Warner Bros \"Loaded Hands\" Sericel Bugs Bunny Yosemite Sam McKimson Framed COA For Sale

Kept in storage for decades, this is a Warner Bros. limited edition sericel titled \"Loaded Hands,\" produced by McKimson Productions Inc. under license from Warner Bros. from original artwork by Robert McKimson, from an edition of 7,500 plus 25 artist\'s proofs. As a sericel, the image was hand-inked onto a master cel and reproduced through hand-cut silkscreens, one screen per color, with the screens destroyed after the run was completed; the original hand-inked artwork remains in the McKimson Productions archives rather than being sold.

The piece carries the official Warner Bros. Studio seal, comes with its certificate of authenticity, and is matted and professionally framed in a green frame. Robert McKimson was one of the principal directors at the Warner Bros. animation studio and the only staff member present from the start of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series through its 1969 closure, first as an animator and, from 1944, as a director. He is credited with finalizing Bugs Bunny\'s now-standard design in the 1943 short \"Tortoise Wins by a Hare\" and created Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, and Speedy Gonzales; his final cartoon for the studio, \"Injun Trouble\" (1969), was the last original Looney Tunes short produced before the animation unit closed.

Yosemite Sam, shown here facing Bugs Bunny across a poker table, was created not by McKimson but by director Friz Freleng and writer Michael Maltese, debuting in the 1945 short \"Hare Trigger\"; Freleng designed him as a tougher foil than Elmer Fudd and reportedly based Sam\'s temper, stature, and red facial hair on himself. Sam went on to oppose Bugs in 33 theatrical shorts between 1945 and 1964, making him one of the character\'s most recurring adversaries. The scene depicts the two at a card table set with cash and poker chips inside a saloon marked \"Juice Bar\" and a sign reading \"Prune Juice 10¢,\" with Sam armed with a pistol and a cannon positioned beneath the table.