Walt Disney's FANTASIA and FANTASIA 2000 Special Edition Collection on 4-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (& 2-Disc DVD)

—> See Link to our Blu-ray Review (below)

All the BEAUTY... All the DELIGHT...
All the EXCITEMENT of the world's greatest music!

Releasing for the first time in over a decade
to astound the eyes and ears of a new generation!

70th Anniversary highly anticipated Hi-Def debut of Disney's acclaimed masterwork and the modern Magnum Opus it inspired...

FANTASIA: this ambitious animated epic from Disney studios includes sequences set to music by - amongst others - Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Mussorgsky, Schubert and Beethoven. Also featured is the famous 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' routine, in which Mickey Mouse (voiced by Walt himself for the last time) creates magical mayhem when he tries to get his chores done with the aid of a spell or two.

FANTASIA 2000: A semi-sequel to Disney's 1940 classic Fantasia which features the original film's most famous sequence - the Mickey Mouse adventure 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' - plus seven other all-new animated interpretations of classical music. Highlights include the interwoven stories of a group of 1930s New Yorkers accompanied by Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue', the volcanic eruptions which illustrate Stravinsky's 'Firebird Suite', and the story of Noah, his ark, and his assistant Donald Duck, played out to the strains of Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstance'.

"One of the landmarks of American animation, as well as a key document in the popularization of classical music."
—John Rockwell (The New York Times)

"A fearless mix of classical music and animation."
—Mike Clark, USA Today

Fantasia & Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Promo Trailer (2:23)


(View more Trailers, Bonus Features info, and the Film Synopsis further below)

Disney / Buena Vista presents...
Disney's FANTASIA and FANTASIA 2000
— on 4-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
(and 2-Disc DVD Collection) »
(Now available - released November 30)

Burbank, CA — Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 — the magical, animated musical masterpiece and the contemporary classic inspired by it — debut in highly anticipated Blu-ray High Definition and DVD 2-Movie Collection Special Editions (Nov 30). Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is opening the Disney vault to be able to present these two films that broke the boundaries of imagination in the highest quality possible.

The Fantasia and Fantasia 2000: 2-Movie Collection Special Edition are now available in a 4-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack ($45.99 SRP) and a 2-Disc DVD ($39.99 SRP) for a very limited time only. The Blu-ray transformation of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 reveals the magic, music and majesty of both films as never before experienced, with state-of-the-art picture restoration of the original Fantasia and pristine 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound. The Blu-ray combo pack is a tremendous value featuring, in addition to the two films in two different formats, a wealth of bonus features.

Among those Blu-ray special features is the highly requested Academy Award® nominated short "Destino". Available for the first time ever on Blu-ray, the seven minute film is the result of a unique collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali begun in 1946, but put on hold due to studio financial concerns. In 2003, Roy E. Disney worked with a team of modern day animators to complete the film as a tribute to Walt's pioneering artistic vision. Accompanying the highly anticipated short is an all-new feature length documentary entitled "Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino," which explores the origins of the relationship between Disney and Dali, their collaboration on Destino, and ultimately how the film came to fruition so many years after its inception.

Fantasia, an unprecedented and magnificent feast of music and animated images, was initially released by the Studio in 1940 as a "road show" release. The following year, at the 14th Annual Academy Awards, Fantasia earned two Special Awards. The first was given to Walt Disney and associates for their outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures, being the first commercial film released in multi-channel sound using a process called "Fantasound", and the second to conductor Leopold Stokowski and his associates "for… unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music… thereby widening the scope of the motion picture as entertainment and as an art form."

Considered avant-garde during its time, Fantasia has gone on to become one of the most popular movies of all time and today is considered a classic. In 1990, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Stokowski, this groundbreaking film, which consists of animation set to eight musical pieces, is narrated by Deems Taylor and includes an appearance by Mickey Mouse (voiced by Disney himself).

Equally impressive is Fantasia 2000, the awe-inspiring extravaganza of sight and sound, executive produced by the late Roy E. Disney. Featuring an array of celebrity hosts including Steve Martin, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn and Teller, Angela Lansbury, Itzhak Perlman and Quincy Jones, the film, like its predecessor, expertly visualizes classical music compositions with various forms of animation and live-action introductions. Fantasia 2000 is primarily performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by James Levine.

Synopsis: The dreams and visions of Walt Disney come to life in Fantasia, which blends music and film magic into an exhilarating movie-going experience. Unforgettable images are brought to life by some of the world's best music, and highlighted by the comedy of Mickey Mouse as a troublemaking sorcerer's apprentice, along with the beauty of winged fairies and cascading snowflakes, the majesty of Noah's ark and even plump hippos performing ballet in tutus.

Motivated by his uncle's foresight, Roy Disney continued the magic with Fantasia 2000 which begins where its predecessor left off. There are seven completely new segments, and viewers watch a bustling Depression-era metropolis in the style of Al Hirschfeld's famous cartoons, a flock of flamingos with slapstick yo-yo talents, an ark full of animals gathered by Donald Duck as Noah's first mate, and musical life breathed into a family of flying humpback whales.

Details + Blu-ray Combo Pack features:
Presented on two BDs, and two DVDs
Fantasia Bonus Features: DVD:
• New Audio Commentary with Disney historian Brian Sibley
• Disney Family Museum (5 min) – 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 Bonus Features: Blu-ray:
all of the above, 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 (14 min) – 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:
- Executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, animation historian John Canemaker, and Scott McQueen, manager of film restoration
- Audio commentary with interviews and story note recreations by Walt Disney, hosted by John Canemaker

Fantasia 2000 Bonus Features: DVD:
• Musicana – Walt's Inspiration for a Sequel (10 min) – 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 Bonus Features: Blu-ray:
all of the above, plus:
• Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino (82 min) – 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 (7 min) – 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 (84 min)
- Executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, and producer Don Ernst
- Audio commentary with the directors and art directors for each segment
• Disney's FASTPLAY option for both films

(the 2-Disc DVD Collection includes just those features indicated above for each film on DVD)

Fantasia 2000 (HD Trailer - 2:05)


Fantasia (1990 re-release Trailer - 1:26)


Fantasia (1940 Original Theatrical Trailer - 2:09)


—> Blu-ray Review by James Plath »
EXCERPT: "Fantasia" (1940) has the reputation, but "Fantasia 2000" is the superior film, if you ask me. In saying so, I stand in sharp contrast to DVD Town's John J. Puccio, who, in his DVD review of the anthology, wrote that "'Fantasia' may be the best animated cartoon ever made." Whatever your favorite, they're both out now on a four-disc Blu-ray + DVD combo pack, including, for the first time, a collaborative cartoon short from Walt Disney and Salvador Dali. That might be enough to sweeten the deal for anyone who's wavering.

The concept behind "Fantasia" was, as with all things Disney, brilliant and slightly ahead of its time. Music videos would take decades more to become really popular, and while cartoons had been using classical music soundtracks all along, it was daring to use "Fantasia" as a teaching moment: to bring the orchestra onstage and put them on equal footing with the animation, while also giving audiences some knowledge of the songs and composers. While classical music had been used to complement cartoons, this time the process worked in reverse. The visuals were drawn to illustrate the classical compositions.

The public, those lovers of low-culture, didn't respond as well as Disney had hoped. As a result, Disney scrapped plans to update "Fantasia" regularly somewhat along the lines of Silly Symphonies to produce a continuous series of what were essentially classical music videos. The idea was resurrected by the late Roy E. Disney, who served as executive producer for "Fantasia 2000."

"Fantasia/Fantasia 2000" is another solid set from Disney, a four-disc (two Blu-rays, two DVDs) set that should be a welcome addition to collectors' shelves. Some will think the first film superior, while others will favor the second. And the Dali-Disney collaboration seems like a natural to join these two films. I'd give "Fantasia" a 7 and "Fantasia 2000" an 8, and round up for the set because of "Destino."

(Click thru the Link above for the full review)

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney with brief live-action introductions between the animated segments. The third feature-length animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions, Fantasia features eight animated segments set to classical music selections. The animated segments feature no dialogue or sound effects; the only dialogue in the film is featured in live-action introductions to each piece by host Deems Taylor, an American composer and music critic, before each segment.

The music was recorded under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, who is featured in Taylor's live-action introductions, and seven of the eight pieces were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Animated artwork of varying degrees of abstraction or literalism was used to illustrate or accompany the concert in various ways. Fantasia was notable for featuring what were then considered avant-garde qualities, and for being the first commercial film released in multi-channel sound using a process called "Fantasound". The film is often considered Disney's magnum opus.

Fantasia was eventually picked up by RKO for release in 1941 and edited drastically to a running time of 81 minutes in 1942. Five subsequent re-releases of Fantasia between 1946 and 1977 restored various amounts of the deleted footage, with the most common version being the 1946 re-release edit, which ran nine minutes shorter than the original 124 minute roadshow version.

A 1982 reissue featured a newly recorded digital soundtrack conducted by composer Irwin Kostal, but was taken out of circulation in 1990 after a restored version of the original Stokowski-conducted soundtrack was prepared. The original version of Fantasia was never released again after 1941, and although some of the original audio elements no longer exist, a 2000 DVD release version attempted to restore as much of the original version of the film as possible.

Despite its initial commercial failure, Fantasia went on to become one of the most popular films of all-time and is today considered a classic film.

About Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Combo Packs (Blu-ray + DVD in a single package): To provide consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability of their favorite Disney classics, in 2008 WDSHE pioneered the Combo Pack – Blu-ray Disc(s) plus a DVD in a single package. Classic Disney titles released as Combo Packs include Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Film Synopsis:
All the BEAUTY... All the DELIGHT...
All the EXCITEMENT of the world's greatest music!

Fantasia
For the first time ever, Fantasia is available on Blu-ray in a special, uncut edition! Restored and remastered, this special collector's edition truly captures Walt Disney's unique inspiration — complete with the intermission and narration — which have not been included in the film since its original theatrical release! Fantasia created the mold for blending music and movie magic into an exhilarating moviegoing experience. Unforgettable images are brought to life by some of the world's best music — the comedy of Mickey Mouse as a troublemaking sorcerer's apprentice, the beauty of winged fairies and cascading snowflakes, even plump hippos performing ballet in tutus! Includes music by Beethoven, Bach, Stravinsky, and George Gershwin, plus such classic scenes as dancing hippos, flying whales, and Mickey Mouse appearing as "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."

Also included is a compilation of audio interviews with Walt Disney spanning three decades, much of which has never been heard ias well as insightful commentaries by Roy E. Disney and others whose talents have contributed to the Fantasia legacy. Enjoy the history, the sounds, the sheer excitement that is Fantasia!

Walt Disney took a big chance with this ambitious anthology of animated fantasies. First, he set them to lengthy classical music pieces, and then he boldly experimented with different forms of animation, sometimes jettisoning any sort of narrative altogether. The result is a sometimes mesmerizing, sometimes hilarious, sometimes frightening, but always beautiful moviegoing experience. A box-office failure when first released, it's now considered a timeless treasure.

Highlights include: Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," the leaping hippos and alligators in "Dance of the Hours," the rise and fall of the dinosaurs set to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring," the dancing mushrooms of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite," and Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," with its fearsome winged demon raging at the heavens. One of Walt Disney's ambitions for the project was to rerelease the film periodically over the years with new sequences. Though the film was regularly re-released, it wasn't until 1999 that his intention was finally realized with the premiere of FANTASIA 2000, a lavish follow-up that included a digitally restored "Sorcerer's Apprentice" and a host of new material. The original FANTASIA, however, remains a one-of-a-kind auditory and visual experience that is still, in many ways, far ahead of its time.

Fantasia 2000
Disney animators and filmmakers have again expanded the boundaries of imagination with Fantasia 2000. Fulfilling Walt Disney's original vision of uniquely fusing sight and sound in a full-length motion picture, this film begins where its predecessor, Fantasia, left off, with seven completely new segments and the return of the popular "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." In this fun-filled movie, breathtaking images are coupled with classical music favorites. From Beethoven to Gershwin — from flamingos bobbing yo-yos to a city in bluesy motion — vivid animation brings the music of the masters to colorful life. Sixty years after the original masterpiece, Roy E. Disney has orchestrated a brilliant collaboration of more than 1,200 artists and technicians — including the animators of The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast and Aladdin — to present Fantasia 2000 ia film filled with "dazzling moments" (The New York Times) and "arguably the greatest Disney film ever" (KNX-CBS Radio), that is sure to captivate viewers of all ages!

About Walt Disney/Buena Vista Home Entertainment
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, Disneynature, Touchstone Pictures and Marvel.

Through the Home Entertainment division, innovative distribution methods provide access to creative content across multiple platforms. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!. For more information, please visit www.disney.com