(Walt Disney Studios, 1940) An unprecedented collection of 47 original rough production drawings of Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio by acclaimed Disney character animator Preston Blair. The sequence is numbered 12 through 112 and depicts Jiminy Cricket in a full-length pose that shows him twirling his umbrella, fixing his ascot, and strolling towards the sheet’s center, a walking motion punctuated by a playful heel-clicking jump. Each drawing is accomplished in graphite on an untrimmed sheet of 12 x 10 animation paper marked in the lower right corner with its respective sequence number, the majority of which are odd-numbered. The number list is as follows: 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25, 29, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 57, 59, 61, 63, 67, 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104, 106, 108, 110, and 112. In overall fine condition, with intersecting folds and light uniform blocks of toning to the first six sheets; the balance features the occasional small crease or mark. A marvelous assemblage of rough production drawings created by Blair to help finalize Jiminy Cricket’s now iconic appearance and movements.
Accompanied by a typed letter from Ramsay Harris dated November 17, 1964, which directly mentions this lot: “The other day I ran across your sequence of rough drawings of Jiminy Cricket doing his little dance with the umbrella. You certainly can catch the spirit of those movements, Preston you old animator. Remember doing hippos and crocodiles beside the Salton Sea?”
From The Ramsay Harris Collection.
