Our childhood was enchanted by Chuck Jones imaginative cartoon characters, and enriched by their fun and unique stories. Diehard fans of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote now have the special opportunity to bring back those happy childhood memories in the form of original artwork representing rare sketches of these beloved characters.
The drawings will be sold by Heritage Auctions on February 21, during its inaugural Animation Art Signature Auction at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion, at 5th Avenue and 2 East 79th Street, New York. Over 20 remarkable lots will be offered at the event, this being the first time since the 1990s that the artist’s family has released new sketches for public auctions.
We believe that the most coveted work will be an early Wile E. Coyote concept sketch, dating back to the 1950s. It was one of Jones’ first drawings of the character, from the time that he was still trying to figure out what the poor coyote would look like. This drawing is expected to fetch at least $10,000. The list of rare works by Chuck Jones also includes the following:
– An original Crawford daily comic strip from May 2, 1978 (expected to go for $5,000)
– A beautiful watercolor painting of Pepe LePew ($20,000)
– An Elmer Fudd production drawing in Viking outfit from the 1957 What’s Opera Doc ($5,000)
– A Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck sketch, in which the latter pulls Bugs out of a magician’s hat, by the ears ($4,000).
