficent a powerful fairy rather than an old crone that had been described in the original source material. A contributing factor for this decision may have been influenced by the choice of Eleanor Audley to be the voice of the character.

Audley had previously worked for Disney by providing the voice for the cold and calculating Lady Tremaine (The Stepmother) in Cinderella. It is known that Frank Thomas who animated Lady Tremaine and Marc Davis who animated Maleficent, incorporated the facials features of Eleanor into both characters. Audley was also the live-action model for Maleficent, and Marc Davis claimed that her movements and expressions were ultimately incorporated into the animation. Marc Davis's design for Maleficent's costume was inspired by a book on Medieval art.

One of the images featured was that of a religious figure with long robes, the ends of which resembled flames. Davis incorporated this into Maleficent's final design, and he based the sides of her headdress on the wings of a bat, and the top of her headdress on the horns of a devil. If you ask people to name their favorite Disney Villain, chances are you will one of three answers; The Evil Queen/Witch from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, " Cruella DeVil from "One hundred and One Dalmatians, " or Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. Two of the three, Cruella and Maleficent, were created and drawn by the great Walt Disney animator Marc Davis. This cel is from the scene when Maleficent visits Prince Phillip, who is her prisoner in her dungeon.

She torments him with a story about the fact that although he will grow old, Princess Aurora will remain in an ageless slumber. When he is eventually freed from Maleficent's castle, he will be to old to have any type of life with her.

As Maleficent turns to leave the shackled Prince in his stone dungeon cell, she says to her pet raven Diablo (now perched on her hand), Come, my pet. This is a rare untrimmed cel of Maleficent, the Mistress of all evil; and her pet raven Diablo.

Making the cel even more special is the fact that it is hand signed in black ink by Maleficent's animator Marc Davis. A beautiful piece of vintage Walt Disney history and a centerpiece to any animation art collection!

Measurements: Size - Maleficent & Diablo: 9" x 6 1/2", Image 10 3/4 x 15 3/4. Condition: See pictures of the actual cel, which is in excellent overall condition, as shown by the pictures above! All items we sell are from a smoke-free/mold-free home/workplace and are in excellent condition, unless otherwise noted. I own every work pictured for sale and I stand behind every item. Please follow/bookmark me as a favorite and keep and keep checking back for more items for sale in the coming weeks. For now, please check out my other Animation Drawings and Cels and other original modern and contemporary artwork for sale! The item "1959 DISNEY SLEEPING BEAUTY SIGNED MALEFICENT DIABLO ORIGINAL PRODUCTION CEL" is in sale since Sunday, March 24, 2019. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Animation Art & Characters\Animation Art\Production Art".

The seller is "shadowline" and is located in Durham, North Carolina. This item can be shipped worldwide.

Artwork Type: Production Cel
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Age: Pre-1970
Original/Reproduction: Original Production Art
Studio/Show: Disney