Fantasia on DVD and Blu-ray
By Alexandra Heilbron on November 23, 2010 | 1 Comment
By Bonnie Laufer Krebs
Perhaps one of the most beloved and revered Disney release ever, Fantasia is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year! To honor this milestone, Disney has released Fantasia: 2 Movie Collection on DVD and Blu-ray – a must have for any Disney-phile. Fantasia will be released in a 4-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and in a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD alongside Fantasia 2000. The 4-Disc combo pack will include a Blu-ray and a DVD of Fantasia and a Blu-ray and a DVD of Fantasia 2000. Included in this pack is the Disney/Dali short Destino and other amazing bonus features.
One bonus feature that cannot be missed is a tour of the Disney Museum in San Francisco, California. The museum, which has been open for a year, is filled with Disney memorabilia and artifacts dating back to Walt Disney’s birth. The museum is lovingly curated by Walt’s daughter Diane Disney and her son Walter. I had a chance to walk around and speak to both Diane and Walter about Walt’s legacy. I also had the opportunity to talk to Chief Disney animator and producer Dave Bossert about his involvement in the Disney short Destino and the short documentary on the DVD chronicling Walt Disney’s association with Salvador Dali.
Please click on the links for my interviews with Diane Disney Miller and Walter Disney Miller and Disney veteran animator Dave Bossert. Below you’ll find a list of bonus materials set to be included on this release.
Fantasia DVD Bonus Features:
- New Audio Commentary with Disney historian Brian Sibley (running time: approx. 5 minutes) – Walt’s daughter Diane Disney-Miller takes viewers on a tour of the new Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, California featuring a very large exhibit on Fantasia and most importantly, the Schultheis notebook with long lost Fantasia production notes found in more recent years in the walls of a convent.
Fantasia Blu-ray Bonus Features:
- Everything on the DVD plus:
- Disney View – This viewing mode maximizes the Blu-ray viewing experience with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio. Original artwork created by a Disney artist, in a style that complements the beauty of the film.
- The Shultheis Notebook: A Disney Treasure (running time: approx. 14 minutes) –An in depth look at the recently discovered Schultheis Notebook. The detailed log was created by Herman Schultheis, an effects man on Fantasia, and intricately breaks down the film from a technical view. Many of the special effects used in Fantasia were a mystery to modern day animators until this notebook was recovered.
- Interactive Art Gallery and Screensavers – Viewers can explore the artwork of Fantasia as never before, in HD resolution with unique Blu-ray interactivity and programming.
- Audio Commentaries from Fantasia Legacy Collection
Fantasia 2000 DVD Bonus Features:
- Musicana – Walt’s Inspiration for a Sequel (running time: approx. 10 minutes) – This documentary reveals rarely-seen art created for Musicana, a late 1970’s project intended as a Fantasia sequel with a focus on exploring other cultures via their greatest musical compositions. Viewers are offered a look at the origins of pieces that were started by Walt, such as “The Emperor and the Nightingale” which was then taken over by a very young John Lasseter. Ultimately, Musicana was stopped to begin production on “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” but the memories of this piece still live on with the animators who conceived it.
Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Bonus Features:
- Everything on the DVD plus:
- Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino (running time: 82 minutes) – This feature length documentary explores the collaborative relationship between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, revealing how and why the Destino short came to fruition under the lead of Roy E. Disney in 2003 so many years after its inception in 1946.
- Destino (running time: approx. 7 minutes) – The legacy of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali lives on in this highly anticipated short film.
- Disney’s Virtual Vault — BD-Live Feature
– Original DVD Bonus Features from Legacy Collection
- Audio Commentaries from Fantasia Legacy Collection (total running time: 84 minutes)
– With executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, and producer Don Ernst.
– Audio commentary with the directors and art directors for each segment.
Such a wonderful Disney classic and one of my all-time faves, (and many, many other people’s too, I’m sure!)