iguanamountain blog

FANTASIA

Prompt: This month is Mickey Mouse's Birthday.
Let's write about him and his friends

.

In 1940 I was four years old. Mickey Mouse had declined in popularity. Mr. Disney created an elaborate short film called, The Sorcerer's Apprentice to promote Mickey. The film became so expensive, Disney decided to include it into a full length feature called, Fantasia. The film premiered on November 13, 1940. I was taken to see the new Disney feature some months later.

This became the first commercial film to feature true stereophonic sound. The Sorcerer's Apprentice was based on Goethe's 1797 poem "Der Zauberlehrling". Mickey Mouse, the young apprentice of the sorcerer Yen Sid, attempts some of his master's magic tricks but doesn't know how to control them. Everything goes into wild, frighting animation.

Never having seen anything like this before, the fantastic images combined with such realistic sounds terrified me. Screaming and crying I had to be taken out of the theater. Those were my first memories about Mickey Mouse.

As of 2012, Fantasia has grossed $76.4 million in domestic revenue and is the 22nd highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. when adjusted for inflation. The film has been re-mastered and re-released many times.

I believe it was the first of many projects where Disney stimulated our imagination and wonder.

Peace... >>>iggy

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