Disney Movie Challenge: Fantasia

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Fantasia

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE:  With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.  

After taking 3 years between their first and second animated feature, it only took Disney 9 months to release their third feature. In November of 1940 a roadshow version of Fantasia was released in New York. Again Disney was ambitious and tried something that never had been done before. He wanted to combine animation and music. It was kind of an early form of music video. The origins of the film are fascinating. It started with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice which was supposed to be a more sophisticated Silly Symphony short. Disney created something called Fantasound for the short but as the cost ratcheted up it became clear they could not recoup their money with a short. So, an idea was born to release a feature film with other sequences. When the film came out it consisted of 8 total segments, and was 125 minutes long (still the longest Disney Animated Feature). The music was conducted by world famous conductor Leopold Stokowski,

What is Fantasound? This question took me down a crazy rabbit hole of sophisticated technology. In a nut shell it was the first use of stereo sound in film. It required the creation of special equipment to record and to project with a film. It’s super technical and I don’t fully understand it so won’t go into much detail (this video does a great job at explaining it https://youtu.be/2FRyAXXOsMo). Needless to say it was completely unique and cost a lot of money. With the start of WWII and the cost of setting up Fantasound at each roadshow location it became impossible to make money with the film. Despite the film being loved by critics the movie became a big flop at the time, but over time it has built up a fan base. It’s biggest boom was in the late 60’s when it was marketed for its psychedelic elements.

The movie is a fascinating mix of music and animation. The 8 segments are completely different from each other. There is also a narrator, Deems Taylor, that explains the music and significance of each segment. In the beginning he explains

“First, there's the kind that tells a definite story. Then there's the kind that, while it has no specific plot, does paint a series of more or less definite pictures. And then there's a third kind, music that exists simply for its own sake”. 

Deems Taylor was a well known music critic at the time and brings some insight to the music. Besides the technical achievement and interesting stories behind the music there isn’t much going on. The segments themselves just didn’t grab my attention. I think if I could have experienced the film during the original roadshow release I would have enjoyed it more. While watching the film I kept thinking this would be awesome to watch in a theatre with a live orchestra.

Overall:  It’s a movie that was ahead of its time. As a story guy it just didn’t do it for me. The visuals and and music were cool but outside of The Sorcerers Apprentice there wasn't much to keep my attention. But, I do appreciate the amazing artistry that went into the film.

Random Facts

Longest animated Disney Film

First film to use Stereo sound

First film to not have any credits in initial release.

First appearance by Mickey Mouse in a Feature Film

The sorcerer was modeled after Disney. His name is Yen Sid which is Disney backwards.

Disney got a lot of complaints about the Night on Bald Mountain segment saying it was scaring their kids. When the movie was first released on home video it was released without that segment.

In 1982 the soundtrack was re-recorded digitally and when it was released was the first film ever with a digital stereo sound.

Disney wanted to release a new Fantasia every year. But that goal proved even too lofty for Disney.