Fantasia (1940)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1940
Running Times: 112 mins (Argentina) 120 mins (USA) 124 mins (USA restored Roadshow version)
Format: Technicolor 35mm 70mm (1990 re-release)
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: Fantasound mono optical 4-Track Magnetic Stereo Dolby Stereo (re-releases)

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Walt Disney
Producer: Walt Disney, Ben Sharpsteen (uncredited)
Production Supervisor: Ben Sharpsteen

SCRIPT
Script: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer
Story Director: Dick Huemer
Story: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer (orchestra sequences); Carl Fallberg, James More, Lester Novros
Story Development: Lee Blair, Elmer Plummer, Phil Dike (Toccata and Fugue in D Minor); Sylvia Moberly-Holland, Norman Wright, Albert Heath, Bianca Majolie, Graham Heid (The Nutcracker Suite); Perce Pearce, Carl Fallberg (The Sorcerer's Apprentice); William Martin, Leo Thiele, Robert Sterner, John Fraser McLeish (Rite of Spring); Otto Englander, Webb Smith, Erdman Penner, Joseph Sabo, Bill Peet, George Stallings (The Pastoral Symphony); Campbell Grant, Arthur Heinemann, Phil Dike (Night on Bald Mountain / Ave Maria)
Concept: Oskar Fischinger (Toccata And Fugue In D Minor - uncredited)
Research: William Martin, Leo Thiele, Robert Sterner, John Fraser McLeish (Rite of Spring)

DIRECTION
Sequence Directors: James Algar (The Sorcerer's Apprentice), Samuel Armstrong (Toccata and Fugue in D Minor; The Nutcracker Suite), Ford Beebe (The Pastoral Symphony), Bill Roberts (Rite of Spring), Norm Ferguson (Dance of the Hours), T. Hee (rn: Frank Tashlin) (Dance of the Hours), Wilfred Jackson (Night on Bald Mountain; Ave Maria), Hamilton Luske (The Pastoral Symphony), Jim Handley (The Pastoral Symphony), Paul Satterfield (Rite of Spring), Perce Pearce?, Ben Sharpsteen (uncredited)

ANIMATION
Character Designers: James Bodero, Earl Hurd, John P. Miller, Martin Provensen, Lorna Soderstrom, John Walbridge
Animation Supervisors: Norm Ferguson (Dance of the Hours); Art Babbitt, Don Towsley, Eric Larson, Oliver M. Johnston Jr, Fred Moore, Ward Kimball (The Pastoral Symphony); Joshua Meador, Wolfgang Reitherman (Rite of Spring); Fred Moore, Vladimir Tytla (The Sorcerer's Apprentice); Vladimir Tytla (Night On Bald Mountain / Ave Maria)
Animators: Art Elliott, Franklin Grundeen, Grant Simmons, Harvey Toombs, Hicks Lokey, Howard Swift, Hugh Fraser, John Lounsbery, Norman Tate, Preston Blair, Ray Patterson (Dance of the Hours); Robert W. Carlson Jr, William N. Shull, Don Patterson, Lester Novros, John McManus (Night On Bald Mountain / Ave Maria); Cy Young, Art Babbitt, Robert Stokes, Don Lusk, Les Clark (The Nutcracker Suite); Berny Wolf, Bill Justice, Harry Hamsel, Jack Bradbury, Jack Campbell, Don Lusk, James Moore, John Elliotte, Lynn Karp, Milt Neil, Murray McClellan, Robert W. Youngquist, Walt Kelly (The Pastoral Symphony); Don Tobin, Paul B. Kossoff, Paul Busch, Phil Duncan, John McManus, Edwin Aardal, Art Palmer (Rite of Spring); Edward Love, Les Clark, Preston Blair, Marvin Woodward, Riley Thompson, Ugo D'Orsi, George Rowley, Cornett Wood (The Sorceror's Apprentice); Cy Young, Art Palmer, George Rowley, Cornett Wood, Edwin Aardal, Joshua Meador (Toccata And Fugue In D Minor)
Backgrounds: Albert Dempster, Charles Conner (Dance of the Hours); W. Richard Anthony, Merle Cox, Ray Lockrem, Robert Storms (Night On Bald Mountain / Ave Maria); Ethel Kulsar, Nino Carbe, John Hench (The Nutcracker Suite); Claude Coats, Arthur Riley, Gerald Nevius, Ray Huffine, Roy Forkum, W. Richard Anthony (The Pastoral Symphony); Brice Mack, Ed Starr (Rite of Spring); Claude Coats, Albert Dempster, Eric Hansen, Stan Spohn (The Sorceror's Apprentice); Nino Carbe, John Hench, Joe Stahley (Toccata And Fugue In D Minor)
Character Designers: Duke Russell, Earl Hurd, Martin Provensen, James Bodrero (Dance of the Hours); Elmer Plummer, John Walbridge, Ethel Kulsar (The Nutcracker Suite); John P. Miller, Lorna S. Soderstrom, James Bodrero (The Pastoral Symphony)
Animation Model (Sorcerer): Nigel De Brulier (uncredited)

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Maxwell Morgan (uncredited)
Labs: Technicolor, Hollywood, California, USA

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: John Carnochan (1990 restoration)
Assistant Editor (1990 Restoration): Bill Wilner (uncredited)

MUSIC
Music Directors: Leopold Stowkowski, Edward H. Plumb
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach (Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565); Paul Dukas (L'apprenti sorcier); Modeste Moussorgsky (A Night on Bald Mountain); Amilcare Ponchielli (La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours); Franz Schubert (Ave Maria); Igor Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring); Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker Suite Op.71a); Ludwig van Beethoven (6th symphony in F, Op.68 Pastorale)
Music Performed By: James MacDonald (percussion - uncredited); Paul J. Smith (violin - uncredited); The Philadelphia Orchestra
Special Lyricist: Rachel Field (Ave Maria)
Choral Director: Charles Henderson (Night On Bald Mountain / Ave Maria)
Conductor: Leopold Stokowski
Conductor (1982 Re-Recording): Irwin Kostal
Arranger/ Orchestrator: Leopold Stokowski (Toccata And Fugue In D Minor)
Musical Film Editor: Stephen Csillag
Score Mixer (1982 Re-Recording): Shawn Murphy
Musical Advisor: Deems Taylor (uncredited)

SOUND
Sound Recording: C.O. Slyfield, J.N.A. Hawkins, William E. Garity
Sound Restoration (1990 Restoration): Terry Porter
Fantasound Historian (1990 Restoration): Alexander Rannie (uncredited)
Recorded By: RCA

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Animation Effects: Daniel MacManus, Joshua Meador, Miles E. Pike, John F. Reed (Night On Bald Mountain / Ave Maria)
Special Camera Effects: Gail Papineau, Leonard Pickley (Night On Bald Mountain / Ave Maria)

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Directors: Kenneth Anderson, Yale Gracey, Hugh Hennesy, J. Gordon Legg, Lance Nolley, Herbert Ryman (The Pastoral Symphony); Bruce Bushman, Arthur Byram, Robert Cormack, Curtiss D. Perkins, Al Zinnen (The Nutcracker Suite); Tom Codrick, Charles Philippi, Zack Schwartz (The Sorcerer's Apprentice); Robert Cormack (Toccata and Fugue in D minor); Harold Doughty, Ernest Nordli, Kendall O'Connor (Dance of the Hours); John Hubley, Dick Kelsey, McLaren Stewart (Rite of Spring); Kay Nielsen, Charles Payzant, Thor Putnam, Terrell Stapp (Night on Bald Mountain / Ave Maria)

MISCELLANEOUS
1990 Film Restoration: YCM Labs
Colour Restoration (1990 Restoration): Don Hagens, Pete Comandini, Richard Dayton
Technical Manager (1990 Restoration): Leon Briggs

VOICES
Deems Taylor (narrator)
Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse - uncredited)
Hugh Douglas (narrator in 1982 re-issue)
Tim Matheson (narrator, Deems Taylor's monolgue in 1982 release - uncredited)
Julietta Novis (soloist in Ave Maria)

CAST
Leopold Stokowski (conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra)
Paul J. Smith (violinist - uncredited)
James MacDonald (percussionist - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

An anthology of short animated sequences accompanied by well known piece of classical music.

It's almost sacrilegious to say anything bad about Fantasia, but, although one can admire its technical brilliance, in truth it's really rather dull. It's very pretty and the choice of music is pleasing enough, but over two hours of it largely plotless animated cleverness really isn't enough. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the best remembered segment, though the Night of Bald Mountain sequence is the film's technical tour-de-force.

Argentina
Rating: Atp

Finland
Rating: K-10

Sweden
Rating: 15; 11 (re-release)

UK
Rating: U

USA
Rating: G

1940
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Special Award (Walt Disney) - winner

1942
Academy Awards, USA
Honorary Award (Walt Disney, William E. Garity, J.N.A. Hawkins, Leopold Stokowski and associates - for their unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music in Walt Disney's production Fantasia, thereby widening the scope of the motion picture as entertainment and as an art form) - winner

1990
National Film Preservation Board, USA
Added to the National Film Registry

TIMELINE

1940
November
12: USA - New York premiere

1941
January
29: USA - theatrical release in Los Angeles

1942
January
6: USA - theatrical release across the country

April
10: Greece - theatrical release

October
7: Sweden - theatrical release

1947
July
Day Unknown: USA - theatrical re-release

1949
November
4: Finland - theatrical release

1960
February
29: Sweden - theatrical re-release

1969
December
17: USA - theatrical re-release

1977
April
15: USA - theatrical re-release

1982
April
2: USA - theatrical re-release (in Dolby Digital, with a new soundtrack by Irwin Kostal and no interstitials)

1985
February
8: USA - theatrical re-release

1990
October
5: USA - theatrical 50th Anniversary re-release

1991
November
1: USA - laserdisc release (Disney (1132AS); Disney (1236CS))

2000
November
14: USA - DVD release (Disney DVD (18268 - Special 60th Anniversary Edition); Disney DVD (21269 - Fantasia Anthology))

POSTER TAGS

Walt Disney's Technicolor FEATURE triumph

Hear the pictures! See the music!

All the BEAUTY... All the DELIGHT... All the EXCITEMENT of the world's greatest music!

Fantasia Will Amazia! (1942 re-release)

The Concert Feature - working title

LINKS

SEQUEL
Fantasia 2000 (1999)

SEE ALSO
Aladdin (1992)
Alferd Packer: The Musical (1996)
Allegro non troppo (1976)
Aysecik ve Sihirli Cüceler Rüyalar Ülkesinde (1971)
Brazil (1985)
A Corny Concerto (1943)
Dinosaur (2000)
Disneyland: The Fourth Anniversary Show (1957)
Frank and Ollie (1995)
Hercules (1997)
A Night on Bald Mountain (1934)
Pigs in a Polka (1943)
The Reluctant Dragon (1941)
Sexually Bewitched (1999)
The Sorceror's Apprentice (1960)
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
Study No 8 (1931)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
The Wizard's Apprentice (1930)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998)
The Making of Fantasia (2000)
The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show (1968)

BOOKS

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.132
credits

Walt Disney's Fantasia - Deems Taylor (New York: Simon and Schuster (1940))
production notes

Walt Disney's Fantasia - John Culhane (New York: Harry N. Abrams (1983))
production notes

OTHER SOURCES

screen
credits

animation; disney; classical music; elephants; hippopotami; pegasus; conductors; orchestras; mountains; the devil; mythology; dancing; centaurs; ostriches; sorcerers; anthologies; demons; crocodiles; children; magic; the supernatural; dinosaurs; mickey mouse; broomsticks; buckets; water