[Charlie O.]

Is "Fantasia" in the "The Fantasia Anthology" cut or politically corrected in anyway?

[Jeff Swearingen]

There are sites on the internet that specifically address this problem. Fantasia (1940) has not been "cut" but some zooming and/or digital touchups apparently were done to remove a racial stereotype in the Pastoral Symphony sequence.

But do NOT let this keep you from buying this set. Fantasia looks incredible and I thought the additional short on the Fantasia Legacy disc, "Clair de Lune" was worth the entire package since I only saw snippets of it in the documentary that was with the previous video collector's edition back in 1990(?).

[Brian Kidd]

Definitely buy the FANTASIA ANTHOLOGY. It's one of the finest sets to come out of Disney. The *very* brief zooming is unfortunate, but it certainly doesn't detract from the viewing too much. The Deems Taylor narration also had to be re-recorded, as the audio track for the Roadshow Version has been lost over the years. If you'd never seen the film before, you would be hard pressed to notice it either.

[Jay Pennington]

Actually there are cuts. But it's the most complete version ever offered.

[Jeff Swearingen]

What cuts?

[Patrick McCart]

The censored 30 seconds of The Pastoral Symphony feature zooming (at one point, out of focus), digital erasing, and even some short shots are replaced by other "clean" shots.

Also, Deems Taylor is redubbed, even though a good 60-65% of his original audio could have been imported from the 1947 re-release version. Through some creative editing and digital "warping," Corey Burton's re-recording could have been cleanly integrated with the remains of the original audio.

Also, there is a complete lack of credits. The roadshow version, when released in 1940, had programs. The 1947 version moved the intermission title card to the front, but lacked the program. The 1990 re-release added complete credits at the end over some of the deleted 1940-only footage. So, the DVD should have at least a booklet reproduction of the program or add back the 1990 version's credit crawl.

A "Masterpiece Edition" is supposedly coming out in 2005 or 2006, so skip the Anthology version.

[Ernest Rister]

"A Masterpiece Edition is supposedly coming out in 2005 or 2006, so skip the Anthology version."

No, don't skip the Anthology version. The Anthology Version has a commentary track by Roy Disney (who is now Michael Eisner's arch-nemesis), as well as a commentary by Walt Disney from beyond the grave (made up of various recordings he made over the years). It also has one of the best "making of" features I've ever seen. Why wait? Get it *now*.

There is a dispute about the "cuts" to Fantasia. Fantasia was re-released in 1947, the year after the NAACP protested loudly against Disney's Song of the South. Leonard Maltin writes that the "Centaurette" sequence had been cut "since the 1950's". In the article, "The Mouse that Roared", Disney historians Anthony Dale and Drew Sullivan also write that the Centaurettes were cut "sometime in the 1950's". Whoever put together the DVD Liner Notes seems to think the shots were cut in 1969. If you notice, the DVD liner notes state that the running time of the 1947 version and the 1969 version are exactly the same. They state that it is "unexplained" why the running times are exactly alike.

Well, if Maltin is correct, and Walt Disney had cut those shots himself at some point in the Fantasia timeline, then it makes sense why the running time of the 1947 version and the 1969 version are the same. Song of the South hit in 1946, and the film was accused of presenting negative images of African-Americans. In 1947, it is possible the re-release of Fantasia was trimmed of offending imagery by Walt Disney himself. That would explain why the 1947 version and the 1969 version have the exact same running time, and while it makes Maltin off by a few years, it makes sense.

Why do I doubt the liner notes and tend to believe Maltin? Because Disney PR frequently trips on their own shoelaces in this regard -- their press release for last year's DVD release of Sleeping Beauty stated that Beauty was the first animated Disney film to be shot in a wide-screen process...forgetting all about Lady and the Tramp, which was released in 1955, and was shot in CinemaScope.

But back to the subject at hand -- if Walt Disney trimmed those shots himself - in 1947, the 1950's or whenever - then the DVD is a solid compromise. It removes the imagery Walt wanted out of the movie, while not cutting the original Stokowski recordings. The DVD presents a version of Fantasia that is the most complete "recreation" of the original 1940 experience that we are likely to get (can anyone see the Disney Company ever restoring those shots? I certainly don't ever see it happening).

So why wait for a new DVD that may not have the Roy Disney commentary, or the "making of" feature which relies heavily on interviews with Roy Disney? It is unlikely that Fantasia is going to ever be re-combobulated to feature the few fleeting images of the black centaurettes (again, shots that may have been removed by Walt himself), so there is no reason to wait.

[Patrick McCart]

It's not true that Walt wanted the scenes cut, at least like it is.

First, it was uncut until 1969... after Walt Disney's death. In fact, a mid-1960's episode of the Disneyland show (Wonderful World of Color?) featured the entire segment, WITHOUT cuts. Roy E. Disney has been interviewed before and he has expressed his disgust over the cuts.

Besides, if Walt REALLY wanted it censored, he would have had those scenes re-animated like for The Three Little Pigs.

Not to mention... one of the censored shots is of two Zebra-taurs rolling a carpet up stairs. They were retained in all the previous and subsequent shots, yet digitally erased (causing the carpet to roll itself up the stairs!!!!)

Was it also Walt's say to have the entire "Martins and the Coys" segment of Melody Time deleted? Was it also Walt's say to have shots of Pecos Bill and Goofy smoking deleted from Make Mine Music and Saludas Amigos? Those were all intact until their latest video versions.

[Nelson Au]

Are these cuts or digital cleansings unigue to the Anthology DVD release? I have both the Disney deluxe CAV Laserdisc box set and Anthology DVD box set still sealed and unopened. I've been meaning to open both but never got around to them. I figure the laserdisc box set may or may not have any scenes unaltered.

Thanks.

Nelson

[ChadMcCallum]

I have a question about Fantasia and Disney's Vault. I went all over town today trying to find either the single disc Fantasia's or the Anthology but no one had it. I realise these films are going back in the vault but I want to know if Disney has the stores pull the dvd's or do they allow them to keep them in stock untill they sell out? If they do have them pulled have they already done it?

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Patrick: The Martins and the Coys was a segment of MMM and Pecos Bill a segment of Melody Time.

Nelson: The Pastoral Symphony segment of the Fantasia LD is also "cleansed", but I think it's done in a slightly different way compared to the DVD. And, of course, the LD has the shorter Deems Taylor pieces of the 1940's re-release (but with DT, not that replacement actor).

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Lars, I figured as much! Digital cleansing was not as advanced as it is now when the LD's were released.

Nelson

[Ernest Rister]

Alls I'm saying is that there are multiple opinions about when that sequence was censored. Maltin and others say the 50's. The DVD says 1969, and yet cannot explain why that version has the same exact running time as the 1947 version. So, let's just leave it at that. Lots of different stories floating around out there.

Second:

"Roy E. Disney has been interviewed before and he has expressed his disgust over the cuts."

If you're referring to the Roy E. Disney interview with the BBC, then he wasn't referring to Fantasia. He was referring to the alterations made to Saludos Amigos, Make Mine Music, and Melody Time, and said the cuts had been made without his knowledge, and that he would make sure the cuts were restored for their next editions. This might shock you, but Roy supervised the restoration of Fantasia for the 2000 DVD release. He was upset by the changes made to the 40's package films, but he signed off on and approved the changes made to Fantasia for the DVD. Why? We'll get to that.

"Besides, if Walt REALLY wanted it censored, he would have had those scenes re-animated like for The Three Little Pigs."

That's an assumption, of course. The question you should be asking yourself is this -- in today's world, would Walt Disney have wanted hurtful images to remain in Fantasia? Or would he have altered the film - just as he did with Three Little Pigs - to remove offensive imagery? I think he would. That's *my* assumption, and because Roy Disney supervised it, I have no problems with it.

"Was it also Walt's say to have the entire "Martins and the Coys" segment of Melody Time deleted?"

Nope.

"Was it also Walt's say to have shots of Pecos Bill and Goofy smoking deleted from Make Mine Music and Saludas Amigos?"

Nope.

"Those were all intact until their latest video versions."

And the big difference is this -- Walt Disney never thought he was making movies for children. He was making movies for family audiences, a'la Pixar today. The modern Disney company, though, thinks these WERE children's films, hence they were censored for modern children (gun violence, smoking) so that they could be shown to children in grade schools and in day care centers. The adults who also loved these films, meanwhile, were incensed. So I'm with Roy - and you - in believing those cuts should never have been made. If the films aren't suitable for school viewing because of progressive mandates regarding gun violence and tobacco use, then don't show them to children. Simple. Easiest form of censorship is the "off button".

The Fantasia experiment is completely different. Just as Walt altered "Three Little Pigs" because people were offended by it, I absolutely believe that if he were alive today, that footage would have either been re-