The landmark Disney film, "Fantasia," was released on this day in 1940, wowing audiences with its mixture of orchestral music and vivid animation. The film was a kind of showcase of great musical works, with songs played by the Philadelphia Orchestra set to various animated segments, including some that were quite abstract, all with the aim of cementing Disney's reputation as an innovative animation powerhouse. Its most well-known segment of the movie featured an apprentice sorcerer Mickey Mouse trying, and failing, to cast his mentor's spells in hilarious ways.
The film, through its groundbreaking proprietary "Fantasound" system, allowed audiences to hear a film's audio in stereo and introduced several editing techniques to improve sound quality. Because the Fantasound technology wasn't installed at movie theaters, Disney had to move the equipment around to different theaters. Fantasia could only be shown at 12 theaters at one time, after which the kit would be hauled to another location. By 1942 the film was able to be played in the same format as other movies of the day, allowing any American near a movie theater to grab a ticket.
You can read more about Fantasia's premiere in an article at EBSCO.
