Getty Conservation Institute and Disney to Study Animation Cel Deterioration
By STAN PARCHIN
February 24, 2010
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| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cel (1937). © Disney Enterprises, Inc. |
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| Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Cel (detail) (1937). © Disney Enterprises, Inc. |
The celluloid world of fairies, witches and magical potions created by American film producer Walt Disney (1901-1966) is in danger of vanishing. So the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) announced today its partnership with the Disney Animation Research Library (ARL), home to some 65 million pieces of animation art, to study deterioration in plastics. This problem is occurring in the cels of many of the studio's cinematic features produced over more than the last 80 years. The joint Preservation of Plastics project is expected to last through 2012.
GCI Senior Scientist Tom Learner said, “Knowledge of how best to treat and stabilize artwork containing plastic is relatively new territory for the conservation profession. The Disney Animation Research Library’s collection of animation cels is recognized as a highly important part of 20th-century culture. Our hope is to work with ARL to better understand the changes that can occur in cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate over time, and to improve ways of preserving not only Disney’s animation cels, but also any object made from the same types of plastic.”
The ARL is the world's largest archive of animation art and related materials. Despite its state-of-the-art storage facilities, some of the Disney cels show serious signs of deterioration, including yellowing, warping, cracking and the artist's paint pulling away from the plastic support. Two movies affected by the problem are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Fantasia (1940). Scientists at the GCI will develop methods to identify the kinds of plastics used in the cels, monitor their condition and examine their physical and thermal properties.
The landmark study extends to modern and contemporary art because many works produced in the last 50 to 60 years were created using plastic. A number of them now show signs of aging that require conservation.