Details
Movie Description
Walt Disney took a big chance with this ambitious anthology of animated fantasies. First, he set them to lengthy classical music pieces, and then he boldly experimented with different forms of animation, sometimes jettisoning any sort of narrative altogether. The result is a sometimes mesmerizing, sometimes hilarious, sometimes frightening, but always beautiful moviegoing experience. A box-office failure when first released, it's now considered a timeless treasure. Highlights include: Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the leaping hippos and alligators in "Dance of the Hours," the rise and fall of the dinosaurs set to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," the dancing mushrooms of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite," and Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," with its fearsome winged demon raging at the heavens.
One of Walt Disney's ambitions for the project was to rerelease the film periodically over the years with new sequences. Though the film was regularly rereleased, it wasn't until 1999 that his intention was finally realized with the premiere of FANTASIA 2000, a lavish follow-up that included a digitally restored "Sorcerer's Apprentice" and a host of new material. The original FANTASIA, however, remains a one-of-a-kind auditory and visual experience that is still, in many ways, far ahead of its time.
Synopsis
Many consider Walt Disney's best achievement in the field of animation to be this series of animated fantasies set to classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Panned when it opened, it's now a classic. Segments include: Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor;" Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite," filled with dancing mushrooms and fairies; Dukas's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," featuring Mickey Mouse in his most famous role; Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," displaying the natural history of the Earth; Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony;" Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours," featuring dancing hippos and alligators; and the concluding medley of Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" and Schubert's "Ave Maria."
Film Notes
Theatrical release: November 13, 1940.
Rereleased in 1946, 1956, 1963, 1969, 1977, 1982, 1985, and 1990.
FANTASIA is the third full-length animated feature from Walt Disney Pictures.
FANTASIA is number 58 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.
FANTASIA was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1990.
Estimated budget: $2 million.
Walt Disney originally intended "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" to be a single short, but Leopold Stokowski suggested that Disney make an entire anthology film of animated shorts set to classical music.
The film won two special Academy Awards in 1941. One went to William Garity, John N.A. Hawkins and the RCA Manufacturing Company, for the "Advancement of the Use of Sound," and another went to conductor Leopold Stokowski for the "Creation of a New Form of Visualized Music."
Each sequence of FANTASIA has different directors.
In "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Mickey Mouse appears to have pupils for the first time. The Sorcerer, incidentally, is named Yen Sid, which is the backward spelling of Disney.
The demonic creature in "Night on Bald Mountain" is named Chernobog, after the god of evil from Slavonic mythology.
Industry Reviews
"...One of the landmarks of American animation, as well as a key document in the popularization of classical music..."
New York Times - p.C4 - John Rockwell
"...[A] fearless mix of classical music and animation..."
USA Today - Mike Clark (11/01/1991)
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