ART OF ANIMATION WILL BE EXHIBITED

The thousands of painted drawings that let George of the Jungle “watch out for that tree!” or help Mighty Mouse get the best of a renegade cat may not seem like high art to most people, but they are that and more to the International Animated Film Society.

The IAFS, a Hollywood-based, nonprofit organization devoted to animation art, will hold its annual convention-festival in Los Angeles in July. As a warm-up in Orange County, the group has joined with a Fullerton crafts and art gallery to display and sell almost 400 “cels” (industry shorthand for celluloids, the material on which cartoons were originally drawn).

The Blue Frog Gallery’s exhibit, which opens Saturday and continues through May 31, includes cels from more than three decades of cartooning and features both well-known and obscure animated characters. There also will be demonstrations by artists and cel restorers every Saturday.

“This is something that die-hard fans can really appreciate, because we’ve tried to bring in a large variety, but it’s also something for anyone who likes cartoons and wants to remember them,” said Blue Frog owner Joanie Stein.

Among the displayed cels are the familiar Rocky and Bullwinkle team, Tom Slick, Dirty Dawg, Dudley Do-Right, the Flintstones, Mr. Magoo, Popeye, Heckle and Jeckle, and the Smurfs.

There also are characters that only a cartoon connoisseur might recall, like Freeway Duck, Richie Rich, the Bungle Brothers, Connecticut Rabbit, Carnation Rabbit (no relation) and Banjo the Woodpile Cat. Animation from commercials like Captain Crunch and Frankenberry cereals and Starkist Tuna (remember Charley?) are also featured.

Proceeds from cel sales (from $5 to $100 a piece, with most around $20) are to help support the society’s special animation screenings and other programs it offers periodically, said Ross Iwamoto, IAFS’s vice president and one of the show’s organizers.

In putting the cels in perspective, Iwamoto agreed that it would be an exaggeration to mention most animation drawings in the same breath with an etching by German engraver Albrecht Durer or an illustration by N.C. Wyeth, father of American painter Andrew Wyeth. But they are “beautifully artistic” when looked at from a technical standpoint, he said.

“The process for many of them is special, particularly when you get into the detailed working and coloring of backgrounds” in the individual cels, Iwamoto explained. “Many are really well-done. And, of course, they stand up as art for someone who likes Rocky and Bullwinkle and wants an original, colorful picture to hang in the den.”

Stein emphasized that all the cels are originals and were used in creating the actual cartoons or commercials.

Considering how many cels are needed to make a cartoon (12 cels account for one second of action; as many as 18,000 are used for a half-hour episode), it might seem that there would be a surplus of the drawings available for collectors. But Iwamoto said that is not necessarily the case.

Studios routinely destroy cels, even the older, presumably more valuable ones, because of storage limitations, he explained. This, in turn, limits the number that make it into the public domain.

“There are quite a few available now because a lot of people are interested, and they keep turning up. There are more collectors now than ever before,” he said. “But it’s certainly not like there’s an unlimited number of cels out there (and) there may be fewer from some of the (older) programs as time goes by.”

In addition to rarity, the value of an individual drawing comes from various factors, including age, who created it (cels from the Disney features are probably the most sought after) and the quality of the drafting, inking and coloring. But the more intangible elements, like the cartoon’s popularity, also play an important role, Iwamoto said.

Cels of Rocky and Bullwinkle always garner a high price because the show, with its blend of wry adult humor and inventive animation, appealed to a large audience. The Blue Frog exhibit features several drawings of the diminutive squirrel and his moose sidekick.

Besides the many cels, Stein believes the weekend demonstrations may find an appreciative audience. One of the showcased programs will feature Libby Simon, a veteran cel artist who has worked on the “Garfield in Paradise” television special as well as commercials and other shows using animation.

Simon, who will demonstrate painting techniques from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9, characterized good animation as “moving art . . . (a) very beautiful thing when done right and with loving attention.”

But at the same time, Simon said the quality of cartoons, for the most part, has dropped significantly in recent years. Much of the detailed work formerly done by hand is now being done by computers, which cannot match the artist’s expertise, she said.

“I’m not a real fan of some of the stuff that’s coming out now,” she said. “Much of the stuff you see Saturday mornings, the super hero shows and the like, is terribly stilted and sterile and uninteresting . . . it lacks that personal touch.”

There is some good news, though. Simon noted that a few studios are still creating good cartoons, offering the recent Steven Spielberg-produced “An American Tail” as an example.

The interest among collectors and the general public in both older and more recent animation cels also gratifies Simon, who added that it does not surprise her.

“That appreciation is because animation has brought, and continues to bring, entertainment into people’s lives . . . I think it’s wonderful that it’s being recognized for what it is.”