DALLAS, TX.- From Oct. 17–21, Heritage’s seventh The Art of Anime and Everything Cool Signature® Auction zoomed past its previous record, reaching a total of $3.2 million including buyer’s premium. This marks the highest-grossing animation and animation art auction ever held without Disney material, surpassing Heritage’s 2023 record of $3.1 million for the same series. Combined with the $5.19 million Disney-focused auction held in August, the result secures back-to-back animation art auction records for Heritage in 2025.

This auction encompassed the history of animation art over more than 2,500 lots and a 99.99% sell-through rate— from the genius of Chuck Jones to Banksy’s collaboration with The Simpsons (the result broke the record for the long-running series); from 40 years of Studio Ghibli to Tim Burton, Charles M. Schulz and Hanna-Barbera. In the mix: fan favorite Pamela Adlon offered her personal collection of King of the Hill animation cels to raise money for her fellow artists.

“To see the continued strong interest and record sales results in all animation art, from all generations and from all global locations is very satisfying,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage’s Vice President of Animation and Anime Art. “High prices were seen for all anime properties, as well as artwork for Charlie Brown and Peanuts, The Simpsons, Hanna Barbera, Looney Tunes, the Grinch, the Beatles and so many more. This auction saw record-breaking sale prices on all five days.”

A commemorative drawing by the famed urban artist Banksy, who collaborated on a Simpsons 2010 opening sequence for the episode “MoneyBART,” sold for $168,000 and broke all auction records for art from the series. Another Simpsons entry in the top 20 sellers in the auction: a cel from the legendary “Brady Bunch” couch gag opening, which brought $22,000.

As expected, anime art, including works from Studio Ghibli (celebrating its 40th anniversary), saw excellent results: a striking image of San in her iconic mask from Princess Mononoke sold for $38,400; both a cel with production background from Kiki’s Delivery Service and a group of animation drawings from Castle in the Sky sold for $24,000 and a production cel with background from Castle sold for $19,200. Other anime winners include works from the 1998 epic Akira: Several pairs of cels with drawings from the feature film brought $28,000, $21,600, and $20,000. A cel and production background from the opening sequence of Super Dimension Fortress Macross sold for $20,400.

The genius of Warner Brothers’ Chuck Jones saw a great day on the auction block: A production cel with a custom-painted background featuring Bugs Bunny from “Hare-Abian Nights” sold for $30,000 and a Bugs-starring production cel with master background from “All This and Rabbit Stew” sold for $25,200. A gorgeous oil painting by Jones titled Acrobots featuring Bugs and Daffy Duck attempting a daring highwire act sold for $20,400.

Works generated by another American legend were top sellers. An exceptionally rare production cel setup from Charles M. Schulz’s classic It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown featuring Charlie Brown, Linus and Lucy sold for $30,000, and a five-character production cel from the same 1966 special sold for $19,200. A pair of layout drawings from the all-time fave A Charlie Brown Christmas brought $22,800. A painting of Snoopy as the Flying Ace, created by Tom Everhart in tribute to Schulz, sold for $18,000.

The above are just a handful of the outstanding results for the five-day extravaganza. “The artwork that brings a smile to your face year in, year out has never seen such across-the-board, all-studios success,” says Lentz. “This was one of the most comprehensive and exciting non-Disney animation auctions ever assembled, and was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for fans and collectors.”