Dopey, Happy, Sneezy & Doc (1937)

An original couvoisier cel from ‘Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs’, 1937.

Walt Disney’s ‘Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs’ was the studios’ first ever animated film and it won a unique honorary Oscar award in 1939 which consisted of one regular sized trophy and 7 smaller ones; a testament to the cultural significance of the film.

This cel or celluloid would have been used in the original production process after an animators’ original drawing was traced onto a sheet of transparent plastic and hand-painted in colour. It would have then been projected in front of a hand-painted background via a multiplane camera to create a minute yet crucial movement in the final film.

What’s more, as a ‘Courvoisier cel’ this piece is mounted and framed with a certificate of authenticity and comes from the exclusive archives of Guthrie Courvoisier; a revered art dealer who worked with the Disney brothers back in the 1930s. 

To find out about the different types of art in our vintage Disney collection, head over to our  page.