Fall Discovery Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/29/2014
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN DESCRIPTION
Important Disney original comic art work from this classic, consisting of 5 incredible original layout comic art story boards for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' Comics ,each 7.5" x31" long. These are quite rare to find still together.
Hank Porter (1900 ? -1951) joined the Disney studio in 1935. He was assigned to the Disney Publicity studio and was responsible for producing a wealth of materials: art for the monthly Disney feature for Good Housekeeping Magazine (taking over from Tom Wood, after his passing in 1940), ad pieces, theatre posters, covers for the earlier issues of Dell's Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, magazine covers for various publishers that ran Disney articles, including the long-running Mickey Mouse Magazine (he did interior work for this title, as well), and design art for toy makers. Porter assembled Disney's group of illustrators created the many squadron patch designs for the various WWII U. S. military units that requested them, with Porter himself proving to be the most prolific. Hank Porter was also the artist selected to create the art for the Sunday funnies pages that introduced Snow White and Pinocchio, just before each film's official release. Think about that for a moment, as that would mean that Porter's interpretations were the first real view that the world ever had of Disney's first two full-length animated features. Porter didn't design the characters, but he captured the studio's versions of the characters precisely, including the scenery designs of the great Gustav Tenggren. Hank Porter, the great workhorse for Disney's Publicity Studio, retired in 1950. He passed away in 1951.
Disney Publicity artist Hank Porter's comic strip adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted in late 1937 and continued into 1938, completing the movie's tale. The five unsigned penciled Porter pieces that we are offering here are tightly executed layouts, done in standard pencil as separate tiers (three tiers made up a weekly installment). These would have been transferred to the finished art page which then received ink to make it camera ready. All five of these represent one tier from five different weekly installments, beginning with the eighth installment where Snow first met the dwarfs (when the seven little men are first seen in silhouette). Each is drawn on a 31" x 7-1/4" sheet of lightweight illustration paper that has been archival mounted into a thick protective matte.
Installments: #8 - bottom tier (1/2" vertical tear in blank first panel - 1st view of the cottage and the dwarfs marching in a silhouetted line over a fallen log bridge); #12 center tier (vertical center crease, and age spots and chipping on far right edge - dwarfs argue whether Snow should stay with them or not); #13 top tier reflattened vertical centerfold - argument continues from the previous week); #14 center tier (reflattened vertical centerfold - the Old Woman with the apple! - the dwarfs dive into Snow's prepared dinner); and #15 bottom tier (dwarfs let Snow have their bedroom, then they go to sleep in the kitchen).
Snow White was one of only two animated films to rank in the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films of all time in 1997 (the other being Disney's Fantasia), ranking number 49. It achieved a higher ranking (#34) in the list's 2007 update, this time being the only traditionally animated film on the list. The following year AFI would name the film as the greatest animated film of all time. In 1989, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs
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