|
Going by the scans included in the article, that layout is in rough shape. Yes, I realize it's from 1989, but the tape burn and yellowing around the edges tells me that this was not properly cared for. That's a sad statement assuming that this was something stored in the Ghibli vaults and only taken out for exhibits and things of that nature.
As an anime production art collector, it's hard to see things improperly stored like this. You'd think that someone, years ago, would have waded through that collection and gone through it with long term preservation in mind. While not a reality for most productions due to preservation costs and the time it takes to properly care and store them, I would have thought that someone at Ghibli would have realized the value of this artwork years ago when resale values were hitting the low thousands.
Backgrounds have always been one of my more favorite things to collect. I think they're the unsung heroes of the genre. There's so much focus on the movement aspect that little attention is ever paid to those who spend hours creating something that might only ever be on the screen for a second, if that. And while a lot of background artwork is fairly generic, like random sky backgrounds and those monotone ones used during close-ups, there's also a lot of variety too. Unfortunately, most of this artwork was discarded over the years.
|