Fantasia will be preceded by the world premiere screening of a short film by Florida Atlantic University students, presented in partnership between Festival of the Arts Boca and FAU.
“Dear Bella” (2023)
Starring:
Isabella Kai
Lucas Doytier
Music by: Joseph Sodano
Produced by:
Sky Rembert
Kaeyln Hamby
Executive Producer: Lorenzo M. Ponce de León
Written, Edited, and Directed by: Alfonso Gibson
“Fantasia,” released in 1940, was created and supervised by Walt Disney and featured Leopold Stokowski conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded in stereophonic sound, which was still an experimental medium at the time.
“Fantasia” was Disney’s boldest experiment and culminated his desire to blend animated imagery with classical music. What had begun as a vehicle to bring new popularity to Mickey Mouse’s career (with a short called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”), blossomed into a full-blown feature that remains unique in the annals of animation.
In 1940, twelve years after Mickey Mouse astounded audiences by whistling in synchronized sound, Walt Disney released FANTASIA, a film that was to become a milestone, not only in animation art, but also in the history of motion picture sound. For the first time, a multi-channel soundtrack surrounded audiences with a form of stereo separation.
Disney had used classical music in his "Silly Symphony" cartoons, which he regarded as stepping stones toward full-length animated features. However, after Snow White, he realized that he could not return to the ""Silly Symphony" format and began to seek a different direction with music which suggested strong visual images. Walt finally decided upon Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
When he approached Leopold Stokowski, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Walt soon discovered that Stokowski had ideas about instrumental coloring which were perfect for animation and that he had already experimented with revolutionary methods of sound recording for the movies.
Work on "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" began in late 1937 and was finished in 1938. By that time, costs had so far exceeded projections that they could not be recouped if the film was released as a short. Disney began conceptualizing a full-length feature using short separate numbers in a single presentation as a sort of "visual musical concert."
Disney enlisted the help of Stokowski and noted music critic and composer, Deems Taylor, to select a program. The three men listened to hundreds of hours of music and studied world-famous art masterpieces before making their final decisions.
Both Disney and Stokowski wanted to experiment with new projection and sound techniques. Although Disney's dream of using wide-screen projection proved economically unfeasible, he continued development of a stereophonic sound system. The music was recorded in "Fantasound" on nine optical recorders using eight music tracks plus a click track for animation timing. Stokowski conducted a studio orchestra for "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in 1938, and in 1939, he led the Philadelphia Orchestra in recording the remaining soundtrack.
Because the sound system required use of multiple speakers, theaters had to be specially equipped at great expense, making a limited roadshow distribution necessary. The completed film premiered on November 13, 1940 at the Broadway Theater in New York. Audiences were "confronted for the first time on any large scale with two major innovations: an ingenious partnership between fine music and animated film, and an immeasurably improved method of sound reproduction," wrote Theater Arts critic Hermine Rich Isaacs.
Although limited distribution kept FANTASIA from becoming profitable for nearly thirty years, today it is considered a genuine cinema classic and has been in constant reissue since 1969.
To promote the cultural arts and enrich the quality of life of the residents of Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, and South Florida.
