Snow White animations found in Staffordshire make thousands
Two historic animation pieces which were discovered in Staffordshire has gone under the hammer – selling to a collector in America.
The pair of celluloid sheets from Walt Disney's first animated feature-length movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, were unearthed at a day in Lichfield.
Dating back to 1937, they were brought into a weekly valuation day held by Hansons Auctioneers in aid of the city’s St Giles Hospice.
Now, a month on, both lucrative items were snapped up at a Hansons auction for more than a combined £15,000 – attracting interest on the phones from the likes of London and Japan.
One cel is of Snow White and the Wicked Queen, which is one of the most celebrated scenes in the Snow White film, which made £10,5000.
It shows the Wicked Queen presenting the innocent Snow White with the poisoned apple is a classic Disney image.
The other cel depicts Snow White being swept up by her animal friends with deer and rabbits. This made £5,006.
Charles Hanson, manager of Hansons Auctioneers, and as seen on BBC One Bargain Hunt, told the Express & Star: "We sold them. One made £10,500 and the other one sold for £5,006. They both sold to an American collector.
"It was a good auction. We had interest all over the world. There was theatre and drama. It had that movie moment.
"We are pleased to see them sell. We had interest in the UK, the States, a buyer in Japan. But as it was we got them away just above the bottom estimates but we were pleased.
"We would have liked to have seen them make top estimate but at the same time they made international news and they made I suppose what they were worth."
The two cels’ were presented in their period frames, unopened and complete with provenance and original gallery labels.
They were originally sold in an exhibition of the original paintings for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was held at Leicester Galleries, Leicester Square, London, in December 1938 with the firm Ernest Brown & Philips Ltd.
The sale took place in Hansons Summer Jewellery and Fine Art Auction on Saturday. The poisoned apple cel had an estimate of £10,000 to £15,000, and the animal cel carried an estimate of £5,000 to £8,000.
Other interesting items which sold included a banjo ukulele that belonged to George Formby. It made £29,000 during a Hansons auction on Friday.
Hansons hold their free valuation days every Monday at the Hedgehog Inn in Stafford Road, Lichfield from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Donations are in aid of St Giles Hospice.
