Stokowski continued by suggesting that a new character would contribute to the “worldwide popularity” of the film. “What would you think of creating an entirely new personality for this film instead of Mickey? A personality that could represent you and me – in other words, someone that would represent in the mind and heart of everyone seeing the film their own personality, so that they would enter into all the drama and emotional changes of the film in a most intense matter.” According to the book Walt Disney’s Fantasia by John Culhane, Stokowski wrote a letter to Disney suggesting that Mickey was not right for the Apprentice role. Segment kicks off Fantasia, with Mickey in his iconic blue hat and red robe, but if Disney had listened to Stokowski, things would have been different. STOKOWSKI DIDN’T THINK THE MOUSE SHOULD BE THE LEAD. Moore is also credited with shortening Mickey’s nose and giving him his now-signature white gloves. One of the adjustments that Moore made to the design of the character was to give him pupils for the first time, instead of the black ovals that once stood for his eyes. The character did evolve over the years from his first official appearance in Steamboat Willie, but Fantasia marked a pretty major change by artist Fred Moore. Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse back in 1928. IT CHANGED THE WAY MICKEY MOUSE WAS DRAWN. The disappointing initial performance and the onset of World War II killed Disney’s dream of creating a sequel, which he had already starting planning for in his head. It also returned to theaters several times over the course of 50 years. Fantasia ran for 49 consecutive weeks in New York and nearly as long in Los Angeles, which set an all-time record back in 1941. Because of the special equipment needed to show the film, the theatrical release was very small, as were the sales. Is regarded as one of the highest grossing films of all time (when adjusted for inflation) with over $83 million at the box office, but it did not open to huge numbers. Disney thought it would be a good idea to have fans blow perfume into the theater during The Nutcracker Suite, he wanted the smell of gunpowder to fill the room during The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and he and Stokowski both liked the idea of having a portion of the concert shown using 3D projection, which was limited to black-and-white imagery at the time. Technical suggestions that he contributed to the planning phase included ways to “stimulate the audience’s senses,” according to Disney historian Didier Ghez. Having assembled a classical music super squad helmed by Leopold Stokowski, Disney’s imagination was moving at full tilt. Transcendent sound was not the only idea that Disney had for his concert feature. The segment was later re-scored and included in the comedy musical Make Mine Music. It would have been even longer, but a ninth segment, Claire de Lune, was nixed during production. IT IS DISNEY’S LONGEST ANIMATED FEATURE.įor its general release and past restorations, Fantasia was cut to reduce its running time, but at two hours and six minutes, the film is still the longest animated feature the studio has ever made. The estimated cost for the upgrades was around $85,000 per theater, which is close to $1.5 million today when adjusted for inflation. Peck of Scientific American, a dozen or so theaters across the country had to upgrade their equipment to show Fantasia in what was called “Fantasound.” This involved installing more speakers around the room instead of the few that were typically placed behind the screen (the installation at the Broadway Theater in New York included 90 speakers), as well as new projectors and sound reproduction machines. The scope and soundstage of Fantasia were too grand for the standard theater setup of 1940, but instead of making a film that worked within the limitations of the technology, Disney and his team had to develop a way to upgrade theaters to match the concert experience of the film. IT WAS THE FIRST FILM TO USE STEREOPHONIC SOUND. Here are 10 things that you probably didn't know about the film that revolutionized the animation industry. Fantasia released in select theaters in 1940, and now over 75 years later, it is still regarded as his masterpiece and one of the most important and ambitious animated features of all time. With the dream of combining classical musical and animation into one grand "concert feature," Disney worked on getting the rights to the story of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and then he started to build a team to help bring his unconventional film to life. In the late 1930s, Walt Disney had an idea for an experimental film that was unlike anything he or anyone else had ever done.
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