Disney Vintage Cels

Disney vintage cels are phenomenally-popular items sought after by many animation art enthusiasts since the 1970s. Although visitors to the Anaheim Disney resort used to see them offered as inexpensive novelties on the walls of the Main Street Emporium, no one ever expected that Disney vintage cels would ever become so valuable!

Cels are made from clear, thin plastic sheets with the character paintings made right on them. Cel is slang for the materials from which they’re made, cellulose nitrate or celluloid acetate. The dark outlines of the characters were hand-inked onto the front of the cel. In later years, many studios xeroxed onto the cels the beautiful production drawings to create a robust, dark line to contain the character.

On back of the cel is where artists painted the beautiful colors so brush strokes visible from the front were eliminated. Cels were then positioned carefully over a background and photographed, then the next cel in the series was photographed. Once this series was transferred to film, the magical illusion of movement began!

Of all the vintage animation production cels available from the many studios, our Disney animation art collection is especially popular! To have the original animation production cels is right in front of you is astonishing, and enthusiasts are infused with a whole new feeling for the masterful artistry brought into our imaginations by Disney’s teams.

For the best available in Disney vintage cels visit Greatamericanink.com often and enjoy our collections. But, remember, this Website is a brochure -- because we have around 8,000 works of animation art and most of them one-of-kind -- it’s next to impossible to publish everything online as they’re adopted very quickly.

We love to talk animation with collectors and enthusiasts! Drop us a note at