LOT #17066 |
Sold on Dec 13, 2025 for: Sign-in
or Join (free & quick)
Know Your Enemy: Japan Concept/Layout Drawings Group of 4 with A Few Quick Facts Soldier Animation/Model D... (Total: 5 Items)
Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
Sold on Dec 13, 2025 for:
$408.00
Bid Source: HA.com/Live bidder
Description
Know Your Enemy: Japan Concept/Layout Drawings Group of 4 with A Few Quick Facts Soldier Animation/Model Drawing (Walt Disney, c. 1945). Disney aims to help win the war with this unique group consisting of 4 concept/layout drawings created for 1945 propaganda documentary film Know Your Enemy: Japan joined by an animation drawing of a soldier from one of the A Few Quick Facts series' films, all of which come from the personal archive of Disney Legend Ken O'Connor (1908 - 1998). The U.S. military was well aware of the power that knowledge held in the Second World War, and so sought to educate its servicemen through the use of training films under the guidance of the Army Signal Corps powered by the formation of the 18th AAF Base Unit (also known as the Motion Picture Unit) with many films directed by Frank Capra. During that time, O'Connor contributed his talents to the First Motion Picture Unit alongside other prominent Hollywood animators from various studios including work on the famous Disney-produced propaganda film Victory Through Air Power. The 4 heavily rendered pastel/charcoal concept layout drawings in this lot appear to have been created for the Capra-directed 1945 film Know Your Enemy: Japan which explored Japanese society and history of imperial rule. These concepts all feature layout blocking with similar image areas averaging approximately 10.5" x 8" and include an extreme closeup of a Japanese man's face, three ominous figures looming over a smaller crouches figure with a hinted floating pair of eyes, a stylistic octopus, and heavily armed sailing ships (likely from the end of Japanese isolationism); the majority of these images correlate to similar storyboard panels seen on known Disney studio prints for the feature. Rounding out the lot is a soldier's animation/model drawing from one of the films in the A Few Quick Facts series. This series contained at least eight shorts by various studios released from 1944-46 with Disney known to have produced at least two. Identified only as Scene 3 of Production #4013, the specific title of this short remains unknown; the featured soldier has been rendered in graphite and colored pencil to a full-figure character size of 2.75" x 6.75". Each piece in this lot has been drafted on a standard sheet of 12 field 5-peghole animation paper with the sailing ships' trimmed slightly and staple-mounted to a matching black animation sheet. With typical handling and edge wear including faint age-related toning, pinholes, minor smudging, some peghole reinforcement, and the noted trimming/staple-mounting, overall this remarkable World War II collection is in Good to Very Good condition.From the Ken O’Connor Archive.
Auction Info
2025 December 12 - 15 The Art of Disney Signature® Auction #7408 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
12th-15th
Friday-Monday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 9
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 166
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
20% of the successful bid per lot.
Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms
Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More
Terms and Conditions | Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments | Glossary of Terms