Anime cel
A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which a character or object was painted for hand-drawn animation. Laid over a painted background and photographed frame by frame, cels were the working material of animation for most of the 20th century. In Japan, where cel animation gave anime its look, they are called seru-ga, cel pictures.
Definition
An anime cel combines two elements: the trace line, copied from the in-between drawing onto the sheet, and the paint, applied on the reverse in special animation colours. Several cels were usually stacked over one background, and only the moving parts were changed from frame to frame before the stack was filmed on 16 or 35 millimetre film. The technique, which let studios divide work among teams and reduce redrawing, is generally credited to Earl Hurd, who patented it in 1914.
Origin
True celluloid was flammable and unstable, and from the 1950s it was replaced by acetate sheets; the name stayed. Disney stopped using cels in 1990, and in Japan production moved from cel to digital animation from the late 1990s, so that cels were no longer made for broadcast in the 2000s. Painting cels was labour-intensive, often done by large teams including home workers, and the need for many hands to work alike encouraged the clear outlines and stepped shading recognised as the anime style.
Kinds of cel
- Production cels. Used in filming a broadcast or film. Cels from opening sequences and key scenes are especially sought.
- Drawn-for-use cels. Painted specially for packaging or magazine covers, not for film.
- Sales cels. Made in quantity for sale or promotion, easily reproduced from the drawings with a trace machine or copier.
- Digital prints. Since the 2000s, cels printed with lightfast ink for sale and display.
- Unauthorised copies. Because cels are easy to copy and valuable, unofficial reproductions also circulate.
Key facts
| Material | Celluloid, then acetate from the 1950s |
|---|---|
| Technique patented | 1914, Earl Hurd |
| End in Japan | Digital production from the late 1990s |
| Risks | Ultraviolet light and hydrolysis |
How to identify it
- Paint on the back. On a hand-painted cel the paint sits on the reverse, with the line on the front.
- Numbers. Cut and sheet numbers, often in a corner, tie a cel to a scene.
- Matching drawings and backgrounds. In our handling, a cel sold with its drawing or its original background is more informative than one alone, and we say whether they truly match.
- Condition. Cels were meant to last only until filming; paint lifts and sheets warp, and we note both. Keep them out of sunlight.
Where it appears in the collection
Examples include a numbered Astro Boy production cel with its matching pencil drawing and an Akira pair of production cels. Our guide to anime production cels goes further.
Related entries
- Genga: the key drawing behind the cel
- Offset print: a printed image, not painted
Sources
- Cel pictures, Japanese-language encyclopaedia entry (our translation), for the cel in Japanese production, acetate from the 1950s, the move to digital, decay, kinds of cel, copying and the anime style. ja.wikipedia.org
- Cel, encyclopaedia entry, for celluloid and acetate, Disney in 1990 and Earl Hurd's 1914 patent. wikipedia.org
Last reviewed 15 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.