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It’s premise was simple, but revolutionary – combine classical music with animation. By interpreting the works of great composers with cutting edge animation, Fantasia was both beautiful and groundbreaking.

 

Deems Taylor (then the voice of Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts) opened the film with the idea behind it - "What you're going to see are the designs and pictures and stories that music inspired in the minds and imaginations of a group of artists." The Philadelphia Orchestra, with conductor Leopold Stokowski, is shown in silhouette while Taylor explains how music can tell a story, paint a picture, or just exist for it’s own sake.

 

The first piece of music is Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor," accompanied by abstract images of lines, shadows, and waves. That’s followed by Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" with it’s animation of mushrooms, fish and flowers.

 

The most famous segment is Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Mickey Mouse as the apprentice. Mickey puts a spell on a broomstick to fetch him water, but things get out of control and a flood ensues, and only the Sorcerer can put things right again.

 

Following that is Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," a more serious piece showing the earth growing from a lifeless planet to the age of the dinosaurs. Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony” features the Greek gods on Mount Olympus. “Dance of the Hours” is a lively ballet spoof danced by elephants, ostriches, alligators and pirouetting hippos. The film concludes with Moussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and a diabolical dance, and finally Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” where good triumphs over evil.

 

Disney also used cutting edge audio technology and created a new stereophonic sound system. It was an expensive system for theaters to install, and the film could initially only be shown in theaters that had made the conversion. For it’s fiftieth anniversary in 1990, a remixed and reedited version of the film with restored visuals and sound was released nationwide.

 

Ten years later, Walt Disney’s nephew Roy introduced Fantasia 2000, a brand new film based on the original format. It featured seven new classic pieces of music and animation, including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue,” as well as the original   "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." It was shown only in the extra-big IMAX format, and was a larger than life adventure in bringing culture to the masses in the form of music and original animation.