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    Beetle — Animation Character Design Drawing

    Object ID PB-0000-1-PG-00-4
    Collection Record
    Context

    This drawing depicts Beetle as adapted for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, the Marvel Productions animated television series broadcast on NBC from 1981 to 1983. Within that production context, the character appears in the 1983 episode “The Origin of the Spider-Friends.”

    The drawing belongs to Russ Heath’s later period of work in television animation, following his move to California in 1978. In this setting, character design drawings functioned as production documents used to define form and support consistency across studio workflows.

    Artist

    Russ Heath

    Year

    1983

    Production

    Spider-man and His Amazing Friends (Marvel Productions, 1983)

    Dimensions

    8.5 × 14 inches (21.59 × 35.56 cm)

    Medium

    Graphite on paper

    Condition

    Production-used condition, consistent with studio materials. Minor handling wear is present, with slight creasing to the edges and corners. Black photocopy artifacts at top right near studio slug does not affect the image. Artist’s initials appear on the front, lower left.

    Provenance & Handling

    This drawing originates from animation production material associated with studio development and has been maintained in archival storage. The sheet retains a photocopied production slug at the upper right, with handwritten date, production number, and episode title notations; the slug records the incorrect title “getting it all together” rather than the actual episode title, “The Origin of the Spider-Friends.” The artist’s initials appear at the mid-lower left of the sheet.

    Edition

    One of multiple production drawings created for animation use

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