1938 Walt Disney-signed Snow White Animation Cel
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GUEST:
I brought you an original cel from Walt Disney that he also signed and gave good wishes to Louise Dewey, who was my paternal grandmother.
APPRAISER:
Right here, Louise Dewey. She was your grandmother.
GUEST:
Yes, my grandparents were Walt and Lillian's friends. They met on a cruise from New York through the Panama Canal up to Los Angeles in the early '30s. When he was still called Walter Disney. Dewey Duck, one of Donald Duck's nephews, was actually named after my grandfather. A lot of people have said that he was named after Thomas Edmund Dewey, the then-governor of New York. But because my grandfather's first name was Hartley, and a lot of people just called him Dewey, Walt decided that Dewey would be one of the nephews.
APPRAISER:
Well, that's fantastic. It is a cel. And of course it's a cel from Walt Disney's greatest and amazing and first full-length feature, color cartoon.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And it revolutionized cartooning in America, film work. This he made in 1937, 1938. And so obviously, this was probably given to them some time after that. And these were of course celluloid, hand-painted, hand-drawn on celluloid.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Thousands of them were made, needed to be done. Very seldom do we see one that is just so beautiful. This is a... Of course, it's Snow White, great image with her eyes open. And what's also unusual about this is, often these have survived without the production backgrounds. This is most certainly the production background, which really adds to the value. And of course, provenance. How often do you get a cel that actually came down from the big man himself?
GUEST:
I know.
APPRAISER:
I mean, it's just absolutely fantastic. It's a great image, great movie. And wonderful signature, "Walt Disney," good and strong. It's fantastic. As far as value... Have you ever had it evaluated?
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
Well, I think an auction price in today's market, this cel in this condition would bring about $8,000 to $12,000.
GUESTL Whoa.
APPRAISER:
So a pretty nice gift.
GUEST:
Yeah. (laughing) Yes, it is. Very much so, thank you.
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