How to Tell if an Animation Cel Is Real

How to Store and Preserve Animation Cels

Hand-painted animation cels are fragile—made of cellulose acetate that can warp, crack, or decay without proper care. This guide breaks down the science of preservation, showing how temperature, humidity, and archival materials can keep each painted frame stable for decades.

How to Tell if an Animation Cel Is Real

We’re diving into the fundamentals of how to identify a real animation cel—the hand-painted sheets once used to bring films like Totoro and Dragon Ball Z to life. The piece breaks down what separates authentic production art from reproductions and “sericels,” why small physical details like brush texture and registration holes matter, and how provenance and chemical ageing prove legitimacy. It also explores why authentication now defines collector value in a market where no new cels will ever be made, and how ORIOGI’s verification process preserves that history for the future.

Paint, plastic, and the moment film went silent

Between 1999 and 2002, animation changed forever. Paint gave way to pixels, and the hand-painted cel—once the foundation of every frame—disappeared from production. We trace how a practical shift in materials ended a century-old artform and left behind a finite archive of painted film history.

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The Cel Report

How to Store and Preserve Animation Cels

How to Tell if an Animation Cel Is Real

Paint, plastic, and the moment film went silent