Leslie Combemale 
Well, the cat, as they say, is out of the bag. The John Alvin Art Estate, a collection of over 1000 original pieces by John Alvin is going up for sale as one glorious collection. John Alvin is the cinema artist and creator of over 100 movie posters from the 70s, 80s, and 90s known … Read more
It’s coming to the end of a crazy, often challenging and emotionally intense year, and all these difficulties have really brought home the importance of the family and friends we love. There’s never been a more important time for celebration and choosing joy. This holiday season, the ArtInsights animation and film art guide has everything … Read more
Production designer Stuart Craig died this September after a long journey with Parkinson’s. We remember Stuart Craig for his many contributions to the film world, but especially for his work on the Harry Potter films. Famously saying “how the hell are we going to do this?” after reading the source material, he set about building … Read more
It’s very exciting to see It’s A Peanuts Celebration, such a great new limited edition, which came out on Tuesday after much consideration, work, and reworking on the part of Sandy at Sopwith and Peanuts animation director Larry Leichliter! It has so many great moments we all remember from our favorite Peanuts specials! See if … Read more
I want to tell you about Mary Costa, not just about her career and her importance to Disney animation history, but about the WOMAN. I can do that, because I met her. Even now, as the world seems topsy-turvy, she is what I think of when I think of goodness and the best of humanity. … Read more
I’ve decided to start writing blogs not only about the history and trivia surrounding animation, but also about my own experiences. We just got a collection of original art from The Little Mermaid, and that made me think of my many memories selling art from The Little Mermaid, or, “Selling Under the Sea”… The Little … Read more
A few days ago, I was thinking about my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon. I bet you can’t guess, although it’s true most of my most beloved Bugs cartoons were directed by Chuck Jones. No, it’s not What’s Opera, Doc, considered by many, despite not winning the Oscar the year it was released, to be the … Read more
Imagine my surprise when I discovered NO ONE was having the official 50th celebration of one of my favorite Peanuts animation specials, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. The show premiered on January 28th, 1975, and went on to nominated for an Emmy, against two other Bill Melendez Productions studio releases, It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie … Read more
Disney’s Fantasia, rightly, is one of the most beloved and appreciated films in Disney history. It’s a film I have loved it my whole life. My experience as a gallery owner though is that it’s also been loved by some of my favorite clients at ArtInsights. So often, the smartest and most engaged kids I … Read more
It’s the holidays again, which means I’m not only handling holiday shopping with ArtInsights, but my film critic and journalist hat is on for much of the time! I’m not only the lead contributor to the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and write for the Motion Picture Association’s The Credits, I’m also part of 3 … Read more
The Joker is one of the most iconic characters in pop culture. He’s been leveraged by DC in nearly every merchandising campaign centered on superheroes of the comic company. He’s also been portrayed by some of the best and most talented actors in the many films and tv shows in which he appears. Folks who … Read more
To paraphrase Joni Mitchell, “it’s comin’ on to Halloween”. For film lovers, that means lots of great classic horror. There’s 1922’s Nosferatu, James Whale’s Frankenstein and the other wonderful Universal Monsters, seminal works of the 60s like Hitchcock’s Psycho, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and the best Hammer horror, to 70s and 80s classics … Read more
Assuming you’re a Disney fan overall, your memories and appreciation of Scrooge McDuck, or Uncle Scrooge to his friends and family, largely depends on how old you are. Folks of the “Silent Generation”, all born before 1946, will remember him from his debut comic book in 1947, Christmas on Bear Mountain. Baby Boomers will remember … Read more
Yes, it’s true. I was an SDCC special guest for 2024, and for the geeky among you, it was indeed as cool as it sounds. But let me back up and give you come context about my history with SDCC… The first time I went to San Diego Comic-Con was almost 30 years ago. It … Read more
Talking about doing a “Christmas in July” show all began when we discovered there would be a new limited edition being released based on the Tree Lot scene in the classic and historic 1965 animated Peanuts TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. In case you didn’t know, “CHRISTMAS IN JULY” is an actual thing, and … Read more
So, why talk about Alan Bodner, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Mid Century Mod Art, and the nostalgia of classic TV? Because there’s NEW ART to show and discuss! YAY! As many of you know, I love nostalgia. That’s how I wound up both owning a film and animation art gallery and writing about movies. My knowledge of … Read more
Ok, I’m aware that with this blog title, (ahem: Tom and Jerr) I’m giving a huge clue, but do you have any idea which cartoon character has won (by far) the most Oscars in film history? If you said Mickey Mouse, you’d be wrong. Only one cartoon, 1941’s Lend a Paw, a short in which … Read more
ANDREA ALVIN APPEARS ON THE POPULAR PROPS AND FILM ART PODCAST THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF: Recently, we posted a blog about the discovery and return of Blade Runner art used in the making of the poster for Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi classic. You can read about that HERE. As many of you know, … Read more
Recently, we travelled to LA for WonderCon to present the 10th Women Rocking Hollywood panel. The event is part of the other life of ArtInsights co-owner Leslie Combemale (that’s me!) as a film journalist, writing for the Motion Picture Association and on the Alliance of Women Film Journalist site. I am an enthusiastic supporter of … Read more
Long lost John Alvin Blade Runner art has been recovered in a settlement that represents a landmark win for illustrators and artists’ rights. As many of you know, not only do we sell Disney Fine Art and original production art from cartoons and live action films, Leslie of ArtInsights is also the official representative for … Read more
It’s actually officially spring, and so like the bear with very little brain, i was racking mine to think of the best idea for a blog that celebrated a Disney character that exists in a natural world we’d most enjoy in spring, and of COURSE I realized Winnie the Pooh is the perfect subject! Then … Read more
Those who’ve been reading my blog for a while, or who have collected art through ArtInsights are well aware that Franklin is my favorite HUMAN character…(Snoopy is my favorite creature, although i LOVE Woodstock!) I wrote a blog about Franklin about 3 years ago, which you can read HERE, about a lot of his history. … Read more
As it’s the early part of 2024, and we at ArtInsights are in a new era with our hybrid in-person and online model, I thought it would be a good idea to start a fresh, fun new Spotlight blog series, and since I grew up in a family always surrounded by canine companions, I decided … Read more
Why is Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Adventures in Toontown our first blog of 2024? Why are we talking about the animation/live action hybrid’s history and legacy of art? The impetus is that I recently got an email from our Disney Fine Art wholesalers announcing that as of January 23rd, they could no longer sell any … Read more
We’re in the midst of Honukkah 2023 and, as Joni Mitchell would say, “It’s coming on Christmas”, and with all that’s happening in the world, it’s something that should be celebrated right now. I’ve discovered, over time, that Disney fans and collectors are the most avid lovers and celebrants of Christmas, Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, … Read more
Greg McCullough is one of the most beloved artists working today, and has a strong following of collectors who seek him out at his Disney events throughout the year. He releases art regularly, and those pieces are only available directly through Disney at his events. Greg has been working in the film and animation industry … Read more
We have loved John Rowe since, well, forever. He has the incredible talent befitting a man with his impressive CV. He’s a movie artist with several high profile images including the poster for Miracle, and a screen-used brochure for John Hammond and his company InGen’s Jurassic Park. He’s an illustrator who learned from some greats … Read more
Welcome to ArtInsights 2.0: A Hybrid Online & In-person Model! What, pray-tell, ArtInsights 2.0 look like? That’s what I’m here to lay down. First, for those of you who might want to know why we decided to close our brick and mortar gallery, here’s an article about it published in The Reston Letter, Essentially, we … Read more
Who doesn’t love a Top Ten Halloween Cartoons list? Something about classic scary cartoons stirs up nostalgia more than the average every day animation. Is there something about being scared at the same time as entertained that we hold on to from childhood? Every year at ArtInsights, October has offered the opportunity to play all … Read more
As I recently mentioned (in my latest blog, about the museum show “Ink Tributes” by Marlon West) I’m going to include blog posts about new films, animation and film art news, and other subjects that are not about art in ArtInsights. I’m hoping these (fascinating!) posts will have you coming back when you ARE looking … Read more
It’s not all about ArtInsights, sometimes it’s about someone really cool doing something inspiring…It isn’t often that my work with ArtInsights and my work amplifying movie artists below the line collide, but here we are! As I move into my the new phase of ArtInsights online, I want to cover some artists and their work … Read more
As part of our Peanuts art special event, “Halloween in August” featuring the new limited edition The Great Pumpkin, award-winning animation director and artist Larry Leichliter added layout drawings to original vintage cels that needed context. Here’s one example: He is also creating original drawings based on two images from It’s The Great Pumpkin, … Read more
Not many people know just how impressive and historic the career of Ed Levitt was. He not only worked on some of the most beloved classic Disney animated features, he also had a huge impact on the design, look, and story of a diverse collection of cartoons released in the 50s and 60s. He was … Read more
Hi! Leslie, co-owner of ArtInsights here, making a big announcement… That’s right, after 30 years in brick and mortar, we’re moving online-ArtInsights is going virtual-we’re SO excited about it, and hope you are, too! We’ve loved being in person and face to face all this time with our framing clients, and some of our art … Read more
Today, we’re going to talk about Boba and Jango Fett, and a piece created by John Alvin called Like Father Like Son. I love The Mandalorian. I love Padro Pascal, I mean, who doesn’t? In fact, Grogu has become my second favorite Star Wars character after Yoda. All that being said, as bounty hunters go, … Read more
I’ve not written any blogs on price alerts before, but this seemed Charlie Brown and Snoopy art by Dean Spille, and Peanuts art signed by producer Lee Mendelson, who passed away in 2019, seemed a good time to start! These Peanuts art pieces are all based on Dean Spille storyboard color keys, so they are … Read more
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