what is FANTASIA? by Imaginated
A “fantasia” is a musical composition with its roots in the art of improvisation. Because of this, it seldom approximates the textbook rules of any strict musical form. Fantasia is the name of Walt Disney’s third full-length feature film and the first color motion picture to combine live-action with animation. It is also the first movie ever heard in stereophonic sound rather than the usual mono, and when Fantasia premiered on November 13, 1940, it left many audiences baffled and confused. Today, Fantasia still stands utterly alone, an entire genre solely unto itself known as the “Concert Feature” or “Cine-symphony.” It is both visualized music and pictorial sound, auditory picture and aural imagery. It has no opening titles or closing credits; its content is often surreal and abstract.
In short, Fantasia is the only movie of its kind. It won two Honorary Academy Awards, one for the “outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures” and another for its “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.” Fantasia was ahead of that time, and since it seldom approximated the textbook rules of any musical or any cinematic form, its title is most appropriate.