- Features
|
Walt Disney's Fantasia
 Fantasia
came in to Walt's mind because of Walt Disney's concern for the
career of Mickey Mouse. To Walt, Mickey Mouse was not just a
"money making" cartoon character, or a repeating gag
maker. Walt |
|
Disney was Mickey's voice, alter-ego, and it troubled Walt
to see Mickey Mouse's Career decline. It was inevitable, the
mouse was an international attraction for more than a decade,
many actors couldn't sustain a career for that long. |
 |
|
In
1938, Walt decided to include his star, Mickey Mouse, in a cartoon
version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a fairy tale which
had been interpreted as a poem by Goethe, and a concert piece
by French Composer, Paul Dukas. Mickey was cast as the apprentice
whose misuse of the sorcerer's powers wreaks disaster. |
Walt decided to
use the conducted of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski,
to conduct the music for the short. Stokowski once said: "The
beauty and inspiration of music must not be restricted to a privileged
few but made available to every man, woman and child. That is
why great
music associated with motion pictures is so important, because
motion pictures reach millions all over the world." |
|
|
Prior to the production
of Fantasia, Walt was making "Silly Symphony's." Most
of these shorts included wonderful music, and fantastic animation.
Shorts such as "The Three Little Pigs" combined Music
and Animation to create a thrilling theatrical experience.
Walt's idea for
Fantasia was that it be "music you hear, and pictures you
see." Production began in 1937, with the Sorcerers Apprentice
as the main segment. In this animated sequence, Mickey Mouse
would star as the "everyday man." There would be no
dialogue, just the music, and, of course, the animation. As animation
continued Walt and Strokowski realized that one segment would
not be enough, and expanded to other musical pieces.
The costs of Fantasia
rose, and rose, during production. One year after production
started, costs rose to four times the amount a Silly Symphony
would normally cost. Walt struggled to find more funds, and realized
that when the movie was released, that the viewer should truly
"hear" the music. Thus, began the creation of "Fantasound."
A new revolutionary sound system, especially made just for Fantasia.
This new system would ensure proper sound synchronization, and
quality. |
|
Walt Disney asked Stokowski to
help advise him with choosing the other pieces for
the rest of the feature feature. Walt also hired noted music
critic and composer Deems Taylor to help select extra musical
pieces for the movie. After much research, listening and work,
final peaces were chosen |
|
The name "Fantasia"
does actually have a meaning. It means two things, a compositions
in which the composer strays from the accepted form, and a potpourri
of familiar arts, both apply to the film. A contest was held
among Disney employees to choose a title. Over 2,000 entries
came in, and "Fantasia" was picked, as quite a proper
name. |
|
|
Pieces in Fantasia include:
-Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
-The Nutcracker Suite by Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
-The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas
-The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky
-The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven
-Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli
-Night on Bald Mountain by Modeste Moussorgsky
-Ave Maria by Franz Shubert
Nearly 1000 people
were involved in the production of Fantasia. The full magnitude
of Fantasia was not realized until everything was brought together.
Each part of the film was specialized and compartmentalized.
Walt Disney did not set out to establish their conceptions as
the definitive depiction of the music, but the familiarity of
Fantasia has produced memories that seem tied to the music in
today's world
Walt Disney commented
about Fantasia, "Fantasia' is timeless. It may run ten,
twenty, thirty years.""Fantasia' is an idea in itself.
I can never build another. I can improve. I can elaborate. That
is all." |
|
