Fantasia is eight brilliant set pieces of animation, each accompanied by a piece of classical music from the likes of Tchaikovsky, Bach, Stravinsky, Beethoven, and Schubert. A box office failure in its initial release, Fantasia has over the years, and the numerous subsequent runs in the cinema and releases to disc, become both critically acclaimed and financially successful.
There’s also some excellent bonus content on the discs, particularly on the Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray edition. One such extra is ‘Destino’, a collaborative project between Walt Disney and the surrealist artist, Salvador Dali. Seemingly one of the more left-field artistic partnerships, you can watch not only the 7-minute long ‘Destino’, but ‘Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino’, an 82-minute documentary about the collaboration.
Fantasia DVD bonus features
- Disney Family Museum – Walt’s daughter Diane Disney-Miller tales viewers on a tour of the Disney Museum in San Francisco.
- Audio commentary from Disney historian Brian Sibley.
Fantasia Blu-Ray Value Pack bonus features
Everything that’s available on the DVD plus:
- Disney View – this viewing mode maximises the Blu-ray viewing experience with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Original artwork created by a Disney artist, in a style that complements the film.
- The Shultheis Notebook: An in depth look at the recently discovered Schultheis Notebook. The detailed log was created by Herman Schultheis, an effects man on Fantasia, and intricately breaks down the film from a technical view. Many of the special effects used in Fantasia were a mystery to modern day animators until this notebook was recovered. Run time: 14 minutes.
- Interactive art gallery and screensavers – explore the artwork of Fantasia as never before, in high definition with unique Blu-ray interactivity and programming.
- Audio commentary with executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, animation historian John Canemaker, and Scott McQueen, manager of film restoration.
- Audio commentary with interviews and story note recreations by Walt Disney, hosted by John Canemaker.
Fantasia 2000 DVD bonus features
- Musicana – Walt’s Inspiration for a Sequel (running time: 10 minutes) – this documentary reveals rarely-seen art created for Musicana, a late 1970’s project intended as a Fantasia sequel with a focus on exploring other cultures via their greatest musical compositions.
Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray
Everything that’s available on the DVD plus:
- Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino (running time: 82 minutes) – feature length documentary explores the collaborative relationship between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, revealing how and why the Destino short came to fruition under the lead of Roy E. Disney in 2003 so many years after its inception in 1946.
- Destino (running time: 7 minutes) – the legacy of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali lives on in this highly anticipated short film.
- Audio commentary with executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, and producer Don Ernst.
- Audio commentary with the directors and art directors for each segment.