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Walt Disney Records:
Fantasia Soundtrack

"Fantasia is timeless. It may run ten, twenty, thirty years. Fantasia is an idea in itself. I can never build another Fantasia. I can improve. I can elaborate. That's all."
-- Walt Disney

Walt Disney Records is proud to present the original, groundbreaking motion picture soundtrack to Walt Disney's monumental film classic Fantasia. Digitally remastered for the first time from the original Stokowski film tracks, Fantasia is produced from the highest quality, first-generation recording discovered in an international search. The soundtrack simulates the visionary 1939 creation of "Fantasound," Walt Disney and conductor Leopold Stokowski's innovative exploration into three-dimensional sound technology.

Born from a chance meeting between Disney and Stokowski, Fantasia was hailed at its release as the screen's "greatest departure since the introduction of sound" (Philadelphia Evening Bulletin ). The film pioneered sound and conceptual technology, melding classical music, early stereophonic experimentation, and animation for the first time in history. Employing nine optical recorders, eight music tracks, and a click track for animation timing, Disney and Stokowski created "Fantasound" -- a breakthrough into stereo application. Stokowski's score, recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra and a studio orchestra on "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," enveloped audiences in a sound experience unlike any before as it explored territory beyond existing boundaries.

Picture of Mickey as Sorcerer's ApprenticeFantasia earned unqualified rave reviews from a variety of sources, while also inspiring controversy among the musical community. The film was composed of Bach's Toccata and Fugue, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. Musicological purists held Stokowski accountable on two points: Not only had he tampered with the original versions of the various pieces of music, but the animation of the music ventured one step further. Conversely, Fantasia advocates championed its cause: What was attempted was not a screen enactment of various popular classics but an innovative union of classical music and animation. By blending high art with commercial entertainment, Fantasia brought the joys of classical music to new generations.

Originally mastered on optical nitrate film, the Fantasia soundtrack was transferred in l955 to magnetic tape, then considered the ultimate in state-of-the-art technology. Disney engineers, well aware that nitrate undergoes progressive decay over time -- especially in the fragile sound medium -- regularly remastered Disney soundtracks onto magnetic tape as release schedules brought the films back into the public eye. The original Fantasia sound optical has suffered from degeneration over the years, establishing first-generation magnetic masters in its place. This process has laid the groundwork for periodic remastering with new technology. Interestingly enough, Fantasia was transferred via Class A telephone lines from the Disney Studios to RCA, a superior method of transmission.Picture of Dancing Elephants

Today, Fantasia -- named for the musical term assigned to its form -- remains unique and exalted among its peers and progeny, surpassing Walt Disney's expectations. Combining technology with the highest quality, first-generation recording, the digitally remastered original motion-picture soundtrack re-creates the authentic and sensational big-screen "Fantasound" experience. Conceived by Disney and Stokowski, Fantasia preserves for future generations a brilliant foray into artistry and innovation.


Here's the full list of tracks:

1. Toccata and Fugue in D-minor, BWV 565
Johann Sebastian Bach

2. The Nutcracker Suite, op. 71A
Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky

  • Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
  • Chinese Dance
  • Dance of the Reed Flutes
  • Arabian Dance
  • Russian Dance
  • Waltz of the Flowers
3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Paul Dukas
396K

4. Rite of Spring
Igor Stravinsky

5. Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral ) op. 68
Ludwig van Beethoven

  • Allegro ma non troppo
  • Andante molto mosso
  • Allegro
  • Allegro
  • Allegretto
6. "Dance of the Hours" from the opera La Gioconda
Amilcare Ponchielli

7. Night on Bald Mountain
Modest Moussorgsky
891K

8. "Ave Maria," op. 52, no. 6
Franz Schubert


THE HISTORY OF FANTASIA :

A Breakthrough in Motion Pictures and Sound

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 Symphonies cartoons, which he regarded as stepping stones toward full-length animated features. However, after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he realized that he could not return to the Silly Symphonies format and began to seek a different direction with music that suggested strong visual images. Walt finally decided upon Paul Dukas's 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.

Picture of a Dinosaur from FantasiaBecause 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 Isaccs.

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.


Quotes From Fantasia's 1940 Debut

"Terrific as anything that ever appeared on the screen."
--The New York Times

"An earthquake in motion picture history."

--Los Angeles Times

"The screen's greatest departure since the introduction of sound."

--Philadelphia Evening Bulletin

"Nothing ever existed like Fantasia. To describe it is impossible. You must see it."

--Esquire

"Like Snow White, Fantasia marks a milestone in the development of cinema."

--New York Herald Tribune

"... a new kind of art, and that is the greatest praise one can give an artist."

--Emil Ludwig

"To my mind, Fantasia is the greatest contribution motion pictures have made within the ten years in which I have been actively engaged in community work for better films. It should be seen by every child and every adult, over and over again."

--Educator Martha W. D. Addams



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