The Rescue Aid Society, a mouse based group, was dedicated to helping abduction victims around the world at large. Two of these mice, jittery janitor Bernard (voiced by Bob Newhart) and his co-agent, the elegant Miss Bianca (voiced by Eva Gabor), set out to rescue Penny, an orphan girl being held prisoner in the Devil's Bayou by treasure huntress Madame Medusa.
Early designs for Medusa were done by Ken Anderson, there were even discussions about bringing back Cruella deVil from "101 Dalmatians" as the villain; but that was eventually abandoned. The character of Medusa was eventually created and although there are many similarities with Cruella thin build, similar cars, appear wealthy, bad tempers, cry upon realizing that they have lost, etc., Medusa is still quite distinct with her wild red hair, sagging breasts, green eyes, and lots and lots of makeup. Her ultimate goal in the film is to possess the Devil's Eye, the world's largest diamond. Milt Kahl was given the task of animating Medusa and it is known that one his inspirations was his ex-wife. Kahl's brilliance in animation is really showcased with this character and many point to the scene where she is removing her false eyelashes as proof of his technical skill. The next three paragraphs are from veteran Walt Disney animator Andreas Deja.
"When Milt Kahl was asked in an interview if he had a favorite character he animated, his response was: "Oh I enjoyed a few, I just loved doing Madame Mim, Shere Khan was a lot of fun, and so were the butler and old lawyer in'Aristocats'. But I guess I enjoyed Medusa more than any one of them. His last animation assignment at Disney -just like Marc Davis's- was a tour de force of character acting. It has a "I'm going to give it all" feel to it. Marc told me that Milt promised him, Medusa will "wipe his Cruella off the screen".
Then he added with a chuckle: "Of course that didn't happen". So there was definitely a friendly competition going on between these two great animators and their characters. Milt sort of designed Medusa's features opposite from Cruella's.
Cruella has a small nose, Medusa's is longer. Cruella's hair parts in the middle, Medusa's off to one side.
Cruella has a pointy jaw, Medusa is almost chin less etc. I have to admit, when I first saw Medusa in "The Rescuers" in a London theater, I couldn't believe my eyes. So much inventiveness in her drawing and motion. How on earth can you show an animated character removing her make up? Wasn't that something only a live actress could pull off...I have spent way too much time studying this character, on the other hand I think I got a lot out of it. Dialogue, graphic but dimensional drawing and just being gutsy in general. When Madame Medusa is first introduced in the film "The Rescuers, " she is barging into her back room of her pawn shop to answer a ringing telephone.
"Madam Medusa's Pawn Shop Bou-tique, " she says. Geraldine Page, the Oscar winning actress, provided the voice to this wonderful villain and the way that she increases her voice tone with the words pawn shop boutique is just so wonderful and extremely memorable.
This is an original production animation cel of Madame Medusa. Medusa is eyes and mouth open and she has a wonderful facial expression of contempt.
A great addition to any animation art collection! Measurements: Size - Madame Medusa: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2", Image 10 x 15 1/4", Frame 20 1/2 x 25 1/4. Condition: See pictures of the actual cel, which is in excellent overall condition as shown 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 Drawings and Cels and other original modern and contemporary artwork for sale! The item "1977 WALT DISNEY THE RESCUERS MADAME MEDUSA ORIGINAL PRODUCTION ANIMATION CEL" is in sale since Monday, December 2, 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.