(Walt Disney Studios, 1997) Original limited edition cel celebrating the 1989 Disney classic The Little Mermaid, entitled ‘Kiss the Girl,’ numbered 106/500, which depicts Ariel and Prince Eric holding hands in a rowboat as they float in a lagoon near the royal castle, with Flounder and five other fish encouraging the couple with a romantic water fountain display. The cel is placed on a matching color lithographic background. The total character image measures 14.25 x 8.5 with a mat opening of 16 x 10.5. Beautifully cloth-matted and framed to an overall size of 24.75 x 19.25. The lower right corner bears a golden Disney seal. In fine condition. A gorgeous limited edition cel that sold out immediately upon its release in 1997.
Accompanied by a detailed certificate of authenticity from Disney Enterprises, which reads, in part: “This is a limited edition of 500 xerographic-line, ink-enhanced, hand-painted character cel set-ups from Walt Disney Pictures’ classic 1989 animated feature The Little Mermaid. This cel set-up, ‘Kiss the Girl,’ recreates Sequence 9.1, Scene 47 of the film: Breaking the spell of the sea witch Ursula is just a kiss away, so Ariel’s friends join together in a seaside serenade to give some encouragement to the romance of Ariel and Prince Eric.
The Walt Disney Studios has created the artwork from this sequence using modern animation techniques. The original animation drawings were then transferred to acetate cels by a special six-step xerographic process using 2 colors. Artists of The Walt Disney Studios Ink and Paint Department then enhanced the cels with 5 hand-inked line colors and hand-painted each of the cels in the edition with 28 Disney-approved acrylic colors, one transparent paint color and one airbrush color.”
