Studio Ghibli and Akira anime movie cels up for bid in Heritage Auctions animation event

Cels and background art from four Hayao Miyazaki-directed Ghibli anime are on offer.

Heritage Auctions bills itself as the world’s largest auction company specializing in collectibles and pop culture memorabilia, and with Japanese animation now enjoying worldwide popularity, that means the U.S.-based company also handles anime art. Over the next few days, Heritage Auctions will be running the latest iteration of its Art of Anime and Everything Cool Auction series, the seventh installment so far, and among the items up for bid are cels and background art from some of the most memorable scenes in theatrical anime history.

Anime cels where the character eyes are visible are generally the most desired, and Studio Ghibli fans will be happy to see that San’s are wide open in the Princess Monoke cel pictured above, which is one of the pieces on offer. The same holds true for young with Kiki in the cel from her very first appearance in Kiki’s Delivery Service.

▼ Just by looking at this, a lot of fans will be able to hear the radio weather report that plays in this scene while Kiki looks up at the sky.

This cel of Satsuki from My Neighbor Totoro conveys, in a single frame, the worry that she felt while looking for her lost sister Mei and the feeling of joyous relief when Totoro and the Catbus help find her…

…while this one from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, with the gentle expression conveyed by the titular heroine’s eyes while most of her face is covered by a gas mask, serves as a visual metaphor for the movie’s central theme of finding a non-destructive way to survive in a harsh environment.

Shifting to another source of landmark animated cinema, creator Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira is represented by a pair of cels featuring Kaneda and two of the anime movie’s most memorable props, his motorcycle and laser rifle.

Art of Anime and Everything Cool Auction Volume VII is scheduled for October 17 to 21, but times for individual pieces vary, and the list of items which can be currently bid on can be found on the Heritage Auctions website here.

Source, images: PR Times
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