DALLAS, TX.- Sixty years after a green curmudgeon from Mount Crumpit first tried to steal Christmas, one of the most significant assemblies of artwork from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas is coming to auction at Heritage. The celebration of that enduring holiday classic serves as the centerpiece of Heritage’s June 19-21 The Art of Everything Cool — Vol. VIII Signature® Auction, a three-day event featuring more than 1,200 lots spanning the most beloved worlds in animation, comic art and pop culture.

Leading the way is an extraordinary collection of original artwork from Chuck Jones’ landmark 1966 television adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, including what is believed to be the largest group of original hand-painted Master and Key Master backgrounds ever brought to market from the special. The offering also includes rare production cels, animation drawings, layouts, storyboards, long-sold-out limited editions and important material from the Chuck Jones Family Archive.

“Everything Cool is exactly what the title promises,” says Jim Lentz, Heritage’s Vice President of Animation & Anime Art. “For three full days, collectors will find more than 1,200 lots spanning the most beloved characters and franchises ever created. From the Grinch and Bugs Bunny to Charlie Brown, Rocky and Bullwinkle and The Simpsons, this auction is packed with the characters and kind of material that rarely appears in one place at one time.”

Christmas Comes Early

Among the standout Grinch offerings is a remarkable production cel setup featuring the Grinch and his loyal dog Max paired with a matching Key Master background from the unforgettable sequence in which the Grinch outfits Max with a makeshift reindeer antler before beginning his raid on Whoville. Another highlight is an extraordinary presentation featuring a pair of production cels, matching Key Master backgrounds and an original layout drawing depicting one of the special’s most memorable cliffhanger moments.

Collectors also will have an opportunity to acquire one of the most beloved scenes from the special: a production-cel pairing of the Grinch and Cindy-Lou Who capturing the instant the young Who catches the disguised Grinch in the act of stealing Christmas. Equally impressive is a massive 64-inch Key Master pan background featuring the Grinch and Max during the elaborate sleigh sequence Chuck Jones created to expand Dr. Seuss’ brief story into a half-hour television event.

“Animation collectors dream about finding artwork like this,” Lentz says. “We've never seen a collection of Grinch production backgrounds of this magnitude. These pieces tell the entire story, from the Grinch's scheming beginnings to his transformation, and many of them have simply never been available to collectors before.”

The Grinch section also serves as a natural gateway into one of the auction's other defining themes: the artistic legacy of Chuck Jones.

The House That Chuck Built

Few figures loom larger in animation history than the Academy Award-winning director whose imagination helped shape generations of viewers through both the Grinch and Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes characters. Heritage’s June auction features nearly 500 lots devoted to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew and other stars of the Warner Bros. universe, making it one of the most substantial Looney Tunes offerings ever assembled.

The collection is especially significant because original vintage Warner Bros. production art remains notoriously scarce. Much of the studio’s animation archive was reportedly discarded decades ago, making surviving production cels, drawings and backgrounds among the most sought-after artifacts in animation collecting. In response to that scarcity, Jones helped pioneer the animation-art market through limited-edition releases based on his original drawings, many of which are represented in this sale.

Highlights include a rare production cel from the 1959 classic Baton Bunny signed by Jones and featuring Bugs Bunny conducting an orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. Another standout is an original Chuck Jones preliminary drawing created for a Looney Tunes library-promotion poster, depicting a whole chorus line of the beloved Warner Bros. characters carrying books and wearing academic mortarboards.

The auction also showcases the animation process itself through a remarkable sequence of four signed production cels featuring Wile E. Coyote from the 1994 theatrical short Chariots of Fur. For collectors of Jones’ later artistic legacy, a rare artist’s proof of the celebrated Duck Dodgers Group limited edition traces the origins of the Chuck Jones Art Program, which helped introduce generations of collectors to animation art at a time when original production material had become increasingly difficult to obtain.

Vintage production art also shines throughout the section, including a rare original cel of Bugs Bunny from the 1956 Chuck Jones short Barbary Coast Bunny, while additional signed production artwork and limited editions featuring Duck Dodgers, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew and other fan favorites illustrate the extraordinary breadth of Jones’ creative legacy.

The Peanuts Gang Returns

The third major pillar of the auction belongs to Charles M. Schulz and the enduring appeal of the Peanuts gang.

The sale arrives as fans prepare to celebrate the 60th anniversary of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, joining last year’s milestone anniversary for A Charlie Brown Christmas. More than 45 Peanuts lots will be offered, including original production cels from both television classics, original Schulz artwork, signed memorabilia and long-sold-out limited editions.

Among the most coveted offerings is an original production cel featuring Snoopy as his legendary World War I Flying Ace alter ego atop his doghouse from It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Another highlight comes from A Charlie Brown Christmas, the Emmy Award-winning 1965 special that launched one of television’s most beloved holiday traditions. The hand-painted production cel features Charlie Brown, Linus, Schroeder, Shermy and Snoopy together in a memorable scene from the groundbreaking special.

Collectors of original comic-strip art will find an especially appealing Charles Schulz daily strip from 1959 featuring Snoopy during a charming storyline involving Lucy’s attempt to transform him into a “baby.” The Peanuts section also includes a rare, signed Schulz limited-edition lithograph depicting Snoopy as the Flying Ace alongside Linus.

Beyond its headline attractions, The Art of Everything Cool — Vol. VIII lives up to its name with a broad range of animation and pop-culture treasures spanning nearly every generation of fans.

Among the highlights are rare Jay Ward Studios pieces, including a Rocky and Bullwinkle scene cel signed by Jay Ward, Bill Hurtz and Gerard Baldwin, as well as a production cel signed by animation legend June Foray, the iconic voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Cindy-Lou Who. Collectors also will find an exceptional group of The Simpsons artwork and memorabilia, led by a Key Master couch-gag setup featuring creator Matt Groening himself, a Matt Groening-signed Moe's Tavern production background and a rare first-generation script from the classic episode “Flaming Moe’s” signed by all five members of Aerosmith.

Additional offerings include artwork from Hanna-Barbera favorites, Nickelodeon classics, superhero animation, SpongeBob SquarePants, Batman: The Animated Series, Super Friends, Yellow Submarine, Tim Burton projects and dozens of other beloved properties.

“This auction is a celebration of the characters and stories that have made generations of people smile,” Lentz says. “Whether you're chasing a museum-level Grinch background, a rare Bugs Bunny production cel, original Schulz artwork or a piece of animation history from The Simpsons or Rocky and Bullwinkle, there's something here for every collector. That's what makes this one of the most exciting Everything Cool auctions we've ever presented.”