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Fantasia: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

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If it wasn't for “The Sorcerer's Apprentice", the feature Fantasia would never have been made. The fairy tale was made into a poem by Goethe and into a concert piece by Paul Dukas.

Fantasia is a 1940 animated film produced by Walt Disney, an experiment in animation and music, consisting of classical music presented against the backdrop of animation and featuring no dialogue, only spoken introductions by Deems Taylor before each cartoon, as well as during the intermission segment.

The music is recorded under the direction of Leopold Stokowski; seven of the eight pieces were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Animated artwork of varying degrees of abstraction or literalism is used to illustrate or accompany the concert in various ways. The film also includes live-action segments featuring Stokowski, the orchestra, and American composer and music critic Deems Taylor, who serves as the host for the film. Besides its avant-garde qualities, Fantasia was notable for being the first major film released in stereophonic sound, using a process dubbed “Fantasound".

The story of a young Apprentice (played by Mickey Mouse), who believes he too can control the spells that his Master, Yen Sid, can produce from a magic sorcerer's book. Mickey begins with spells to control the broom he used to clean up, to help with his chore of bringing in water. Tried from all the magic spells he had cast, Mickey begins to dream about controlling all the forces of nature and the universe. Awaken by noticing all the water that had been brought into the room, the young Apprentice loses control of his once simple spells and is rescued by his Master.

This segment has been fully restored from the 1940 original for it's re-release in theaters 2002.

Use the video below to enjoy the historic restored short film.

For more information contact .

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