Original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Mickey Mouse from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence of "Fantasia," 1940, Walt Disney Studios; Set on an airbrushed Courvoisier background with the WDP stamp lower right; Numbered in ink lower right;
Unframed.
"Fantasia" is the third full length animated feature film produced by
Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions on November 13,
1940. Story direction was by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production
supervision was by Ben Sharpsteen. The film consists of eight animated
segments, each set to a piece of classical music conducted by Leopold
Stokowski. Seven of pieces were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra,
and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" used an ad hoc studio orchestra. A live
action introduction to each animated segment was by the Master of
Ceremonies, music critic and composer Deems Taylor.
The concept of the film was developed as Disney was near the completion
of a Silly Symphony, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice;" which was designed to
be a comeback role for Mickey Mouse, who had declined in popularity. The
production costs for the short had grown higher than it would have been
able to earn as a stand alone short, so Disney decided to include it
within a full length feature film, along with other classic music
created animated shorts.
The soundtrack for "Fantasia" was recorded using multiple audio channels
and reproduced with "Fantasound," a pioneering sound reproduction
system that made "Fantasia" the first commercial film shown with
stereophonic sound. The film was released as a theatrical roadshow in
thirteen US cities, and although acclaimed by critics; it was unable to
make a profit due to World War II cutting off distribution to the
European market, the initial high production costs, and the expense of
leasing theaters and installing the "Fantasound" equipment. The film was
subsequently reissued multiple times with it's original footage and
audio being deleted, modified, and/or restored in each version.
"Fantasia" is now the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time in the US,
when adjusted for inflation. In 1998 the American Film Institute ranked
it as the 58th greatest American film in their "100 Years... 100 Movies"
and the fifth greatest animated film in their "10 Top 10" list. In
1990, "Fantasia" was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being, "culturally,
historically, or aesthetically significant." A sequel, "Fantasia 2000"
was co-produced by Roy E. Disney and was released in 1999.
Over 1,000 artists and technicians were used in the making of
"Fantasia," resulting in more than 500 animated characters. "The
Nutcracker Suite," originally composted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is
made up of selections from the ballet suite underscoring scenes
depicting the changing seasons from summer to winter. A variety of
dancers are utilized including fairies, fish, flowers, mushrooms, and
leaves; and including the music scores of "Dance of the Sugar Plum
Fairy," "Chinese Dance," "Arabian Dance," Russian Dance," "Dance of the
Flutes," and "Waltz of the Flowers."
"The
Sorcerer's Apprentice" was initially going to be a "Silly Symphonies"
short and be a venue for a comeback role for Mickey Mouse, who had
declined in popularity. However, it was eventually included in the full
length feature film "Fantasia," in 1940. The Disney version of "The
Sorcerer's Apprentice" is based on the 1797 poem by Goethe of the same
name. Mickey Mouse takes the role of the apprentice and the only real
change from the original poem occurs when the Sorcerer is stern and
angry with the apprentice after he saves him from a spell gone horribly
wrong.
In
1935 a young animator, born in Los Angeles, named Fred Moore gave
Mickey his first makeover. Earlier animators had drawn the mouse as a
series of circles, which limited his movement. Moore gave him a
pear-shaped body, pupils, white gloves, and a shortened nose; all of
which added to make the World's most famous mouse a lot cuter. Moore
animated Mickey Mouse for the 1938 short "The Brave Little Tailor,"
which was to be the last significant appearance of the "pie-eyed"
Mickey. For "Fantasia," 1940 the "pie-eyes" were gone and Moore's
complete transformation of Mickey Mouse for the film continues to be his
official look up to this day.
"The
Sorcerer's Apprentice," is perhaps Mickey Mouse's most well known role
(despite the fact that he never utters a single word), and as such it
was the only 1940 segment that was added to the later film "Fantasia,
2000." Original production drawings and cels of the character are
extremely rare and highly collected and this cel is a wonderful eyes
open image of the character. Mickey is full figure, wearing his robe,
the Sorcerer's (named Yen Sid which is Disney spelled backwards) magic
hat,
and large brown shoes. Both of Mickey's ears are clearly seen, and his arms are folded in front of him. The cel is placed on an airbrushed Courvoisier background with the WDP stamp lower right. A large and impressive image of Mickey Mouse and a great addition to any animation art collection!
