Cel Talk 11 - Tim Campbell on preservation and the Disney archives

Love these longer episodes for listening at work👍Another great episode

If you compare the current conditions of each cel with how they were presumably stored by the previous owner for how long, it becomes pretty clear the most important factor is the storage environment... And ironically, cels that came from casual collectors (especially in high humidity/temp areas like Japan) are usually in better condition, as long as they didn't display it and just stored it in shelves or closets of their air-conditioned bedrooms without an airtight seal. You can also take a lot of hints from how cellulose acetate films have been stored, and there have been a lot more research effort in that regard. I've posted them on my IG as well.

What I'm curious to know is how the other materials that were stored with the cels, as well as the paint, affects the deterioration. It is a common knowledge that storing multiple cels in a same bag will accelerate that, but there are always more damage in cels without any paint, like a Kabuse layer. There are even cases where a kabuse cel was completely sour and wrinkled, but the base layer (with much more paint) was totally fine with no smell. Also, when the cel is stuck to the background, that seems to slow down the fading of the tracelines, although it doesn't seem to affect the cellulose breakdown that cause the sour smell. That probably depends on how acidic the paper that's stuck on the cel is, but it is very interesting to observe to say the least.

The other topic is how to stop or slow down the break down/acidification of the cels..

I love hearing these back stories. These videos deserve to be archived.

So much good information in these…I really wish these videos had been around when I started collecting 10 years ago. These vids will be a gold mine for new collectors (as they are for those of us who have been in it for a while)

This was terrific! Thanks so much!

Animation Cel Talk, I need your expert advice to fix an issue regarding animation cells. Is there a place where I can talk to you other than in the comments section?

Great interview! Thanks!

I've been wanting to purchase a cel for years from Batman the Animated series. I finally got one from my wife for my anniversary. Ever since then I've been consumed by Animation Cels lol

Thanks for the fun video. I just subscribed