DALLAS, TX.- The explosion in the popularity of original anime artworks as collectibles — hand-painted production cels and animation drawings, original hand-painted production backgrounds, rare original manga pages from fan favorites and more — is most visible at Heritage, where the auction house has built a reputation for its Animation category and dominates the market: Over five days and more than 2000 lots, Heritage’s October 18-22 The Art of Anime and Everything Cool...Volume V Signature® Auction brought in $2.964 million, with more than 6,000 bidders and all lots sold.
The top two results in the event went to anime titles and proved the chronological range and record-setting power of the Japanese artform at auction: A pan production cel with Key Master background and animation drawing from Berserk (1997-98) depicting the character Griffith sold for $38,400 and is an auction record for the series; a comic page of original art from Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy (1967) tied it at $38,400. The Berserk character Griffith, now alongside the Band of the Hawk, also stars in the second-highest price realized for the series with this richly detailed production cel with Key Master background, which sold for $26,400. The epic dark fantasy series is based on the late Kentaro Miura's acclaimed manga of the same name. Fan favorite Dragon Ball Z, the long-running franchise with a robust collector base, made an impact in the event with this production cel with Key Master background of the character Majin Vegeta from the 1994 episode “Vegeta’s Pride.” It went for $31,200. Dragon Ball, based on Akira Toriyama’s original manga, is one of the most successful franchises in animation history. This section of the auction paid tribute to Toriyama who died earlier this year. Another Berserk lot in the list of top ten sellers, a 1997 pan production cel from the series' opening title sequence, sold for $25,200.
“The continued success of our Art of Anime and Everything Cool auctions leads the marketplace in this exciting category,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage Auctions’ Vice President and Director of Animation & Anime Art. “The strong results, thousands of bidders, and total sell-through rate of our most recent event is a testament to the global popularity of this art form.”
Anime lots in fact claimed a dozen of the top 20 prices realized in the auction. Other stellar performers of anime came from Studio Ghibli, including cels from My Neighbor Totoro ($28,800), Kiki’s Delivery Service ($18,000) and Princess Mononoke(also $18,000). And as with the above-mentioned Astro Boy comic page, manga pages did well in this auction, such as this incredible collection of eight original pages created by artist Jiro Kuwata (1935-2020) to give shape to the story of 8Man, written by Kazumasa Hirai (1938-2015). It sold for $5,040.
This massive (and ever-growing) annual event is split into two main sections: (1) Anime, and (2) ...Everything Cool. “Everything Cool” refers to the entire landscape and history of Western animation and encompasses everything from Peanuts to Looney Tunes to The Simpsons. This auction was packed with gems featuring all of our favorite characters and saw excellent results for animation works that were fresh to market and gaining in collectible status. The animated version of Charles Schultz’s classic creation Peanuts and especially the iconic feature A Charlie Brown Christmas, produced by Bill Melendez in 1965, was a big winner in this event, with a production cel with Key Master background featuring Charlie Brown and Lucy at her snowy outdoor “PSYCHIATRIC HELP” desk, which sold for $36,000; a production cel with Master background featuring the Peanuts gang walking out into the night to greet their new Christmas tree sold for $24,000; and a production/color model cel of Snoopy swinging Linus by his blanket sold for $16,800.
The elder statesman character of American comedy animation, Bugs Bunny, had a good run at auction. The brilliance of Warner Brothers’ animation reverberates through the one-of-a-kind Bugs Bunny statuette that belonged to voice genius Mel Blanc, which brought $21,000. The “Oscar” is shaped to resemble the most famous character Blanc voiced and is modeled after Bugs’ appearance in the 1944 short What's Cookin' Doc?, where he demands a recount at the Oscars. The award was created especially for Blanc and gifted to him by the studio when he was recovering from his near-fatal car accident in 1961. It's a testament to the lasting impact of this iconic voice actor and the characters he brought to life. A WWII-era 1943 Marine Corps Division drawing of Bugs, depicting the rabbit as a full-figure Sergeant and pointing to a slate board that shows his team wiping out the enemy, signed by producer Leon Schlesinger, sold for $16,800. “The Art of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies was in full force for this sale,” says Lentz. “This may be our largest vintage Warner Brothers studio offering we have ever had.”
The one-and-only Grinch had his day at auction with storyboard and production cels from the 1966 feature Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was no surprise that the high-tension moment Grinch’s heart grew three sizes, captured in this lot, sold for $8,400. A charming cel featuring Cindy Lou Who on Christmas morning, signed by Chuck Jones, brought $6,600.
To give a sense of the auction’s range and depth: An early production piece that pre-dated the debut season of Scooby Doo, Where Are You sold for $8,400. The color-model cel featuring Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma running from left frame to right became a repeat motif of the show and a part of its opening titles. The 12-field, 3-peghole work was created in 1969 and is among the first classic “run” cels from the show. And among the most sought-after collectibles in animation art are production cels of The Simpsons' couch gags — the famously innovative and ever-changing intros to the series’ episodes. Heritage offered and sold a whopping six couch gags in this auction, and a couch gag that depicts Homer, Marge and gang as topiary sold for $5,280. Cowabunga!
