Fantasia (1940)

Directors:

James Algar
Samuel Armstrong

Writers:

Lee Blair (segment) (story development) &
Elmer Plummer (segment) (story development) ...

Release Date:

6 January 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

Superb! Enthralling! Amazing! Walt Disney's Incomparable FANTASIA

Plot:

A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music.

Plot Keywords:

Earthquake | One Word Title | Geometric Forms | Triceratops | Sunrise

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Leopold Stokowski	...	Himself (Conductor, The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Deems Taylor	...	Narrator (1940 original)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julietta Novis	...	Soloist (segment "Ave Maria") (voice)

Also Known As:

The Concert Feature (USA) (working title)
Walt Disney's Fantasia (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

120 min | USA:124 min (restored roadshow version) | USA:125 min (original release) | USA:80 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (1956 re-release) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints) (re-release) | Fantasound (original release) | Mono (1941 roadshow screenings) | Mono (1947 re-release)

Certification:

USA:G (re-rating) (1969) | Australia:G | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (PCA #5920) | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | Germany:6 | Peru:PT | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

The demon in "Night on Bald Mountain" is named Chernobog, after the god of evil in Slavonic mythology.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence, as Mickey Mouse waves his hands in front of him to make the broom come to life, his sleeves spill over his hands. It then cuts to his shadow on the wall, where his hands are fully exposed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: How do you do? My name is Deems Taylor, and it's my very pleasant duty to welcome you here on behalf of Walt Disney, Leopold Stokowski, and all the other artists and musicians whose combined talents went into the creation of this new form of entertainment...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Latter Days (2003)

Soundtrack:

Toccata and Fugue

Probably Disney's best

Fantasia has it's flaws, I'll give you that. But so what? In spite of some of it's less interesting segments, FANTASIA remains the highlight of Walt Disney's career. SNOW WHITE AND SEVEN DWARFS was, of course, more significant, ground-breaking and all together better film, but it wasn't such an experience for me as FANTASIA. Perhaps I was a tad too old for it. Who knows? Any way, I was seven, when I first saw FANTASIA with my sister in a small movie theater in our home town. We thought it quite boring then, although images of T-rex killing the stegosaur, Satan raising the dead and Mickey Mouse surfing on a book of spells remained in my head for weeks. I rediscovered FANTASIA well in my teens, as my little sister bought it on DVD. I like to prefer myself as a film buff of sorts. I guess there is something into that, as I had read quite a lot about FANTASIA in many reviews and books considering cinema as an artform. I saw it in a whole new light. I don't really like Disney films, being so sentimental as they are. But FANTASIA is different. It is a series of stories built around eight pieces of classical music. I feel i must rate and review them separately, independent stories as they are (except for the last two).

1. Johann Sebastian Bach's TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN D MINOR

Impressionistic cartoon showing first the movements of the instruments, as they are playing the tune. As the music proceeds, the shapes of the instruments begin to blur, until there are only colors and undefined shapes left of them. Segment ends showing what appears to be sunset in the background as Leopold Stokowski conducts the invisible orchestra. The music is in this section is good, after all, it is the main theme. Unfortunately, the animation is not very interesting. ** out of *****

2. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's THE NUTCRACKER SUITE

Fairies, mushrooms, flowers, leaves and fish are dancing to Tchaikovsky's ballet. Beautiful animation and quite recognizable music(you've probably all heard it before). Unforgettable is the scene, where the mushrooms are dancing and one of them has difficulties keeping up with the others, since he/she has no partner. ****

3. Paul Dukas' THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE

Mickey Mouse has a role of a lifetime as an eager student to a mighty wizard. Mickey tries the sorcerer's hat and assumes powers to make a groom do his work. Unfortunately things run out of hand, and it takes a real magician to put things right. This is FANTASIA's best segment. Music and animation work like a glove. The scene, where Mickey dreams of moving stars and raising oceans with his powers is one of the greatest moments in movie history and popular culture in general. *****(*)

4. Igor Stravinsky's THE RITE OF SPRING

The story of life on earth from primordial soup to the death of dinosaurs takes off slowly, but the dinos are worth waiting for. The scene where they walk in the desert to the their certain doom, is impressive, to say the least. ****

5. Ludwig van Beethoven's THE PASTORAL SYMPHONY

Centaurs, cherubs, serafs, gods and other characters of creek mythology are spending a day in the countryside in this colorful segment that is one of the least interesting in FANTASIA. The drunken deeds of wine god Baccus and the cute flying horses in the beginning are the few highlights of this segment. ***

6. Amilcare Ponchielli's DANCE OF THE HOURS

Ostrichs, hippos, elephants and crocodiles are dancing Ponchielli's famous ballet in FANTASIA's funniest segment. These ballerinas are definitely not suffering from eating disorders.

7. Modeste Moussorgsky's NIGHT ON BOLD MOUNTAIN and Franz Schubert's AVE MARIA

Moussorgsky's frantic masterpiece gives life to one of the most terrifying and most impressive episodes in the history of animation. Satan himself raises the dead and invites them to dance with vampires, witches and demons high on bold mountain. Satanic fest goes on all night, until morning breaks and the church bells chime. AVE MARIA plays on the background, as the sacred procession walks to cathedral. NIGHT ON BOLD MOUNTAIN and AVE MARIA fit together perfectly, as they, in the words of Deems Taylor, describe the eternal battle between the sacred and profane. *****

It is good that FANTASIA should spawn a sequel, although, I'm not entirely happy with FANTASIA 2000. It somehow lacks the dignity of the original. Still, I hope there's more to come. We're eagerly waiting for the day, when Walt Disney pictures releases Fantasia 2060 to see RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES, SWAN OF TUONELA and much more. Let us hope we don't have to wait for another sixty years to be able to enjoy brand new fantasies.