Celebrating 85 years of Disney’s film, “Fantasia” (Nov. 13, 1940)

Celebrating 85 years of Disney’s film “Fantasia” (Nov. 13, 1940)

On November 13, 1940, the animated film produced by Walt Disney, ‘Fantasia’, was released in the United States. The film consisted of eight animated segments illustrating as many pieces of classical music, most of which were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

The project began when the budget for one of the episodes of the “Silly symphonies” in which it was intended to revitalize the character of Mickey Mouse, skyrocketed beyond what was expected. The episode was created around Paul Dukas’ classic piece “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” It was decided to expand the project to an experimental animated feature film with the composer and music critic, Deems Taylor, responsible for the choice of the pieces and master of ceremonies in the film.

Best Sheet Music download from our Library.

Toccata and fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The orchestra’s blue-and-gold-lit live-action shots, backed by overlapping shadows, fade into abstract patterns. Animated lines, shapes, and cloud formations reflect the sound and rhythms of the music.

The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Selections from the 1892 ballet suite underline scenes depicting the change of seasons from summer to fall and winter. A variety of dances featuring fairies, fish, flowers, mushrooms, and leaves are featured, including ‘Sugar Fairy Dance’, ‘Chinese Dance’, ‘Arabic Dance’, ‘Russian Dance’, ‘Flute Dance’ and ‘Flower Waltz’.

Browse in the Library:

Or browse in the categories menus & download the Library Catalog PDF:

Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Based on Goethe’s 1797 poem ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’. Mickey Mouse, the young apprentice of sorcerer Yen Sid, tries some of his master’s magic tricks but doesn’t know how to control them.

Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

A visual history of the Earth’s beginnings is depicted in selected sections of the ballet score. The sequence progresses from the formation of the planet to the first living things, followed by the reign and extinction of the dinosaurs.

Intermission/Meet the soundtrack:

The musicians of the orchestra depart and the Fantasia business card is revealed. After the intermission, there is a short jam session of jazz music led by a clarinetist while the members of the orchestra return.

A humorously stylized demonstration of how sound is reproduced in the film is then shown. An animated ‘character’ from the soundtrack, initially a straight white line, changes to different shapes and colors depending on the sounds being played.

Pastoral, The Symphony No. 6 by Ludwig van Beethoven.

A mythical Greco-Roman world of colorful centaurs, cupids, fauns, and other figures from classical mythology is portrayed with the music of Beethoven. A gathering for a festival honoring Bacchus, the god of wine, is interrupted by Zeus, who creates a storm and orders Vulcan to forge lightning bolts to hurl at the attendees.

The centaurs were originally depicted bare-chested, but Hays’ office enforcing the Film Production Code insisted that garlands be discreetly hung around their necks. The appearance of the male centaurs was also toned down to appear less intimidating to the audience. Originally, the segment included a pair of black centaurs who tended to each other, but they were removed from the film in later releases due to their racism implications.

The dance of the hours by Amilcare Ponchielli.

A comic ballet in four sections: Madame Upanova and her ostriches (Morning); Hyacinth Hippo and his servants (Noon); Elephanchine and her company of bubble-making elephants (Afternoon); and Ben Ali Gator and his troop of alligators (Night). The finale finds all the characters dancing together until their palace collapses.

A Night on the Bare Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and Ave Maria by Franz Schubert.

At midnight, the demon Chernabog (*) awakens and summons the evil spirits and restless souls from their graves to Bare Mountain. Spirits dance and fly through the air until the sound of an Angelus bell pulls them back as night turns to dawn. A choir is heard singing Ave Maria as a row of robed monks are depicted walking with lighted torches through a forest and into the ruins of a cathedral.

(*) Chernabog is a demon from Disney’s Fantasia (1940), inspired by the “black god” of Slavic mythology. In the film’s “Night on Bald Mountain” segment, he rises from a mountaintop to summon evil spirits to a furious dance before casting them into a fiery abyss at dawn. His name translates from Proto-Slavic as “black god,” and historical accounts describe him as the deity of evil and darkness.

Origin: The character is based on the Slavic god of darkness, who was the focus of limited historical records from the 12th century Chronica Slavorum.

Disney’s version:

• He is a massive, horned, and winged demon with a terrifying appearance, as seen in Fantasia.
• He serves as the main villain in the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence.
• His reign of terror is ended by the morning sun and the sound of church bells.

Name meaning: “Chernabog” translates to “black god” from Proto-Slavic, representing the deity of evil and darkness in Slavic pagan religion.Appearances: In addition to Fantasia, he has appeared in other Disney productions like Mickey’s House of Villains, House of Mouse, and the Kingdom Hearts video game series. 

There was a scene that had to be removed from the final copy due to the long duration of the film. It is the orchestral arrangement that Stokowski made with the piece Moonlight by Claude Debussy:

The soundtrack was recorded using multiple audio channels and played back using the Fantasound system, one of the first stereophonic reproduction systems created by RCA engineer David Sarnoff. The large investment that had to be made to provide the theaters with adequate reproduction equipment and the temporary disappearance of the European market, due to the Second World War, resulted in “Fantasia” being a commercial failure. On the dates after its premiere.

However, it has grossed close to $80 million thanks to home video prints and ranks 23rd on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States.

In 1990, Fantasia was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Search your favorite sheet music in the Sheet Music Catalog

Listen to Disney’s Fantasia music on Spotify