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(Walt Disney Studios, 1940) Scarce original production drawing of a Zebra Centaurette from the ‘Pastoral Symphony’ segment of the classic 1940 Disney film Fantasia, which shows the stunning character in a full-length pose holding a classical ewer as she pours wine into the goblet of her unseen master, Bacchus. Accomplished in graphite and colored pencil on untrimmed 15.5 x 12.5 animation paper marked "E72" in the lower right corner; the lower left is stamped "Prod. 2004, Seq. 4.3, Scene 25." Total character image measures 7.5 x 6.5. In very good to fine condition, with a uniform block of toning from prior display, short tears to edges, and scattered creasing, mostly contained to the borders; the attractive drawing remains unaffected.
While creating the mythological characters for the ‘Pastoral Symphony’ segment of Fantasia, Disney’s story artists came up with an idea for Black Centaurs and Centaurettes of ‘African origin.’ The character artists envisioned the Black Centaurs and Centaurettes as being similar to their Caucasian counterparts, only instead of being half-horse, they would have zebra-striped bodies. In the end, only two made it into the film; both were female, and both acted as servants to Bacchus, the god of wine.
Animation aficionados will no doubt recall there being two other Black Centaurettes – Otika and Sunflower – who Disney artists designed to look part-human and part-donkey. Only the two Zebra Centaurettes, which were sometimes referred to as the ‘Nubian Centaurettes,’ can be found in Disney’s recently released versions of Fantasia.
