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An original production drawing of the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Walt Disney, 1937), capturing one of the most dramatic moments in the history of animated film.
The Queen is shown grasping her throat immediately after drinking the potion that will transform her into the Old Hag. It is a moment of pure physical horror, the instant the magic takes hold and the character's regal composure begins to break apart. The drawing is rendered in graphite with red pencil detailing on the crown, the color separation indicating elements designated for different cel levels during the ink and paint process. Production number 70 AA is marked in the lower right corner, and the sheet bears a Management Bond watermark consistent with Disney studio animation paper of this period.
The Evil Queen was animated by Art Babbitt, one of the most gifted and technically accomplished animators of Disney's golden age. Babbitt had already developed the character of Goofy and won an Academy Award for The Country Cousin (1936) before taking on what fellow animator Andreas Deja later described as one of the toughest assignments on the entire film. The Queen had to be beautiful, regal, and restrained in her movement, and yet capable of carrying real menace. Walt Disney and Joe Grant conceived her as a blend of Lady Macbeth and the Big Bad Wolf, with visual influences drawn from Joan Crawford and Gale Sondergaard. Babbitt chose not to rely on rotoscoping for her animation, preferring to draw the character freehand, and it was said that the drawings he made exploring her mouth and eyes alone could wallpaper a room.
The transformation sequence was the most challenging in the film to realize. Walt Disney was insistent that the audience should see and feel the Queen's own reaction as the potion took effect, not simply witness the physical change but understand the experience of it from within. This drawing sits at the heart of that ambition. It is not the poised, commanding Queen of the earlier scenes. It is the moment where vanity meets consequence, and the horror of what she has done to herself begins to register.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature film, and production artwork from it remains among the most historically significant material in the medium. Drawings from the transformation sequence carry particular weight, both for their rarity and for the pivotal role this scene plays in the film's narrative. The Evil Queen holds the distinction of being the first character to speak in a full-length animated film, and she remains, nearly ninety years on, one of the most enduring villains in cinema.
A powerful and rare production drawing from the defining moment of Disney's first and most groundbreaking feature.
Estimate: $1,400 - 2,800