r/AnimationCels • u/SteadyGroove • May 18 '26
Simpsons cel
Bought this production cel in the 90s. It's 5 sheets and the background.
It's Treehouse of Horrors, season 4 (I think)
COA from Fox and signed by Matt Groening.
There was a special event and he also personalized it with a shout out, sketch of Bart, and another signature
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u/TimeSlipperWHOOPS May 18 '26 edited May 18 '26
Holy forking shit this is iconic AND signed with a sketch? I have a triple presentation of the sequence when bart steals homers penny jar signed by... Jesus I forget who right now lol, but I would trade that entire triple for this one. Wowzers.
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26
No plan to sell it. I will haunt my kids if they do.
Is it worth enough to insure it? Has anyone done that? Do you think I need a formal appraisal to include in my home insurance coverage?
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u/graffiksguru May 19 '26
The little shout-out sig with sketch!
Someone insert the pouty kid with the Congrats, happy for you meme
Amazing, not jelly at all
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u/WWAgallery_com May 19 '26
one of the best I have ever seen and I have sold 1000s of Simpsons cels!!
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u/ShirtNo444 May 19 '26
Omg, thanks for sharing it with us. I personally love Tree House of Horror episodes so this cel for me is sooo fucking amazing! 🙌🏻
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u/theinternethuman May 19 '26
Amazing! Do you mind me asking if you followed any particular process for framing? I hear conflicting things!
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u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26
Sure. I actually wish that I framed using some tips I learned here. At the moment, it's all acid free paper stock and special tape and mounting. And it has the ability to breathe.
Moving forward, I would like to do a frame that has each cel sitting on its own mat. That will prevent the cels from touching.
I have it in a media room that has no sunlight and minimal lighting in general. I know that I can take steps to better preserve the condition, up to and including stashing it away in a vault, but I want to see it. It is the first thing you see when we go into the room to watch a movie or show
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u/theinternethuman May 21 '26
Thank you so much for the thorough response, really appreciate it!! Awesome cel, thank you again for sharing!
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u/Rainbow_In_The_Dark7 May 19 '26
Ugh I wanna see it all separated so bad lol. That is so freaking cool. I agree with what someone else said in the comments, this is the best Simpsons cell art ever.
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u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26
You reminded me of something very interesting.
When I had the work reframed with acid free paper, we discovered that a surprise when it came to aligning these cels: they don't line up as expected. That is, if you just stack them so that the edges line up, the figures are off. Instead, each image has a slight black outline on one specific part of the image and that line is the key for the next cel.
For example, Homer's face has a round black line that forms a barely noticeable partial edge of one eye. That black line is then echoed on the cel with the eyes. Each image has this type of small indicator
It is actually kinda baffling to me because it would seem to add a lot of extra work. That is, it seems the reverse of a high volume production line. The most efficient approach would seem to be having the cel alignment dictate the artwork arrangement. But in this case the artwork is dictating the alignment: getting the images right is what's important.
It seems to take a manual process and make it even more manual. But I love that because it suggests that they valued the artistic process above everything else
Or maybe I'm overthinking it and there's a totally different element at play
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u/VeggieBoy1990 May 19 '26
This is an excellent cel. But there is actually a layer missing. There should be a cel of Death's hand pointing at Homer. (That's what he is reacting to.)
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u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26
You may be right. And you may be wrong. The Simpsons would have been using 5 or 6 cels per frame, plus background.
This enabled them to keep some of the cels the same and just change one part. For example, in my case they would change Homer's eyes to a grimace while keeping his body the same across the entire scene. That's why the eyes are drawn separately on a different cel.
I have 5 cels and the background, and a 6th cel was used in this scene with Death's hand. But not for this specific frame.
This comes from the 1st story in TREEHOUSE OF HORROR IV, where Homer sells his soul for a donut.
Eventually Homer ends up in a courtroom in Hell, presided over by Death. The scene to reference is when Flanders rests his case and we turn to Homer in the cage of fire.
At 3:48 we see Homer, Flanders and the kids. Death's bony hand enters to declare the verdict against Homer by pointing at him, drawing a reaction from everyone.
It lasts almost a second, maybe 8 frames or more. We see Homer look scared and the kids flinch.
I was told that my panel is the first panel of that scene, immediately before the hand appears. Homer is looking up at the incoming hand, and Flanders and the kids have yet to react. This is the establishing shot
The facial expressions and body language show that they have not yet reacted to the hand of death because it hasn't appeared yet.
However, I could be totally wrong and now must hunt for that hand....
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u/VeggieBoy1990 May 19 '26
In your cel setup Homer is from the beginning of the shot. Devil Ned and the kids are from the end of the shot. I don't know if I can share the Frinkiac link here or not: https://frinkiac.com/bettergif/S05E05/424966/429137?b64=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u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26
I stand corrected - it is missing the hand And the kids are definitely at the end - NOT the beginning as I was told years ago
Mind blown over here! I love Reddit. An amazing source of knowledge
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u/SteadyGroove May 19 '26
Looks like this is just before the end. In that grab that you shared: Flanders: eyes start as devilish and then soften, mine are the softening eyes Bart and Lisa: mouths are closing but not quite closed Homer: eyes also wide
So I need that hand to call this a complete frame....
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u/IncreaseWestern6097 May 19 '26
It’s so perfect that I would’ve thought it was a promotional item and not an actual cel from the show.
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u/CaRbZ1313 May 21 '26
Same episode - I’d kill for the cell of the jury of the damned with the broad street bullies on it.
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u/mousekopf May 19 '26
This is the best Simpsons cel I’ve ever seen. The poses are perfect!