Bidding for this lot will end on Friday, December 5th. The auction will begin at 3:00PM GMT (7:00AM PST) and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Saturday, December 6th or Sunday, December 7th.

Two concept sketches of the McFly family hand-drawn by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) visual effects art director John Bell during early pre-production on Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future Part II. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) met his family - including his son, Marty, Jr. (Fox) and daughter, Marlene (Fox) - when he travelled to the year 2015.

These sketches originate from the collection of renowned effects maestro Bell, who designed the 2015 hoverboards for the film in addition to several other key effects elements. In 1986, Bell was hired to produce concept artwork depicting a futuristic Hill Valley - including these pieces featuring its future inhabitants - years before the film went into full pre-production. Bell ultimately received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Visual Effects for his work.

One sketch depicting Marty, Jr., 1985 Marty, and "47 YR Old Marty" is dated "6.86.," while the sketch identifying McFly's children as "Monica" and "Maxwell" is dated "7.86" and annotated with notes regarding their behaviour and futuristic style of dress, such as "possibly arrogant" and "living fat off of daddies [sic] money." Both are rendered in mixed media and signed and annotated in graphite by Bell on paper-backed cut-outs.

Dimensions: (each) 35.75 cm x 21.75 cm (14" x 8.5")

Sold without copyright; see notice in the Terms and Conditions.

Estimate: £2,000 - 4,000 Ω


Effects maestro John Bell's first major credit was as a storyboard artist for Industrial Light and Magic on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in 1986. Within two years, Bell had become ILM's effects art director, a role for which he designed and illustrated props, sets, and sequences for an outsized number of classic films. For Robert Zemeckis' Back to the Future Part II, he designed the 2015 hoverboards flown by Marty McFly and Biff Tannen, earning him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Effects in 1990. He would follow that achievement with a string of acclaimed projects, including as art director for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park franchise, production illustrator for A.I. Artificial Intelligence, storyboard artist for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Best Picture nominee The Revenant, and visual development consultant for George Lucas' Strange Magic, among several dozen other credits. In honor of John Bell's continued work on behalf of global cinema, Propstore is proud to offer select memorabilia from this legendary craftsman's personal collection to the public for the first time.


View all lots from BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (1989)

View all lots from John Bell Collection

View all lots from BACK TO THE FUTURE - ALL ITEMS