Mickey Mouse conducts in “The Band Concert,” which fetched $27,150.

An image from “Pinocchio” garnered $28,250.

By Kelly S. Mittleman

After a long online run, the sothebys.com sale of the Jeff Lotman Collection of Animation Art is proof that cels really sell.

The line-up of more than 300 lots was part of Lotman’s personal 22-year collection. It was composed of animation created from 1928 through the late 60s, and included drawings, layouts, cels and watercolor production backgrounds, many from such beloved Disney classics as The Band Concert, Jungle Book, Fantasia, Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to name a few.

The sale, a two-parter (Part I conducted April 13-May 4 and held Part II May 11-June 4) brought in over $600,000. Highlights included a Pinocchio cel, which fetched $28,250 (est.$20,000/25,000); Mickey Mouse as conductor from The Band Concert, which reached $27,150 (est.$30/40,000); an image of the witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which realized $18,350 (est.$12/16,000); and an image of King Louis and Mowgli from Jungle Book, which sold for $13,225, fetching double its low estimate of $6/8,000.

Sotheby’s Senior Vice President of its Collectibles Department, Dana Hawkes, says buyers tuned into this auction from all across the United States, Europe and even Australia, due the ease of the Internet which introduced animation art to a worldwide audience of potential buyers.

Lotman decided to consign his collection in order to pursue his current love: acquiring contemporary art.