Matted & Framed LE 1976 Filmation STAR TREK Animation Cel U.S.S. ENTERPRISE For Sale

Beginning in September 1973, Star Trek came back on NBC television not as a live action production but in the form of a Saturday morning animated series. Filmation Animation produced a total of twenty-two half-hour episodes of an animated version of Star Trek. Known as “Star Trek: The Animated Series” it lasted two seasons with the first sixteen episodes shown during the 1973-74 season and the last six airing the following fall beginning in 1974.

Over time, original hand-painted animation cels from the show made it into the hands of collectors. Those fortunate enough to acquire one of these original used in the production of the show possess a real piece of Star Trek history. Others not so lucky (like me) had to settle for period reproductions of cels that were licensed and sold by Filmation and Roddenberry’s Norway Productions.

In 1976 after the animated series had completed its run on NBC, Filmation offered “original hand-painted ‘cels’” as used in the production of the Emmy-winning show. Yes, the animated series finally allowed Star Trek to win a coveted Emmy in 1975 for “Outstanding Entertainment” in a children’s series.

These special cels were painted on celluloid from drawings created by Filmation’s studio artists. Bantam books sold them after including an ad that appeared in the 1977 Star Trek novel “Planet of Judgement.”Roddenberry’s Lincoln Enterprise also sold them. In purchasing these, you could choose from cels depicting various scenes from the Star Trek animated series. Each cel came mounted on a 14”x18” mat folder, overlayed on a multi-colored background scene from the series. Each cel was numbered and authenticated from the studio.

As fans quickly figured out, the scenes being offered were not true clips from the series but, as the Bantam ad said, cels “as used” in the series. This was especially apparent when the buyer saw the numbered-out-of-so-many stamp in the lower right corner of each drawing. No two cels were alike because they were hand painted but they were reproduced in mass from images “as used” but not actually used from the original animated series.

The cels being offered by Fimation were a form of animation art called “Sericel,” or “Serigraphic Cel.” The linework for these cels is Xeroxed onto celluoid and then the colored paintwork is filled in either by hand on the reverse side by the artist or the applied by silk screen. Sericels are still being created and sold today to collectors by Disney and others in limited and unlimited editions.

Because it is the 50th anniversary of the Star Trek animated series, I am offering for sale one of my Filmation hand-painted cels depicting a scene of the Enterprise orbiting a planet. This is a Limited Edition cel #145/400 and is marked as shown with a seal from Filmation. The quality of the painting is excellent as you can see the brush strokes in the cel. I can also see the Xerox lines printed on the celluoid. The cel is overlaid on top of a colored printed background as shown.

I had the cel professional matted and framed.The cel is mounted on a matte that measures 17" x 15" in size. The image area measures 12"x8." The larger outer matte measures 18"x21". The wooden frame with glass measures 21"x24."

Please feel free to ask any questions.

Your order will be professional packaged to prevent breakage/damage during shipping.