Janis & Jimi
American Pop: Sequence:. Scene:APOP Cell #37
This very rare animation production cel is original, handpainted, and the only one of it's kind in the world.
He will sign this animation art, if you wish.
Image size is: 11" x 13", and comes with a copy of the original animation background from the scene.
American Pop is a 1981 American adult animated musical drama film starring Ron Thompson and produced and directed by Ralph Bakshi. It was the fourth animated feature film to be presented in Dolby sound. The film tells the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century.
The majority of the film's animation was completed through rotoscoping,a process in which live actors are filmed and the subsequent footage is used for animators to draw over.However, the film also uses a variety of other media including water-colors, computer graphics, live-action shots, and archival footage.
This artwork is original. Each piece was used in its own production, and is an historically significant part of each animated film. The cels come with a copy of the original background from the scene where available, or the sequence, or the film.
Following the production struggles of The Lord of the Rings, Ralph Bakshi decided that it was time to work on something more personal.[6] He pitched American Pop to Columbia Pictures president Dan Melnick. Bakshi wanted to produce a film with an extensive soundtrack of songs which would be given an entirely new context in juxtaposition to the visuals in a film.[6] While the film does not reflect Bakshi's own experiences, its themes were strongly influenced by individuals he had encountered in Brownsville.[6] The film's crew included character layout and design artist Louise Zingarelli, Vita, Barry E. Jackson, and Marcia Adams, each of whom brought their own personal touch to the film.[6] Bakshi once again used rotoscoping, in an attempt to capture the range of emotions and movement required for the film's story. According to Bakshi, "Rotoscoping is terrible for subtleties, so it was tough to get facial performances to match the stage ones.
Ralph Bakshi is a director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote. He has been involved in numerous television projects as director, writer, producer and animator. Bakshi began his career at Terrytoons Cartoon Studio in 1957, and made his debut feature film, Fritz the Cat in 1972. Over the next eleven years, Bakshi directed seven additional animated features, including Hey, Good Lookin' (1982), American Pop (1981), Coonskin (1975) and Heavy Traffic (1973). He is well known for his fantasy films, which include Wizards (1977), The Lord of the Rings, part 1 (1978) and Fire & Ice (1983). In 1987, Bakshi returned to television work, producing the series Mighty Mouse, The New Adventures which ran for two years. After a nine-year hiatus from feature films, he directed Cool World (1992), The Cool and the Crazy TV film (1994), and Spicy City HBO TV series (1997). After painting for more than 15 years and having art shows around the world, Ralph returned to animation to create and animate "Last Days of Coney Island" which was successfully funded on Kickstarter.com in March 2013. Look for LDCI on youtube.
Shipping is FREE in the United States.Shipping is $20 International.
What are Cels?
Traditionally, animated films were created by each motion or movement of every character being hand painted on a transparent material called a cel – short for celluloid acetate. These cels – whether it is one layer or many characters moving separately on many layers, are then laid over a painted background and photographed by an animation camera to create one single frame of the film. This process is repeated for the entire film to be completed. By painting on cels, the illusion is created of a different world inhabited by the painted characters moving within the background they are placed upon.
Original Production Cels
Original production cels are the actual cels used to create the animated film (or TV show) that they were created for. Each one has been hand drawn and painted by an artist and has been then photographed over a background by the animation camera to eventually take part in the entire creation of the film.
This is very different from what are called Limited Edition cels or Serigraph cels. Limited Edition cels are re-creations of a favorite image or scene which is then hand painted. Serigraph cels are silk-screened re-creations. Here at Bakshi Productions we offer to you the real, original production cels used in each of the films.
These production cels are preciously collected and becoming more and more valuable as we progress into the future of animation through computers. There are animation cels from the early days that are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. These cels are rare and there is only one like it in the world! No wonder they collectible and only increase in value.
Original Production Drawings
Original production drawings are also one of a kind pieces of art from an animated film. Before the image is drawn and painted on cel, the entire film is drawn in pencil by animators. This is where the experimentation and fun truly happens by the artist who creates the image. These are also highly sought after because they are the original drawings and considered “the backbone” of any animated creation. They also can cost much less than an original production cel because they are not painted.
Some Pointers in what to look for in an original piece of animation art
First and foremost, the image has to appeal to you. It jumps out at you, you have to have it. Looking at it illicit some sort of emotional response or reminds you of something or recalls a memory. Other than that – Here are some pointers that many collectors (NOT ALL) use:
-Artwork that depicts a characteristic pose or expression, an emotion common with the film it is from.
-Characters or at least one character that is facing as close to forward as possible with their eyes open are best usually.
--The closer up the character is to you, the better. That is either a full body pose or a close up of the face.
-Some people like to collect the more obscure characters who show up rarely in the film. Others like the main characters. It is obviously up to your preference for which characters you like looking at really!
We hope this helps a bit. Any questions you might have please feel free to e-mail us at shop@ralphbakshi.com.
As always…ENJOY!
