Walt Disney, who can do so much with some actors that we never saw before, has brought us, in "Fantasia," more than another picture. He has brought us, it would seem, something to think about in relation to motion pictures in general. The system of reproduction used at the Broadway theatre, New York, for "Fantasia," represents by far the most drastic change ever introduced into commercial motion picture sound practice. We are concerned here with the gadgets of the method. But to understand these, we ought to consider the effect. In result, the system brings the sound right out into the audience. Its sources is not rigidly fixed at the center of the screen. At times the source cannot be located. The sound appears to come from nowhere in particular. At other times, the source of sound is very clearly and audibly identified with the person or object on the screen which is supposedly creating it ; when that person or object moves about the screen, the source of the sound moves also ; when the visual source of origin moves off-screen, the audible source does likewise and is heard coming from the wings. A new realism, and effects previously impossible, are created. Among the effects is one produced by speakers located along the sides and rear of the auditorium, which cause the source of sound to move about the body of the theatre. […]
