Conserving Animation Cels: Reattaching Loose Paint Without Adhesive

A collaborative research project between the Getty Conservation Institute and the Walt Disney Animation Research Library investigated storage and conservation treatment strategies for animation cels. Animation cels are transparent plastic sheets inked on the front and painted on the reverse. Common damage observed on aged cels is cracking, loss of adhesion, dislocations, and losses of the paint. In practice, flaking paint of animation cels is often removed and repainted rather than consolidated. Being reverse painted, paint consolidation of animation cels adds another layer of complexity to established approaches to paint consolidation. One important component of this study has involved developing minimally invasive treatments for reattaching delaminating paints, which involved studying paint condition, characteristics, and properties. This paper presents recent innovations in paint reattachment that rely on the intrinsic hygroscopic properties of the cel paint formulations. The new treatment is a multi-step approach that manipulates paint properties by using precise levels of relative humidity, established within a humidity chamber, in order to reactivate the paint and reattach it. A major advantage of this method is that a consolidant is not necessary. Method development and a case study procedure are presented in depth. The method developed is effective for cel paints with the same or similar formulations.