Fantasia Facts

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was the only piece that was not recorded by The Philadelphia Orchestra.

It was originally to be called "The Concert Feature,"and started life as a Silly Symphony starring Mickey Mouse, telling the familiar story of the Sorcerer's Apprentice and his futile efforts to control an ever-expanding army of water-toting brooms.

The stereo sound enhanced the effect of the movie and won special certificates at the 1941 Academy Awards® for Walt Disney, technicians William Garity and John N. A. Hawkins and RCA, and for Leopold Stokowski and his associates (for unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music).

In the "Dance of the Hours" segment, the dancing hippo's name is Hyacinth.

The dancing ostrich is called Mlle. Upanova.

Walt Disney originally considered using Dopey as the star of the film, but instead decided on his favorite, Mickey Mouse to star in the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment.

Nigel De Brulier was used as the model for the Sorcerer.

Fred Moore redesigned Mickey Mouse for the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment, to give him eyes with pupils for the first time, and a more modern look.

Walt Disney told the animators that they could use any colors they wanted to on the film, rather than giving them instructions like was the norm.

Disney contacted the composer Igor Stravinsky to ask permission to use "The Rite of Spring" in the film, and he offered to compose a new piece for them.

Another segment featuring "Clair de Lune" (Claude Debussy) was animated, but because the film was already too long it was cut.

Walt Disney had originally intended to release the film each year, adding new music segments each time, but decided it was too ambitious.

The original release didn't have any credits shown onscreen. The only words shown were "Fantasia," "Color by Technicolor," and "Distributed by RKO Pictures."