Fantasia

"What you will see are the different things that might pass through your mind if you sat in a concert hall listening to this music. At first, you are more or less conscious of the orchestra. So our picture opens with a series of impressions of the conductor and the players. Then the music begins to suggest other things to your imagination."

The animators at Walt Disney Studios illustrate well-known classical music, as performed by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.  The orchestra is under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, and each piece is introduced by composer and music critic Deems Taylor.

• Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. (Directed by Samuel Armstrong)
  Live-action shots of the orchestra that fade into abstract images.
• Nutrcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. (Directed by Samuel Armstrong)
  Fairies, mushrooms, and flowers dance to selections from Tchaikovsky's famous ballet.
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas.  (Directed by James Algar)
  Mickey Mouse is the young apprentice of sorcerer Yen Sid and decides to try some magic on his own.
• Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. (Directed by Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield)
  The history of Earth, as explained by scientists, from formation to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
• The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. (Directed by Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, and Ford Beebe)
  A day in the life of the creatures of Greco-Roman mythology, as they fall in love and gather for a festival for the god of wine.
• Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli. (Directed by T. Hee and Norman Ferguson)
  A ballet based on the four times of day: morning, afternoon, evening, and night.
• Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. (Directed by Wilfred Jackson)
  At night the devil Chernabog summons demons and evil spirits from the dead.  As morning breaks a chorus sings Ava Maria on their way through the woods.

This film was a major risk for Walt Disney.  Originally he wanted feature The Sorcerer's Apprentice in his successful Silly Symphonies series, but wanted to take the concept further.  He talked with composer Leopold Stokowski about the idea, and the two decided to work together.  After filming The Sorcerer's Apprentice they talked about making a feature film similar to a concert, which was a new and risky move.

In 1938 Stokowski's contract was extended so that they could bring the idea to fruition.  Stokowski and composer / music critic Deems Taylor worked together to present a selection of music to Disney and the animators.  Disney brought in his best animators to create works that evoke the movement of each piece.  And he set about finding a way to give audiences the feeling that they were at a concert, by creating Fantasound.

The film set the tone for future Disney films that took inspiration from music and told short stories within a single film (Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, Saludos Amigos, and Three Caballeros all come to mind).  Ultimately it was a success and is still considered an excellent film decades after it's release.

My grandparents had this film on VHS and I remember watching it as a child.  I hated the Rite of Spring / dinosaurs section and refused to be in the room when it was on until I was in middle school.  I loved the Sorcerer's Apprentice, Pastoral Symphony, Dance of the Hours, and the Nutcracker Suite the most, and still enjoy those pieces of music.  I wasn't a huge fan of the Night on Bald Mountain / Ava Maria section until I was older and appreciated the juxtaposition between the pieces.  We performed Night on Bald Mountain in our marching band show during my senior year, and I even had part of the song as my ringtone for a bit.  I still have fond memories of these pieces and appreciate that as a child I was exposed to these classical pieces in  a way that I could understand and enjoy, as I still enjoy classical and orchestral music as an adult.

Of all of the pieces from this film, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is clearly the biggest hit.  Mickey in the sorcerer hat is an iconic image, and is used in the Disney parks.  Disney saw Fantasia as a film that could remade every so many years with a new series of classical pieces with original artwork.  That vision was realized in 1999 when Disney studios released Fantasia 2000, a sequel of sorts.  And in 2010 Disney made a live-action Sorcerer's Apprentice film.

Fantasia (1940) 125 minutes
Starring: Deems Taylor - The Narrator
Leopold Stokowski - The Conductor