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Fantasia is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential animated films ever made. Released in 1940, producer Walt Disney originally conceived a short Silly Symphony cartoon called The Sorcerer’s Apprentice to help revitalize the popularity of Disney’s mascot Mickey Mouse. However, the production cost proved to be too expensive for one short animated piece, leading Disney to expand the idea into an anthology film that included eight different animated sequences adding visuals to classical music pieces. Disney toured Fantasia with a theatrical roadshow, starting at the Broadway Theater in New York City in November of 1940, and introduced Fantasound, a sound-system that made Fantasia the world’s first commercial film released in stereo sound. The film was not originally a financial success, primarily because leasing the Fantasound equipment to movie theaters across the country was very expensive. The film was re-released by RKO and Buena Vista Distribution in 1942 in a standard-format and garnered both critical and commercial acclaim. In 1990, Fantasia was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The classical music pieces are conducted by Leopold Stokowski and are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. The program includes:
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Directed by Samuel Armstrong.
The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Directed by Samuel Armstrong.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas. Directed by James Algar.
The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. Directed by Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield.
Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen and David D. Hand
The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. Directed by Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, and Ford Beebe
Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli. Directed by T. Hee and Norm Ferguson.
Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky.
Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. Directed by Wilfred Jackson
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Arkadin Cinema & Bar, 5228 Gravois Ave, St Louis, MO 63116-2310, United States, Southhampton
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