The Fox and the Hound * Original Concept Painting by Disney Legend Mel Shaw 1981

Description

A wonderful piece of concept art by Disney Legend Mel Shaw.  Mel Shaw (1914 - 2012) worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios from its Golden Age of the late-1930s, up to the studio's resurgence within the 1990s. He was originally recruited to Disney to work on Bambi and left to become a combat photographer in WWII. He returned to Disney's animation department in 1974 and wound up the mentor to a new generation of animators. His last film at Disney was The Lion King. This concept painting is from The Fox and the Hound and is one of the nicest pieces of concept art we've seen from the film.  It is done in pastel on 10" x 7 3/8" blue colored paper, signed by Mel Shaw in the lower center. The scenes depicted is an image of Copper riding with his master Amos; similar to what appears at the 41:52 mark in the film. It's a fantastic one-of-a-kind piece of Disney history, for the film that many credit as being the start of the Disney renaissance. There is some minor handling and there are pinholes all four corners, but more so in the upper left and right corners. Overall condition is very good; see picture.  It is also marked '17', in pencil, in the upper right hand corner - this likely indicates the sequence in the series of concept paintings for this scene.  Original concept paintings from Disney films has become more recognized for it's artistic value over the last 10 years - with painting by other Disney concept artist such as Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, and Gustaf Tenggren reching records upwards of ,000.  This is a great opportunity to pick up an original piece by a Disney Legend that will continue to appreciate in value for years to come.