A. No- and that's the whole point. These are the original paintings produced by the studios to make cartoons, or reproductions from those studios based on their cartoons and produced using the same techniques.

A. That is a long and complicated process. We have a couple of pages that show the various steps in creating Limited Editions and Fine Art Sericels. If you are a little unsure of what these terms mean, we have a short description of the different types of art online. We hope this helps!

A. Sorry, we no longer publish a printed catalog. Instead, we are publishing our catalog online. We invite you to check it periodically because we are able to update our pages with new art instantly and continually. We would be happy to keep you advised of new events and releases with our gallery newsletter. Of course, if you are looking for something specific, just let us know, we will try to find it.

A. Yes. No problem- we ship worldwide via FedEx. For additional information, please see our Foreign Orders page.

A. No, but if you do, please send it to us. We love seafood...

A. Ask questions. Bug us. E-mail us to death, and then e-mail us again until you feel you have a handle on the situation. The worst thing you can do is jump in and buy something and later regret it. We recommend you wait until you feel good about this- or any- purchase. Make sure all your questions have been answered fully. Know each of the different types of art available, and as much other information as you can gather. And never stop asking questions.

A. While animation art tends to be a good investment, that is not always the case. Even if you do see an increase in the value of your collection, it may not be as dramatic as some of the stories you may have heard. If you are seriously concerned about a high return on investment, we would recommend you invest in the stock market. If you are just concerned about your investment in art- as you should be- we have these points to consider:

• Buy Quality Art.
• Buy Something You Like.
• Buy from Someone You Trust.
• Buy Something You Love.
• Know What You Are Buying.
• Buy Something You Really Love.

You may have noticed a theme in that list: that is what we consider to be the most important consideration in buying animation art. Animation art, like many other collectibles, increases in value based on demand- the more in demand a piece, the higher amount someone would be willing to pay for it. If you purchase a piece to make a killing, you will more than likely be disappointed. If you purchase something you love, one of two things will happen: either a lot of other people will agree, and you will find it become a high demand piece; or you have weird taste, and it won't become a popular piece, and you won't make a tone of money. But you will have a cel you enjoy. And that is the purpose of art- to enjoy it.
The bottom line: buy art because you love it!

A. This is a tough question, and one we try hard to answer. The bottom line is, at some point, you are going to have to trust us to do business with us. Here is a little background that should help alleviate any doubts. We have been incorporated in Utah for five years. We are an authorized representative of nearly every studio producing cartoons- one of only 40 or so galleries worldwide. Finally, we will be here to help with any question, comments or problems you may have.

A. First, let us know. We work hard to satisfy our customers, but we work harder if they ever experience a problem. We are committed to our customers complete satisfaction. We, like any business, occasionally make mistakes. (I think we have made two...) If there has been a problem- in shipping, in framing, or if it is just not the image you thought it was- we will take care of it in a manner you would like. You tell us how you want the problem solved- reframing, different matts, or even a full refund- and we will do it. No questions asked and at your discretion. This policy is in effect for the first ten days of your purchase- plenty of time, we feel, for you to notice if there are any problems. In a more long term sense, we guarantee the authenticity of all the art we sell for life. We stand behind all the art we sell, and we will be here to back that up. All of these policies are outlined on our About The Cartoon Factory page.
If you would like a little more assurance, just make your purchase by credit card. You may not know us, but you know your credit card company. If- not that this will happen, but if there is a problem, you can appeal to your credit card company and they will protect you.
The bottom line is that if there is a problem- any problem- we will want to know. We will solve it. We are committed to this promise.

A. Under some circumstances, yes. It has to be something either we are looking for, want terribly bad, something that just strikes our fancy, or something at such a good price we can't pass it up. Which could be about anything, really. To get the ball rolling, drop us an e-mail with as complete a description of your artwork as possible!

A. Again, there is a long, involved answer to this question. One thing you must ask yourself is: What kind of appraisal do you want? Do you want to know it's current market value, it's replacement value, what you should sell it for, or what we would buy it for? None of those numbers are the same.

If you purchased the artwork from us, we will always keep you appraised of the current market value. If you did not purchase the artwork from The Cartoon Factory, for us to do anything, you must bring the artwork into our gallery in person, or ship it to our gallery so that we can accurately evaluate the artwork. We will not appraise any artwork we have not physically inspected. We do charge for this service, please see our appraisal page for more details. Once you place your order, we can get a full and accurate appraisal to you quickly.

A. Yes.

A. Again, there is no short answer to this question. We are working on a page that will address this question, though... In the meantime, we do have some excellent online displays of how Limited Editions and Fine Art Sericels are made. You might also want to check out books on this subject.

First, the mechanics of film: film runs at 24 frames per second. That number never changes. Ever. So, the MOST any cartoon can be animated to is 24 fps. (Don't think it matters that video is 30 fps- they are still shot on film...) As a matter of course, though, what is typically done, at least by big budget films, is 12 cels per second, each cel being shot twice. However, lower budget cartoons can and usually do use the same cel three or more times... the more a cel is used, the "jerkier" the final cartoon will look.

There is a whole other aspect to this question that also should be addressed... and that is how many collectible cels are available, or, if a 24 minute cartoon is animated at 12 fps, are there 17,280 cels for sale? And the answer is absolutely not. First, one must consider that about 1/3 of the cels off the top are just not salable. Why? Maybe the main character's eyes are closed, they are passing behind another object, only their back is showing, or it is just an awkward pose. Of these, you may find that while the main character may be animated at 12 fps, secondary characters in the scene may be animated at 4 fps, or used as part of a "loop" of animated cels. Thus, we have just cut down severely the number of set-ups available. For example, lets imagine a generic scene of Homer talking to Marge. Marge may only blink in this example scene, which would mean there are only 5 cels of Marge, even though there may be 300 of Homer in the same scene... so, now there are only 5 set-ups from the sequence available. Even less, if an overlay of her eyes blinking are used over one hold cel of Marge!

Finally, there is the consideration of overseas production. Many cels are damaged in shipment back to the States for sale. Or, if a background is damaged, in most cases, the studio will throw out the entire scene! By the time all is said and done, one can realistically expect a maximum of 10-15% of any show ends up for sale... about 1,700 or so. Usually, less! An average episode of The Simpsons will yield only 500 cels... the size of a typical limited edition!

A. We are sorry, but that is currently well beyond the scope of what we can do. A number of great books have been written on these subjects, and they use 100's of pages! So, you can see, it would be a little hard to do here.

A. No, we do not. The Cartoon Factory is just an Animation Art Gallery- what we sell are Animation Art Cels. We have links to places that do sell DVD's, but we do not directly carry video tapes or laser disks, stuffed animals, posters, books, clothes, quilts, samplers or any other items like that. While we know the Animation Art market, we have no expertise in these other areas.

If you have questions about the availability of other items, we suggest you address those questions to retailers who deal in that product, either in your local area or on the Internet. You will get a much better and more accurate answer than we could give you (which would just be, "We do not know.")

A. Again, The Cartoon Factory is just an Animation Art Gallery- what we sell are Animation Art Cels. What may or may not be on video, or when it may be released is a matter that the studios plan and decide, not something we have any voice in, or any knowledge of. So, contact the Home Video departments of the producing studios for information of this type, please.

When or where something may air on television is also beyond our ken. You may benefit from contacting the studio who produced the cartoon, or contacting media outlets that air cartoons. We only know what we read in TV Guide, and that we do not commit to memory!

Please be aware we do not answer any e-mails regarding this topic; if you want to know what is available on home video, please direct your enquiries to a store that sells them.

A. Sorry, we are not a DVD store; what is and is not on DVD, or when it may be released on DVD is not something we concern ourselves with. We do not know, and this is something we cannot help you with at all.

If you want to know what is on DVD, or what is about to come out on DVD, it is best to check with a store that sells DVD's. We recommend Amazon.com, or their affiliate at the Big Cartoon DataBase Video Store.

What's that?- you cannot find "XXXXX" listed there? Well, then it is a good bet is is NOT available on DVD... do not forget the possibility that not all shows are currently released to home video or DVD.

Please be aware we do not answer any e-mails regarding this topic; if you want to know what is available on home video, please direct your enquiries to a store that sells them.

A. We could, but we won't. Why should we when The Big Cartoon DataBase already lists all the Disney cartoons online, with plenty of great facts?

A. Trivia questions- of any type- are not something we can take the time to answer. We are happy to help you with animation art questions, and questions about the artwork we carry, but we do not have the time to also answer various trivia questions.

If you really need a question answered, and it's really bugging you, we suggest posting the question to a place that deals with cartoon trivia, such as this cartoon forum.

A. We don't know- you'll have to ask Disney. This is a very important point: We are not Disney, Warner Bros. or any of the other studios. We are a representative, licensed to sell their Art at our retail galleries. If you have questions or comments directed to the studios themselves, please contact the studios directly.

A. We do not deal in that part of the business. The artists and producers are in the production end, we deal with the consumer products divisions of the studios. In many case, if you want to know what Disney requires of young artists, you should probably ask them- we would be quite remiss to assume to speak for them.

A. Again, we do not deal creative end of the business. Nor are we very familiar with schools or schooling. If your son or daughter is presently in school, they would do much better to involve their schools' career counselors (or those at a local college), people who deal with this sort of thing every day. And if they are out of school, they should research the subject and find a place that fits their needs and experience. In either case, this is not a subject we are at all qualified to give advice on- we just do not know.

A. As we do not do any production ourselves, this is not something we can really address directly.

A. We have listed various studios addresses and phone numbers below. This list is by no means complete- as we stated above, many times the people we deal with are far removed from the actual studios themselves, and thus we do not have those addresses or phone numbers. We suggest you try calling information in Los Angeles (area codes 213, 818 or 310) for other studios.

A. No, we do not have any public e-mail addresses.

A. First of all, you need to understand that every cartoon character was created by someone; therefore someone owns these characters. Not you, and certainly not us. To legally use any copyrighted cartoon character for any reason, you must have the permission of the copyright owner. We are NOT the copyright holder for any of these images, and you can not get that permission from us at The Cartoon Factory.

All of the images on our site are copyrighted, and as such, are protected by US and international copyright law. Any unauthorized use could be a violation of that law. Additionally, the use of this site and it's contents and systems are governed by our Terms of Use. Use of this site acknowledges agreement to these Terms of Use. To use any images from this site for any purpose is a violation of the Terms of Use of this site. Any infringement of property of The Cartoon Factory will be prosecuted.

Finally, we are an art gallery, not a clip art service. We do not furnish any clip art on request. Not only would it be illegal for us to do so, it is simply not what we do. We are not ashamed to say it... we are a commercial site, and we are here to sell our products, not to be a clip-art resource. If you really want some clip art, or a screensaver, go to your local computer store and buy a packaged set. Or, link to the Clip Art section of NetLinks. With these options, you know it will be licensed, and you will be able to do with that what you want- legally!

A. Unfortunately, The Cartoon Factory site is not currently set up to provide this option. So the short awnser is, no, we do not accept any reciprocal linking. If you have a cartoon or comics related site, you might consider adding it to the Toon.Com directory, which is cartoon and comics-specific.

A. No. Not at all. Ever. To legally use any copyrighted cartoon character for any reason, you must have the permission of the copyright owner. We are NOT the copyright holder for any of these images, and you can not get licensing permission or permissions for use from us at The Cartoon Factory.

All of the images on our site are copyrighted, and as such, are protected by US and international copyright law. Any unauthorized use could be a violation of that law. Additionally, the use of this site and it's contents and systems are governed by our Terms of Use. Use of this site acknowledges agreement to these Terms of Use. To use any images from this site for any purpose is a violation of the Terms of Use of this site. Any infringement of property of The Cartoon Factory will be prosecuted.

Because this is a legal issue in which we have no place, voice or authority, and do not want to get involved, we will not make any further response to any e-mail on this topic. Simply- there is nothing more we can say: we are not lawyers, and as such it would be improper for us to give any legal advice. This is a topic for you to take to your personal lawyer, or a qualified copyright lawyer.

Various Studio Addresses

The Walt Disney Studios
500 Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

(213) 560-1000

Web Site: www.disney.com

Warner Bros. Studios
4000 Warner Boulevard
Burbank, CA 91522

(818) 954-1000

Web Site: www.warner.com

Hanna-Barbera Animation Art
is now a part of Warner Bros. Consumer Products

Twentieth Century Fox
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213

Web Site: www.fox.com

Cartoon Network

Web Site: www.cartoonnetwork.com

Chuck Jones

Web Site: www.chuckjones.com/letters/

Nickelodeon

Web Site: www.nick.com/blab/write_nick/mail.jhtml