Fantasia

Release Date: November 13th, 1940
 
It is no secret that Walt Disney was a dreamer, and he constantly wanted to experiment and push the boundaries of what was possible. In some cases, he was ahead of his time, and that could be said about Fantasia. 

The idea for this feature began with The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment. Walt thought it would be a great Mickey Mouse cartoon, done in the style of his Silly Symphonies. One day, Walt ran into Leopold Stokowski and told him of his idea. Stokowski was excited by it and offered to conduct the piece. The cost of that single cartoon was so high, that it would never make money as just a short cartoon. Walt decided to make a series of musical pieces and combine them into one movie.

At the beginning, Walt was not a huge fan of classical music. But he studied it and learned to appreciate it. His enthusiasm and excitement for it spread to his animators, some of whom were also skeptics in the beginning. One person Walt never convinced was his brother Roy, who exclaimed, "Can't you put some music in this picture that an ordinary guy like me can enjoy?" Walt banned Roy to his office after that.

Unfortunately, Fantasia was a flop at the box office. Walt took the time to appreciate classical music, and he got some of his animators to appreciate some of the finer arts, such as ballet. But the general public did not have the education Walt and his animators went through, and the movie did not connect with them. Troubles for the film continued as time wore on, as certain elements of the movie were deemed extremely offensive and have been removed from all recent releases.

The modified version that remains today, however, is a brilliant movie, in my opinion! The Nutcracker Suite, the Pastoral Symphony, and Dance of the Hours are my favorite segments, of course, with The Sorcerer's Apprentice topping them all! But I also enjoy The Rite of Spring and Night on Bald Mountain. Fortunately this film enjoys more appreciation today than it did when it was first released.