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Fantasia (movie) facts for kids
| Fantasia | |
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Title screen in the original theatrical trailer
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| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Leopold Stokowski Deems Taylor The Philadelphia Orchestra Walt Disney (voice) |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. |
| Release date(s) | February 29, 1940 |
| Running time | 124 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,280,000 (est.) |
| Money made | $76,408,097 |
Fantasia is the third animated movie produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was first released on February 29, 1940. It was originally released by itself instead of RKO Pictures, which was the distributor of Disney from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, until Peter Pan.
Fantasia contains eight classical music pieces. One of them is from Igor Stavinski's The Rite of Spring. It tells the story of life on Earth until the extinction of the dinosaurs. In Fantasia.
Fantasia 2000 (1999), a sequel to this movie, was released on December 17, 1999 in New York.
Program
Fantasia opens with live action scenes of members of an orchestra gathering against a blue background and tuning their instruments in half-light, half-shadow. Master of ceremonies Deems Taylor enters the stage (also in half-light, half-shadow) and introduces the program.
- Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Live-action shots of the orchestra illuminated in blue and gold, backed by superimposed shadows, fade into abstract patterns. Animated lines, shapes and cloud formations reflect the sound and rhythms of the music.
- Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Selections from the ballet suite underscore scenes depicting the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn to winter. A variety of dances are presented with fairies, fish, flowers, mushrooms, and leaves, including "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", "Chinese Dance", "Dance of the Flutes", "Arabian Dance", "Russian Dance" and "Waltz of the Flowers".
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas. Based on Goethe's 1797 poem "Der Zauberlehrling". Mickey Mouse, the young apprentice of the sorcerer Yen Sid, attempts some of his master's magic tricks but does not know how to control them.
- Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. A visual history of the Earth's beginnings is depicted to selected sections of the ballet score. The sequence progresses from the planet's formation to the first living creatures, followed by the reign and extinction of the dinosaurs.
- Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack: The orchestra musicians depart and the Fantasia title card is revealed. After the intermission there is a brief jam session of jazz music led by a clarinettist as the orchestra members return. Then a humorously stylized demonstration of how sound is rendered on film is shown. An animated sound track "character", initially a straight white line, changes into different shapes and colors based on the sounds played.
- The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. A mythical Greco-Roman world of colorful centaurs and "centaurettes", cupids, fauns and other figures from classical mythology is portrayed to Beethoven's music. A gathering for a festival to honor Bacchus, the god of wine, is interrupted by Zeus, who creates a storm and directs Vulcan to forge lightning bolts for him to throw at the attendees.
- Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli. A comic ballet in four sections: Madame Upanova and her ostriches (Morning); Hyacinth Hippo and her servants (Afternoon); Elephanchine and her bubble-blowing elephant troupe (Evening); and Ben Ali Gator and his troop of alligators (Night). The finale finds all of the characters dancing together until their palace collapses.
- Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. At midnight the devil Chernabog awakes and summons evil spirits and restless souls from their graves to Bald Mountain. The spirits dance and fly through the air until driven back by the sound of an Angelus bell as night fades into dawn. A chorus is heard singing Ave Maria as a line of robed monks is depicted walking with lighted torches through a forest and into the ruins of a cathedral.
Images for kids
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Leopold Stokowski conducted the film's score.
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Deems Taylor was the film's Master of Ceremonies, who introduced each segment in live action interstitial scenes.
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Disney acting out a scene in The Sorcerer's Apprentice for Taylor and Stokowski.
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The film's score was recorded at the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
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The film's first roadshow opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on November 13, 1940.
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The film opened at the Carthay Circle Theatre on January 30, 1941.