So said Walt Disney about the character he created in 1928, and immortalized in the hearts of children of all ages around the world. In the decades since, Disney has built a commercial empire with memorable cartoon icons such as Minnie Mouse, Pinocchio and Pluto—each with its own line of collectible memorabilia. But the original artwork and cels (the clear sheets of celluloid on which characters are painted by hand) from Disney’s award-winning films are the items that lay claim to high-art status—or at least prices. In today’s market, a sharp, tenacious investor can amass an animation collection that gains value at least as reliably as a blue-chip stock portfolio.

Pam Martin, a collector in New Jersey, is one such aficionado. Her animation collection—25 years in the making—contains more than 1,000 pieces, many of which appraise for several thousand dollars. She especially treasures two: an illustration of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King in 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (not a Disney film) and a marquette (a three-dimensional figure used in the animation drawing process) of the witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Appraisers have valued each piece at about $10,000.

The lifelike qualities of the witch and other Disney characters, which are a hallmark of the studio, intrigues Martin. “You can see the detail in her gnarly, bony little hands,” she says. “If you didn’t know the story, you’d still know she was evil.”