Bidding for this lot will end on Friday, March 27th. The auction will begin at 2:00 PM (PDT) / 5:00 PM (EDT) / 9:00 PM (GMT) 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 Wednesday, March 25th or Thursday, March 26th.
Certified by Michael C. Gross, Associate Producer and Art Director of the film, this special portfolio brings together original hand-painted production cels from across Heavy Metal's major segments, assembled at the time of release and accompanied by Gross's signed certificate of authenticity. Although this portfolio may not be representative of all the sequences in the film, it is a truly remarkable collection.
Heavy Metal arrived in August 1981 and changed what people thought animation could be. Produced simultaneously across studios in London, Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles, each of the film's eight segments animated in its own distinct visual style, it remains one of the most ambitious productions in the history of the medium. Forty-plus years on, its influence on adult animation, science fiction cinema, and the relationship between comics and film is still being traced.
Collection highlights include:
- Hanover Fiste mid-rampage (Captain Sternn segment, Boxcar Animation Studios), the transformed, muscle-bound witness who reduced the courtroom to chaos, isolated on a plain blue field
- Katherine Wells (Den segment), the Earth woman transported to Neverwhere, hands clasped, caught between wonder and anxiety
- Gloria at the Pentagon conference table (So Beautiful and So Dangerous), the moment before the abduction that upends her life
- Dr. Anrak and an armed figure with the Loc-Nar glowing green behind them (So Beautiful and So Dangerous)
Two further cels reflect the film's innovative use of photographic production techniques. For the opening Soft Landing sequence, a full-size 1960 Corvette was photographed in high-contrast black and white, printed to acetate, and hand-painted. The space shuttle cel from So Beautiful and So Dangerous was produced the same way, from a detailed scale model.
Intact, certified Heavy Metal portfolio sets almost never reach auction, Most were broken up for individual sale decades ago.
Estimate: $1,000 - 2,000