| Disney's
Fantasia In 1938 Walt Disney began to worry over the decline in popularity of his alter ego, Mickey Mouse. He decided to feature Mickey in a cartoon presentation of "The Sorcerers Apprentice", an old fairy tale that had been made into a poem and a concert piece. Walt's idea was to have the entire film done in pantomime to composer Paul Dukas instrumental. Disney first envisioned the film to be a short and stand alone as an original piece. However, the composer of the cartoon, Leopold Stokowski suggested he create an anthology of shorts. After reviewing the cost of making the cartoon, Disney decided to make it into a full-length feature movie to try and regain some of his investment. The project was given the name "The Concert Feature" and later renamed "Fantasia". With a total of eight other musical pieces, including "A Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky the film is the longest running feature in Disney history. The cause of this was simply that Dumbo, to be released a year later, is the shortest in the studios history. For it's premier on Broadway in 1940, Disney invented a stereophonic sound system that used a total of ninety speakers called "Fantasound." Only twelve theaters at the time could afford "Fantasound" as it cost around $85,000 per theater. Despite its current popularity, at its release it was considered a box office flop. The film did not make it to VHS until 1991. During that time the film underwent several changes. Two zebra like Nubian centaurs were forced to have flower bras painted over their bare breasts due to pressure from the Hays office. Three original scenes depicting a black centaur serving a white centaur were cut in 1968 because the studio thought it might be accused of racism. However, the US release stated on the cover of the box it was "unedited and uncut". |
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