Disney’s much acclaimed attempt at turning animated cartoons into film artistry, Fantasia, is 75 this year. According to John Wenzel at the Denver Post, “The 1940 film, which interprets eight different pieces of classical music through lush, hand-drawn animation, arrived as flagship character Mickey Mouse was slumping in popularity.” The inspirational heart of Fantasia was, then, “The "Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” a segment in which Mickey stars: this would, it was hoped, revive the character’s standing among fans, who’d been slowly won over to Donald Duck since the quacker’s first appearance in “The Wise Little Hen” in 1934. The eight-part Fantasia grew out of Mickey’s appearance.
But the Fantasia we see today is not the Fantasia of 1940. It has been modified, tweaked, and changed here and there as it aged. Says Wenzel: “For example, early versions of the segment for Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral Symphony’ featured black centaurettes polishing the hooves of white centaurs. These scenes were removed in the late 1960s for fear of perpetuating racist stereotypes.”
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