''Fantasia'' is an American media franchise owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

that commenced in 1940 with the theatrical release of the film of the same name.

Animated films

''Fantasia''

'' Fantasia'' is a 1940 American animated film produced by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

and released by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

. With story direction by

Joe Grant Joe Grant (May 15, 1908 – May 7, 2005) was an American artist and writer. Biography Born in New York City, Grant worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios as a character designer and story artist beginning in 1932 on the Mickey Mouse shor ...

and

Dick Huemer Richard Huemer (January 2, 1898 – November 30, 1979) was an American animator in the Golden Age of American animation, Golden Age of Animation. Career While as an artist-illustrator living in the Bronx, New York City, Huemer first began his ...

, and production supervision by

Ben Sharpsteen Benjamin Sharpsteen (November 4, 1895 – December 20, 1980) was an American film director and producer for Disney. He directed 31 films between 1920 and 1980. Sharpsteen created a museum documenting the history of California's first millio ...

, it is the 3rd feature in the Disney animated features canon. The film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

; seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer

Deems Taylor Joseph Deems Taylor (December 22, 1885 – July 3, 1966) was an American music critic, composer, and promoter of classical music. Nat Benchley, co-editor of ''The Lost Algonquin Roundtable'', referred to him as "the dean of American music." Earl ...

acts as the film's master of ceremonies, who introduces each segment in live-action interstitial scenes.

''Fantasia 2000''

Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distin ...

'' is a 1999 American animated film produced by

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

and released by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit ...

. It is the 38th animated film in the Disney animated features canon and the

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to the 1940 film '' Fantasia''. As with its predecessor the film consists of animated segments set to pieces of classical music, with

The Sorcerer's Apprentice "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas. Story The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving ...

being the only segment that is featured in both films. The soundtrack was performed by the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...

and Chorus with conductor

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...

. A group of celebrities introduce each segment in live-action scenes including

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

, Itzhak Perlman, Bette Midler,

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo h ...

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, and

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

Cancelled projects

''Musicana''

In 1980, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' reported that animators

Wolfgang Reitherman Wolfgang Reitherman (June 26, 1909 – May 22, 1985), also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a German–American animator, director and producer and one of the " Nine Old Men" of core animators at Walt Disney Productions. H ...

and

Mel Shaw Mel Shaw (born Melvin Schwartzman; December 19, 1914 – November 22, 2012) was an American animator, design artist, writer, and artist. Shaw was involved in the animation, story design, and visual development of numerous Disney animated films, ...

had begun work on ''Musicana'', "an ambitious concept mixing jazz, classical music, myths, modern art and more, following the old ''Fantasia'' format". The project was shelved in favor of ''

Mickey's Christmas Carol ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' is a 1983 American animated family comedy-drama featurette directed and produced by Burny Mattinson. The cartoon is an adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol'', and stars Scrooge McDuck as ...

''.

''Fantasia 2006''

Early development for a third film began in 2002, with a working title of ''Fantasia 2006''. Plans were made to include '' One by One'' by Pixote Hunt and '' The Little Matchgirl'' by

Roger Allers Roger Charles Allers (born June 29, 1949) is an American film director, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and playwright. He is best-known for co-directing ''The Lion King'' (1994), the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of al ...

in the film before the project was shelved in 2004 for reasons unknown, with the proposed segments released as individual short films. ''

Destino ''Destino'' is an animated short film released in 2003 by Walt Disney Animation Studios. ''Destino'' is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion in 2003. The project was originally a collab ...

'' is an animated short film released in 2003 by

. ''Destino'' is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion. The project was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Spanish surrealist painter

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Dominguez and performed by Dora Luz. In 1999, Walt Disney's nephew

Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his father, Roy O. Disney, and his uncle, Walt Disney. At the ti ...

, while working on ''Fantasia 2000'', unearthed the dormant project and decided to bring it back to life. '' Lorenzo'' is a 2004 American animated short film produced by

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fr ...

about a cat, Lorenzo, who is "dismayed to discover that his tail has developed a personality of its own." The short was directed by

Mike Gabriel Mike Gabriel (born November 5, 1954) is an American animator and film director, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios and as co-director of the Disney animated films ''The Rescuers Down Under'' (1990) and ''Pocahontas'' (1995). ...

and produced by Baker Bloodworth. It premiered at the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

on March 6, 2004, and later appeared as a feature before the film ''

Raising Helen ''Raising Helen'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, siblings Spencer and Abigail Breslin, and Helen M ...

''; however, it did not appear on the DVD release of the film. Work on the film began in 1943, but was shelved. It was later found along with ''Destino''. '' One by One'' is a traditionally animated short film directed by Pixote Hunt and released by

on August 31, 2004, as an extra feature on the DVD release of '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' Special Edition. '' The Little Matchgirl'' is a 2006 animated short film directed by

and produced by Don Hahn. It is based on an original story by Hans Christian Andersen entitled '' The Little Girl with the Matches or The Little Match Girl'', published in 1845.

Live-action films

''The Sorcerer's Apprentice''

'' is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film produced by

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction. His films include '' Flashdance'', ''Top Gun'', '' The Rock'', '' ...

, directed by

Jon Turteltaub Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director and producer. Life and career Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963 in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turteltaub (best known for his ...

, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

Jay Baruchel Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel (; born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, director and screenwriter. He is known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the '' How to Train Your Dragon'' franchise, and for his roles in comedy movies ...

Alfred Molina Alfred Molina (born Alfredo Molina; 24 May 1953) is a British-American actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Pla ...

Teresa Palmer Teresa Mary Palmer (born 26 February 1986) is an Australian actress. She began her career with roles in '' Bedtime Stories'' (2008), ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' (2010), '' Take Me Home Tonight'' (2011), and '' I Am Number Four'' (2011). She r ...

, and

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French f ...

. The film is named after the ''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' segment in the films (with one scene being an extensive reference to it).

''The Nutcracker and the Four Realms''

'' The Nutcracker and the Four Realms'' is a 2018 American fantasy adventure film directed by Lasse Hallström and

Joe Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston II (born May 13, 1950) is an American film director, producer, writer, and visual effects artist. He is best known for directing effects-driven films, including ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), ''Jumanji'' (1995 ...

, written by Ashleigh Powell, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...

, Mackenzie Foy,

Eugenio Derbez Eugenio González Derbez (; born September 2, 1961) is a Mexican actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films and television series including '' The Book of Life, The Angry Birds Movie 2 and The Secret Life of Pets.'' In the 2010s, he ap ...

, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant,

Misty Copeland Misty Danielle Copeland (born September 10, 1982) is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African Amer ...

, with Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman. The ''Nutcracker Suite'' segment serves as an inspiration for the feature-length movie, which itself contains various references to ''Fantasia''.

''Night on Bald Mountain'' live-action adaptation

In June 2015, Disney was developing the ''Night on Bald Mountain'' sequence from the film, with

Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless are American screenwriters, best known for writing films together, like '' Dracula Untold'', '' The Last Witch Hunter'', '' Gods of Egypt'' and '' Morbius.'' Career In August 2008, Sazama and Sharpless were hired ...

writing and executive producing the live-action film. However, as of October 2019, no updates on the project have been announced.

Theme park attractions

''Fantasmic!''

Fantasmic! ''Fantasmic!'' is a nighttime show at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searc ...

'' is a nighttime show at

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

in the

Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort, commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division and is home to two theme parks (D ...

Disney's Hollywood Studios Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Based on a concept by M ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

and

Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual prope ...

Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is fully owned and operated by The Oriental Land Company under a licence from The Walt Disney Company, who const ...

. The show features fireworks, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, music, several boats, decorated rafts and projections onto large mist screens featuring reworked Disney animation.

Fantasia Gardens

The

Fantasia Gardens The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando ...

Miniature Golf complex is a miniature golf course located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, United States. Located across from the Swan and Dolphin resorts, it has two 18-hole courses themed after the movie Fantasia and opened on May 20, 1996.

''Mickey's PhilharMagic''

Mickey's PhilharMagic ''Mickey's PhilharMagic'' is a 4D film attraction found at several Disney theme parks around the world, including Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Park (Paris), and ...

'' is a Fantasyland attraction at Walt Disney World theme parks. The story is a variant on "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", when Donald Duck tries to set up an orchestra for "Maestro Mickey" using the famous Sorcerer's Hat. But the orchestra turns on him and Donald must journey through several Disney musical numbers to get the hat back for Mickey. The show first opened in October 2003.

Sorcerer's Hat

Sorcerer's Hat The Sorcerer's Hat was a structure and the thematic icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios, the third of four theme parks built at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, from 2001 to 2015. The structure was inspired by ''The Sorcerer's Ap ...

was the icon of Disney's Hollywood Studios, the third of four theme parks built at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Mickey Mouse's gloved hand and ears underneath the hat are visible emerging from the ground. With its opening on September 28, 2001, it replaced the Earful Tower as the park's icon in marketing material. In October 2014, Disney confirmed that the structure will be removed by early 2015. The structure's removal began on January 7, 2015.

Video games

''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' (Atari)

In 1983, Atari released a game called ''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' for the Atari 2600, based on that segment of ''Fantasia''. The player, as Mickey Mouse, must collect falling stars and comets which will prevent the army of marching brooms from flooding Yen Sid's cavern.

''Fantasia'' (Sega)

In 1991, a side-scrolling '' Fantasia'' video game developed by Infogrames was released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis system. The player controls Mickey Mouse, who must find missing musical notes scattered across four elemental worlds based upon the film's segments.

''Epic Mickey''

There are several film reel levels based on some of the movie's segments such as Sorcerer's Apprentice and Night on Bald Mountain that appear in the ''

Epic Mickey ''Epic Mickey'' is a 2010 platform game for the Wii developed by Junction Point Studios and published by Disney Interactive Studios, except in Japan, where it was published by Nintendo. The game focuses on Mickey Mouse, who accidentally damag ...

'' games.

''Kingdom Hearts''

The Disney/Square Enix crossover game series '' Kingdom Hearts'' features Chernabog as a boss in the first installment and in '' Dream Drop Distance''. The ''Night on Bald Mountain'' piece is played during the fight. Yen Sid appears frequently in the series beginning with '' Kingdom Hearts II'', voiced in English by

Corey Burton Corey Gregg Weinberg (born August 3, 1955), known professionally as Corey Burton, is an American voice actor. He is the current voice of Captain Hook, Ludwig Von Drake, Dale and others for The Walt Disney Company, Shockwave on '' The Transformer ...

. Symphony of Sorcery, a world based on the film, appears in '' Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance''.

''Disney Infinity'' series

Disney Infinity ''Disney Infinity'' is an action-adventure sandbox toys-to-life video game series developed by Avalanche Software. The setting of the series is a giant customizable universe of imagination, known as the Toy Box, populated with toy versions of i ...

'' is an

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

sandbox

toys-to-life Toys-to-life is a video game feature using physical figurines or action figures to interact within the game. These toys use a near field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID), or image recognition data protocol to determine ...

video game series that was first released in 2013. The series contained references ''Fantasia'' and other Disney properties. A Mickey Mouse figurine based on his appearance in ''

'' segment in the films was released on January 26, 2014, with a translucent "Infinite" series version of the figure released as a

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...

exclusive. "Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey Mouse" is playable in all three games of the series.

''Fantasia: Music Evolved''

'' Fantasia: Music Evolved'' is a motion-controlled music rhythm game developed by

Harmonix Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...

for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

with Kinect. It is the interactive successor to ''Fantasia'' and ''Fantasia 2000''. It was released on October 21, 2014.

''Disney Magic Kingdoms''

Disney Magic Kingdoms ''Disney Magic Kingdoms'' is a 2016 city building game developed and published by Gameloft for iOS, Android, and Windows. It is themed off the Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. The game was officially launched on March 17, 2016. Storyline The game ...

'' includes a Sorcerer costume for Mickey Mouse. The game also features the attractions based on the franchise Fantasia Gardens and Fairways (featuring the Magic Brooms as non-player characters) and

Concert

''Disney Fantasia: Live in Concert''

A live concert presentation of the film named ''Disney Fantasia: Live in Concert'', showcases various segments from both ''Fantasia'' and ''Fantasia 2000''. The concert version features a live symphony orchestra and piano soloist accompanying projected high definition video segments. As of 2014, the concert is touring throughout the world.

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Fantasia'' (franchise) Walt Disney Studios (division) franchises Las Vegas shows