(no subject)
Becca Savoy
F Block
Jan. 21, 2007
Fantasia
Created in 1941, Fantasia was the third Disney animated feature. Initially, Walt Disney intended to make one animated short entitled “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” set to a classical piece by composer Paul Dukas, and starring Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse had become less popular, and Walt Disney was hoping to use “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” as a vehicle to restore Mickey’s status as a pop culture icon. While dining with Walt Disney, composer Leopold Stokowski volunteered to conduct an orchestra for the soundtrack, free of charge. Walt Disney happily accepted.
However, production of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” proved far more expensive than anticipated; the final product cost $125,000, which was about a hundred thousand more than even Disney’s most successful animated features had ever returned in profit. Walt Disney knew he couldn’t release “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” without losing money, and so Stokowski suggested that Walt Disney turn the animated short into a full length “Feature Symphony.” Once again, Walt Disney took his advice.
In addition to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” eight pieces of classical music were put to animation. Fantasia begins with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, which is accompanied by abstract representations of the music. Next is Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” illustrated by personified flowers and mushrooms, who perform a lively dance. “The Rite of Spring,” by Stravinsky, follows the story of the origins of Earth up until the extinction of dinosaurs. Beethoven’s 6th Symphony is illustrated by images of centaurs, pegases, Greek gods, and other such mythical creatures. Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours” depicts ballet-dancing hippos, ostriches, and alligators. The end of the film takes a more somber turn, with “Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussorgksy, depicting an epic struggle between good and evil. “Fantasia” concludes with Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and images of monks marching through the woods in early morning. The animation sequences are linked by the commentary of music composer and critic Deems Taylor.
Initially, Walt Disney was unsatisfied with the quality of the music recordings, and so he asked his engineers to come up with a more advanced sound system. In response, they created “Fantasound,” which was the technique of using multi-channel sound from more than one speaker, so that the sound developed a rich, three-dimensional quality. This technique became known as “stereophonic sound,” and developed into a staple quality of feature films. “Fantasia” is the first commercial film to utilize this technique.
When “Fantasia” was first released in 1940, it was a financial failure. Few movie theaters had the technology necessary for stereophonic sound, and so the distribution was very limited. An edited version, without multi-channel sound, was re-released by RKO in 1941, with little success. The tagline “Fantasia will Amazia!” did not entice audiences, and “Fantasia” was mostly screened as a B-movie in small theaters.
However, in the late sixties “Fantasia” began to develop popularity among college and high school students as a “trip-film;” a film to be watched after using hallucinogenic drugs. In 1969, Disney re-released “Fantasia” once again, this time exploiting the youth demographic by using psychedelic-style posters and advertising. Finally, Fantasia achieved financial success. For this 1969 addition, a character named “Sunflower” was edited out of the Beethoven sequence. Sunflower was a half-donkey, half-blackface “centaurette” who was depicted performing menial tasks for the blond, white centaurs. This obvious racial stereotype was removed, but Disney continues to deny her existence by advertising this version of “Fantasia” as uncut. In 2000, the original 1940 footage (not including Sunflower) was restored and re-released for Fantasia’s 60th anniversary. This addition accompanied a sequel to Fantasia, entitled Fantasia 2000. Fantasia continues to be hailed as a revolutionary example of avant-garde animation and experimental filmmaking techniques.
F Block
Jan. 21, 2007
Fantasia
Created in 1941, Fantasia was the third Disney animated feature. Initially, Walt Disney intended to make one animated short entitled “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” set to a classical piece by composer Paul Dukas, and starring Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse had become less popular, and Walt Disney was hoping to use “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” as a vehicle to restore Mickey’s status as a pop culture icon. While dining with Walt Disney, composer Leopold Stokowski volunteered to conduct an orchestra for the soundtrack, free of charge. Walt Disney happily accepted.
However, production of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” proved far more expensive than anticipated; the final product cost $125,000, which was about a hundred thousand more than even Disney’s most successful animated features had ever returned in profit. Walt Disney knew he couldn’t release “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” without losing money, and so Stokowski suggested that Walt Disney turn the animated short into a full length “Feature Symphony.” Once again, Walt Disney took his advice.
In addition to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” eight pieces of classical music were put to animation. Fantasia begins with Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, which is accompanied by abstract representations of the music. Next is Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” illustrated by personified flowers and mushrooms, who perform a lively dance. “The Rite of Spring,” by Stravinsky, follows the story of the origins of Earth up until the extinction of dinosaurs. Beethoven’s 6th Symphony is illustrated by images of centaurs, pegases, Greek gods, and other such mythical creatures. Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours” depicts ballet-dancing hippos, ostriches, and alligators. The end of the film takes a more somber turn, with “Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussorgksy, depicting an epic struggle between good and evil. “Fantasia” concludes with Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and images of monks marching through the woods in early morning. The animation sequences are linked by the commentary of music composer and critic Deems Taylor.
Initially, Walt Disney was unsatisfied with the quality of the music recordings, and so he asked his engineers to come up with a more advanced sound system. In response, they created “Fantasound,” which was the technique of using multi-channel sound from more than one speaker, so that the sound developed a rich, three-dimensional quality. This technique became known as “stereophonic sound,” and developed into a staple quality of feature films. “Fantasia” is the first commercial film to utilize this technique.
When “Fantasia” was first released in 1940, it was a financial failure. Few movie theaters had the technology necessary for stereophonic sound, and so the distribution was very limited. An edited version, without multi-channel sound, was re-released by RKO in 1941, with little success. The tagline “Fantasia will Amazia!” did not entice audiences, and “Fantasia” was mostly screened as a B-movie in small theaters.
However, in the late sixties “Fantasia” began to develop popularity among college and high school students as a “trip-film;” a film to be watched after using hallucinogenic drugs. In 1969, Disney re-released “Fantasia” once again, this time exploiting the youth demographic by using psychedelic-style posters and advertising. Finally, Fantasia achieved financial success. For this 1969 addition, a character named “Sunflower” was edited out of the Beethoven sequence. Sunflower was a half-donkey, half-blackface “centaurette” who was depicted performing menial tasks for the blond, white centaurs. This obvious racial stereotype was removed, but Disney continues to deny her existence by advertising this version of “Fantasia” as uncut. In 2000, the original 1940 footage (not including Sunflower) was restored and re-released for Fantasia’s 60th anniversary. This addition accompanied a sequel to Fantasia, entitled Fantasia 2000. Fantasia continues to be hailed as a revolutionary example of avant-garde animation and experimental filmmaking techniques.