This Day in History: 1940-11-13

Fantasia, a highly acclaimed Walt Disney feature length cartoon film,  is first released on this day in 1940.  The film was an unusual animation of symphonic classical music such as the Nutracker Suite, the  Sorcerer’s Apprentice,  and Rite of Spring, among others.  The original idea for  the film was apparently that it would be a Disney short cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  Disney felt that Mickey was not getting enough love from the public at the time.   But the production took on a life of its own, rather like its subject, growing too long for one of the pre-movie shorts of the era.  Disney turned it into a feature length film that also helped introduce generations to the ideas behind symphonic music.