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Thursday, June 11, 2015

Maid Marian and Lady Kluck Production Cel and Production Background from "Robin Hood," 1973


Original hand painted production cel of Maid Marian and Lady Kluck numbered 135 in ink lower right; Placed on an original master hand-painted production background with original line overlay cel from "Robin Hood," 1973; Disney seal lower left; Double Matted; Size - Maid Marian & Lady Kluck 7 x 8 1/2", Image 10 x 14", Background 12 1/2 x 16".


"Robin Hood" was the twenty-first full length animated film released by Walt Disney Studios on November 8, 1973. Robin Hood's love interest in the film is Maid Marian; based on the character from the actual Robin Hood legend. Marian, like all the characters in the Disney film is an anthropomorphic animal, in this case a vixen. Cels of the character are rare in comparison to Robin Hood because she is only in the film for approximately 30 minutes. Marian is a wonderful character, who not only shows love for Robin Hood, but she invites and plays with the children inside the walls of the royal castle.   She was voiced by Monica Evans, while Nancy Adams did her singing voice for the song "Love".


 Maid Marian and Lady Kluck production cel on production background with production numbers.

The great Walt Disney animator Milt Kahl was the animator for Maid Marian. Monica Evans the voice actress for Maid Marian was paired with Carolle Shelley the voice actress for her hen lady-in-waiting, Lady Kluck. The voice actress pair had previously worked together in "The Aristocats," 1970, as the voices for the pair of geese Abigail and Amelia Gabble.


Full production background with overlay cel showing bottom production numbers.

After "Sleeping Beauty," 1959, there was no longer hand inking of the lines on the tops of the cel; rather this was done by a process called xerography. This new process saved time and money and allowed for more details to be added to the characters. Such is the case for not only this cel of Maid Marian and Lady Kluck, but also for this background. The background is an original hand painted watercolor background, but in addition there is the original production line overlay cel; which contains all the black outlines for the background's various features. The line overlay cel was created through xerography and allows for much more detail for example; the trees and shrubs now contain black line highlights for branches, tree trunks, and leaves. The resulting work of art is a very detailed and wonderful animation set-up showcasing the great animators attention to every detail.


Production cel of Maid Marian and Lady Kluck.

Lady Kluck is a wonderful character and functions as the lady-in-waiting of Maid Marian. In contrast to the ladylike Marian, Kluck is very energetic and feisty. She is very loyal to Marian, speaks with a distinct accent, most likely Scottish; and advises Marian on her love for Robin Hood. In this wonderful cel setup, Marian is embracing Lady Kluck and both characters are eyes open. The original hand painted production cel is placed on an original hand painted production background with it's matching original overlay production cel. The result is a fantastic cel setup that has been double matted.


Double matted production cel and production background setup.

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