View source for Cel

{{Short description|Transparent sheet used in animation}}
{{Other uses|CEL (disambiguation)}}
{{Confused|Cell (disambiguation){{!}}Cell}}
[[File:File-Inkandpaint.jpg|thumb|Painting with [[acrylic paint]] on the reverse side of an already inked cel.]]

A '''cel''', short for ''[[celluloid]]'', is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for [[traditional animation|traditional, hand-drawn animation]]. Actual celluloid (consisting of [[cellulose nitrate]] and [[camphor]]) was used during the first half of the 20th century. Since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable, celluloid was largely replaced by [[cellulose acetate]] ([[cellulose diacetate]] and [[ cellulose triacetate]]) and polyester.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Giachet | first1=Miriam Truffa | last2=Schilling | first2=Michael | last3=McCormick | first3=Kristen | last4=Mazurek | first4=Joy | last5=Richardson | first5=Emma | last6=Khanjian | first6=Herant | last7=Learner | first7=Tom | title=Assessment of the composition and condition of animation cels made from cellulose acetate | journal=Polymer Degradation and Stability | date=2014 | volume=107 | pages=223–230 | doi=10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2014.03.009 | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141391014000913 | doi-access=free }}</ref> With the advent of computer-assisted animation production (also known as digital ink and paint), the use of cels has been all but [[obsolescence|obsolete]] in major productions. [[Walt Disney Animation Studios]] stopped using cels in 1990, when [[Computer Animation Production System]] (CAPS) replaced this element in their animation process.<ref name=Magazine1>{{cite magazine |last=Coulson|first=William R. |title=The Art of Disney and Sotheby's |magazine=[[Animation Magazine]] |date=January 1995 |volume=8 |issue=2 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTERAQAAMAAJ&q=%22On+Saturday%2C+February+11%2C+1995%2C+Sotheby%E2%80%99s+in+New+York+City%2C+will+continue+what+has+fast+become+an+animation+art+%E2%80%9Ctradition%E2%80%9D+by+holding+an+auction+of+over+250+production+backgrounds+overlaid+with+specially+created+cels%2C+from+Disney%E2%80%99s+most+recent+animation+smash%2C+The+Lion+King.%22 |access-date=2017-03-19 |issn=1041-617X |quote=Disney’s next animation smash was The Little Mermaid - the last Disney feature to utilize hand-painted acetate cels... Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s next hit animation feature, was the first to use, instead of hand-painted cels, Disney’s “CAPS” computer-generated characters.}}</ref> In the next decade and a half, other  animation studios phased cels out as well in favor of digital ink and paint.

== Technique ==
[[File:Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Original Theatrical Trailer 1) 1937 (La Blancaneu).ogv|thumb|The trailer for ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' shows animation cels and their backgrounds being handled.]]

Generally, the characters are drawn and painted on cels and laid over a static background painting or drawing. This reduces the number of times an image has to be redrawn and enables [[studio]]s to split up the production process to different specialised [[team]]s. Using this [[assembly line]] way to animate has made it possible to produce [[film]]s much more cost-effectively. The invention of the [[wikt:technique|technique]] is generally attributed to [[Earl Hurd]], who patented the process in 1914.

The outline of the images are drawn on the front of the cel while colors are painted on the back to eliminate brushstrokes. Traditionally, the outlines were hand-inked, but since the 1960s they are almost exclusively [[xerography|xerographed]] on. Another important breakthrough in cel animation was the development of the [[APT process|Animation Photo Transfer Process]], first seen in ''[[The Black Cauldron (film)|The Black Cauldron]]'', released in 1985.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McCall|first1=Douglas L.|title=The Black Cauldron|journal=Film Cartoons: A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts|date=1998|page=15|quote=[The Black Cauldron was] The first film to utilize Disney's revolutionary Animation Photo Transfer Process, which transfers drawings to cells with greater speed and resolution than the usual Xeroxing Method;}}</ref>

Typically, an animated feature would require over 100,000 hand-painted cels.<ref name=Magazine2>{{cite journal|last1=Coulson|first1=William R.|title=The Art of Disney and Sotheby's|journal=Animation Magazine|date=January 1995|volume=8|issue=2|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTERAQAAMAAJ&q=%22On+Saturday%2C+February+11%2C+1995%2C+Sotheby%E2%80%99s+in+New+York+City%2C+will+continue+what+has+fast+become+an+animation+art+%E2%80%9Ctradition%E2%80%9D+by+holding+an+auction+of+over+250+production+backgrounds+overlaid+with+specially+created+cels%2C+from+Disney%E2%80%99s+most+recent+animation+smash%2C+The+Lion+King.%22|access-date=March 19, 2017|issn=1041-617X|quote=A cel-animated feature requires over 100,000 hand-painted cels, so from Beauty there was obviously far less production artwork.}}</ref>

== Collector's items ==
Production cels were sometimes sold after the animation process was completed. More popular shows and movies commanded higher prices for the cels, with some selling for thousands of dollars.

Some cels are not used for actual production work, but may be a "special" or "[[limited edition]]" version of the artwork, sometimes even printed ("[[lithography|lithographed]]") instead of hand-painted. These normally do not fetch as high a price as original "under-the-camera" cels, which are true [[collectable|collector's item]]s. Some unique cels have fetched record prices at art auctions. For example, a large "[[panorama|pan]]" cel depicting numerous characters from the finale of ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' sold for $50,600 at [[Sotheby's]] in 1989, including its original background.<ref name=Magazine3>{{cite journal|last1=Coulson|first1=William R.|title=The Art of Disney and Sotheby's|journal=Animation Magazine|date=January 1995|volume=8|issue=2|page=72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTERAQAAMAAJ&q=%22On+Saturday%2C+February+11%2C+1995%2C+Sotheby%E2%80%99s+in+New+York+City%2C+will+continue+what+has+fast+become+an+animation+art+%E2%80%9Ctradition%E2%80%9D+by+holding+an+auction+of+over+250+production+backgrounds+overlaid+with+specially+created+cels%2C+from+Disney%E2%80%99s+most+recent+animation+smash%2C+The+Lion+King.%22|access-date=March 19, 2017|issn=1041-617X|quote=Prices at the Roger Rabbit sale went through the roof.  One cel, depicting a large group of characters, sold for $50,600!}}</ref><ref name="Collect">{{cite news|last1=O'Brian|first1=Dave|title=The Daffy Demand for Cels|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/01/01/the-daffy-demand-for-cels/12f01668-0872-4301-8f0f-749676732bef/|access-date=March 19, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 1, 1990}}</ref>

[[Disney Store]]s sold production cels from ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (their last film to use cels) at prices from $2,500 to $3,500, without the original backgrounds. Lithographed "sericels" from the same film were $250, with edition sizes of 2,500–5,000 pieces.<ref>''Disney Store Catalog'', June 1993</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Cel shading]], a [[non-photorealistic rendering]] method of computer graphics to give it a feeling that it is drawn on a cel
* [[Traditional animation]]: information about the process of using cels to produce animation and has a section about cels and xerography, APT, etc.

== References ==
<references/>

{{Animation}}

[[Category:1914 introductions]]
[[Category:Animation technology]]
[[Category:History of animation]]