DALLAS — Spanning four days and more than 1,500 lots, both the legacy and astonishing vision of Walt Disney proved themselves many times over during this 100-year anniversary of the Walt Disney Company. Heritage Auctions’ Celebrating 100 Years Of Disney: 1923–2023 sale took place June 23-26 and resulted in an overall record-setting animation art auction that brought $4,874,435 with a 100 percent sell-through rate. It was the most successful Animation Art auction ever held, topping Heritage’s August 2021 $4.5 million event; Heritage now has conducted all five of the five largest Animation Art auctions ever.

The highest-priced lot of the event and a record breaker for a Disney artist goes to Mary Blair (American, 1911-1978), the artist, animator and designer who worked at Disney for nearly two decades, starting in the 1940s. Blair is a perennial favorite of collectors, and so it’s no surprise that Heritage set a new auction record with her 1950 Cinderella concept painting, featuring the would-be princess waving goodbye to her Fairy Godmother as she speeds off to the ball in a transformed coach. The hammer came down at $90,000.

For this anniversary event, Blair’s work in fact held six of the top 10 lots sold. Blair’s concept/color key painting from Cinderella of the Duke and princess in a glass-slipper moment sold for $57,600, and her concept painting from Alice in Wonderland, featuring some lyrical mushrooms swaying in the moonlight, sold for $48,000. Blair’s three other artworks among the top sellers include two others from Alice (concept painting, $43,200) and Cinderella (color/key painting, $38,400), and also her concept painting from Peter Pan of a swordfight between Peter and Captain Hook, which sold for $38,400. Prices quoted with buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house. For information, www.ha.com or 214-528-3500.