Walt Disney’s 75-year-old animated classic “Fantasia” returns to theaters for a limited engagement beginning Sunday, November 8.
Honored by the National Board of Review as one of its Top Ten Films of all time, and the American Film Institute on its list of Greatest American Films, “Fantasia” was also inducted into the National Film Registry by the National Film Preservation Board.
In addition to the original feature, the event screenings will include an introduction and performance with the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
BY Experience will release the film with more than 1,400 screenings nationwide. Tickets for the “Fantasia” 75th Anniversary theatrical screenings are available now at participating theater box offices and online.
Released in 1940 in the middle of World War II, “Fantasia” was initially envisioned as a short film to reinvigorate the sagging popularity of Mickey Mouse, but as the budget for the short soared, Disney decided to turn it into a full blown feature.
The film consists of eight animated segments conducted by Leopold Stokowski, with the famed Philadelphia Orchestra performing seven of them. The soundtrack was recorded in ‘Fantasound,’ a then-new sound reproduction system, making “Fantasia” the first commercial film shown in stereophonic sound.
In the last year, BY Experience theatrically re-released films including John Hughes’ seminal teen feature “The Breakfast Club,” and the fully restored Oscar-winning musical “My Fair Lady.”
Its latest re-release, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s acclaimed musical “Oklahoma!” opened November 1.
