This just in from Heritage Auctions:

[Classic ‘Lady and the Tramp’ animation cel paces Animation Art Auction in Dallas

At Heritage Auctions, Dec. 13-14, 2015; featuring rare and iconic Disney animation, “Simpsons” couch gags cels, Superfriends, Bugs Bunny and more

DALLAS – An outstanding hand-inked, hand-painted Lady and the Tramp Production Cel with Master Pan Background Setup (Walt Disney, 1955) is expected to prove why vintage Disney is still king when it comes to original animation art and possibly bring $35,000+ as the centerpiece of Heritage Auctions’ Dec. 13-14. 2015 Animation Art Signature® Auction.

“It's simply the most iconic image from the entire movie and one of the most beloved of all Disney images,” said Jim Lentz, Director of Animation Art at Heritage Auctions, “in the scene where Tramp takes Lady on a romantic date in the alley behind Tony's Ristorante for dinner. The spaghetti kiss is one of the sweetest scenes ever filmed in a cartoon.”

Another early Disney lot will inspire equal passion in the hearts of collectors as an extremely rare hand-inked, hand-painted black and white Mickey Mouse “Mickey's Man Friday/Monkey Melodies” Production Cel and Production Background Setup (Walt Disney, 1935/1930), a throwback to the earliest days of the Disney empire, is expected to bring $35,000+. As well.

One of the finest black and white Mickey setups to show up at auction in recent memory, the (extremely rare) 12 field nitrate hand-inked, hand-painted black and white cel features a fantastic action shot of a full body Mickey from the Dave Hand directed theatrical short released on Jan. 5, 1935, one of Mickey's last B&W theatrical shorts. The background is from the 1930 black and white Silly Symphony short “Monkey Melodies,” released on Sept. 26, 1930.

A modern classic offers a worthy rivalry to the Disney ascendency at the top of the auction as a Production Cel Setup from one of the most notable Simpsons Couch Gags (Fox, 1993), a hand-painted cel of the entire Simpson family from the “Rosebud” episode, the "Citizen Kane" parody that guest-starred The Ramones, is estimated at $25,000+. The opening credits to every episode of The Simpsons ends with a unique "Couch Gag" showing the family rushing to find their seats in front of the TV. This time, another "Simpsons" family has beaten them to it. The gag has since been used for syndicated reruns of the first five seasons.

Collectors and animation fans going deeper into the auction will delight to find treasures from across all eras of animation available, including an extraordinary 1941 “Superman – Mad Scientist” original hand-painted production cel of the mad scientist’s buzzard assistant on a Key Master hand-painted production background of the lab – a cel from the very first Max Fleischer Superman cartoon (estimate $10,000+) along with a superb and rare Popeye and Wimpy Production Cel with Production Background (Max Fleischer, 1937) from the cartoon “Organ Grinders Swing” (estimate: $5,000+), an Alex Toth Challenge of the Super Friends Bumper Card Original Art and Episode Title Card Production Cel Group of 2 (Hanna-Barbera, 1978), sure to appeal to Gen-X collectors (estimate: $5,000+) and two superlative cels from Warner Brother’s 1957 classic “What’s Opera Doc,” one with Bugs Bunny as the comely Brünnhilde and the other with Elmer Fudd as Siegfried (estimate: $5,000+).

Further Disney highlights include, but are not limited to:

Mickey Mouse Fantasia "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" Production Cel Courvoisier Setup and Framed Award Letter Group of 2 (Walt Disney, 1940): Mickey Mouse cels as the Sorcerer's Apprentice (his most famous role) are highly sought by collectors. Best of all, this cel features an authentic Walt Disney signature – very hard to obtain! Estimate: $25,000+.

Mary Blair Peter Pan Peter Pan and Tinker Bell Concept Art (Walt Disney, 1953): A masterpiece from one of Disney’s greatest conceptual artists. Estimate: $15,000+.

Eyvind Earle Sleeping Beauty Dragon Concept Painting (Walt Disney, 1959): Fantastic original concept/color key painting of Maleficent as a dragon from the dramatic finale of the film, painted by one of the greatest Disney artists of them all. Estimate: $11,000+.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Publicity Drawing by Fred Moore (Walt Disney, 1937): An original one-of-a-kind oversized publicity drawing of Snow White and all seven Dwarfs from the hand of Fred Moore, one of Disney’s original “Seven Old Men.” Estimate: $10,000+.

Pinocchio at Disneyland Pinocchio, Gepetto, and Figaro Animatronic Figures (Walt Disney, 1960s): A very rare chance to actually own a part of Disneyland, an original Pinocchio-themed animatronics display of Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Figaro the cat celebrating Pinocchio becoming a real boy! This was originally on display in a window on Main Street, in Disneyland. Estimate: $5,000+.

Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse Animation Drawing (Walt Disney, 1928): A pair of 12 field 2-peghole animation drawings by Ub Iwerks of a “Full Figure” Mickey Mouse and Pete from this historic piece of cartoon history – Mickey’s very first sound-synced cartoon. A true piece of animation history. Estimate: $5,000+.

Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of approximately $900 million, and 950,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.]