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Walt Disney's Fantasia
Douglas W. Churchill

SOME thirty or forty years ago William Allen White wrote a book called "In Our Town," which dealt with the world he saw from his office window in the Emporia Gazette. One unforgettable character in the series of sketches was Miss Larrabee, the society editor.

Miss Larrabee was a resourceful woman. Hung on the wall before her desk was a list of adjectives. When she began to write her Saturday society page, she started at the top and dropped the words and phrases one by one into the cop she composed.

Oh. where are you today, Miss Larrabee? And where are adjectives? The wall at which your we stare is blank, and we need Miss Larrabee's list desperately, for we have to describe one of the most exciting things the screen has ever offered. Adjectives, even of extravagant sort, seem inept when applied to Walt Disney's Fantasia.

In Hollywood's language, "Fantasia" is terrific.

Complicating the task of discussing the film, is the fact that it is not an orthodox motion picture. It is a unique and delightful combination of the art and imagination of Walt Disney, and the genius of Leopold Stokowski, with jovial overtones by Deems Taylor.

But to begin at the beginning:

Two years ago Disney had the idea of securing one of the country's fine orchestras to record a sound track which would be accompanied on the screen by Mickey Mouse. Pictorially, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" appeared to offer possibilities. Disney talked to Stokowski about it, and out of thei1 discussions grew the plan for complete evening's entertainment based upon the more popular of the classics.

One and one, compositions were added. Many were tried out liscarded. "Fantasia,' as it appears today with its eigh. episodes, probably will not be the final picture, for Disney expects to add to it as the years go by. It is a film that, in its sphere, is as deathless as the music it chronicles.

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Title
Source type Magazine
Published
Language en
Document type Feature
Media type text
Page count 3
Pages pp. 8-9, 110

Metadata

Id 5861
Availability Free
Inserted 2021-02-25