Celebrities are geeks too. And often, they love to collect nerdy stuff just like we do. Sometimes it’s Funko Pops, or action figures. And other times, it’s something a little rarer. Case in point, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 voice actor Ben Schwartz. The star of the animated Sonic franchise just so happens to love animation himself. But especially the old school, hand-drawn, hand-painted kind. So he’s amassed quite a collection of vintage animation cels. And in an interview with Hector Navarro, he revealed his favorites. And the ones he’d still like to get his hands on. You can watch the full interview right here:
Starting in the late ’90s and early 2000s, hand-drawn animation went digital. So all those wonderful animation cels became a thing of the past. This makes them an even bigger get for collectors like Ben Schwartz today. He revealed that his collection has quite a few gems among them. He’s got some classic cels from The Simpsons, Ducktales, Ren and Stimpy, Donald Duck, Rugrats, Scooby-Doo, Pink Panther, and a whole lot more. As Schwartz says, “it’s like owning a prop from a movie.” And in a sense, it is very much exactly like that.
There are some classic animated movies and shows that have cels that he’d really like to get his hands on, but has not managed to yet. A lot of these are late ’80s/early ’90s “Disney Renaissance” era, like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Lion King. And Disney TV animations from that era, like Darkwing Duck. He very nearly got an animated frame from Who Framed Roger Rabbit once, but just couldn’t justify spending the money. (Look, every collector has been there at one point). But hopefully, one day Shwartz can find a Jiminy Cricket animation cell from Pinocchio. It sounds like he wants that one the most. Well, as that singing cricket says, “when you wish upon a star.” Here’s hoping Ben’s wish comes true, and he lands one.