The Academy's Production Art Database Goes Worldwide

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Margaret Herrick Library today launched its latest online research tool, the Production Art Database [http://collections.oscars.org/prodart/]. The database contains records for more than 5,300 items from the library's collection, including motion picture costume and production design drawings, animation art, storyboards and paintings. Nearly half of the records include images, making this an invaluable online resource for researchers interested in motion picture design.

The Production Art Database allows users to search, view and study motion picture design materials from the 1920s to the present. One of the earliest items featured is a costume design drawing by Howard Greer for the 1923 film "The Spanish Dancer." Other notable pieces in the collection include a Hans Dreier production design drawing for "Wings" (1927), animation cels for the Pepe Le Pew cartoon "For Scent-Imental Reasons" (1949), Albert Whitlock's matte painting study for "The Birds" (1963), Steven Spielberg's rough storyboard sketches for "Poltergeist" (1982) and Jeannine Oppewall's drawing of the Victory Motel for "L.A. Confidential" (1997). The collection also includes materials on very recent films, including drawings by Academy Award® nominee Eve Stewart for "The King's Speech" (2010).

"We're very happy to be able to make this database more widely available to researchers, students and film enthusiasts," said Library Director Linda Mehr. "Our hope is that it will bring much-deserved attention to the costume and production designers, sketch artists, animators, and other artists who have contributed so much to filmmaking."

For information on additional materials, or to make an appointment to view an item that does not yet include a reference image, contact Anne Coco, graphic arts librarian, at acoco@oscars.org. For more information about the Margaret Herrick Library, visit http://www.oscars.org/library.

The Academy's website provides access to several other online databases as well, including the Academy Awards Database, the Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database and the Margaret Herrick Library catalog, which includes bibliographic records for the library's holdings of books, periodicals, scripts, posters and archival collections. Links can be found at Resources & Databases.