Editing Fantasia (1940 film) (section)

=== Theatrical runs ===

==== 1940–1941 roadshows with Fantasound ====
[[File:Promises Promises at Broadway Theatre.JPG|right|thumb|upright=0.75|The film's first roadshow opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City on November 13, 1940.]]
RKO balked at the idea of distributing ''Fantasia'', which it described as a "longhair musical",{{sfn|Thomas|1994|p=161}} and believed its duration of two hours and five minutes plus intermission was too long for a general release.{{sfn|Grant|1998|p=178}}<ref name=dvdreleasehistory>{{cite AV media |title=Re-Release Schedule ''The Fantasia Legacy'' |medium=DVD |year=2000 |publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment}}</ref> It relaxed its exclusive distribution contract with Disney, who wanted a more prestigious exhibit in the form of a limited-run [[Roadshow theatrical release|roadshow attraction]]. A total of thirteen roadshows were held across the United States; each involving two daily screenings with seat reservations booked in advance at higher prices and a fifteen-minute intermission. Disney hired film salesman Irving Ludwig to manage the first eleven engagements,{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=340}} who was given specific instructions regarding each aspect of the film's presentation, including the setup of outside theater marquees and curtain and lighting cues. Patrons were taken to their seats by staff hired and trained by Disney,<ref name=makingofdvd>{{cite AV media notes |title=The Making of Fantasia |type=Documentary film |year=2000 |publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment}}</ref> and were given a program booklet illustrated by [[Gyo Fujikawa]].<ref name=15facts />

The first roadshow opened at the [[The Broadway Theatre|Broadway Theatre]] in New York City on November 13, 1940, the same theater where [[Steamboat Willie]] appeared 12 years earlier.<ref name=15facts>{{cite web |url=http://d23.disney.go.com/articles/120210_NF_FEAT_Fantasia.html |title=15 Fascinating Facts About ''Fantasia'' |website=D23 |access-date=January 16, 2011 |date=December 2, 2010 |first=Jim |last=Fanning |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120109071743/http://d23.disney.go.com/news/2010/12/15-fascinating-facts-about-fantasia|archive-date=2012-01-09}}</ref> The Disneys had secured a year's lease with the venue that was fully equipped with Fantasound, which took personnel a week working around the clock to install.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=341}} Proceeds made on the night went to the [[British War Relief Society]] following the [[Battle of Britain]].{{sfn|Culhane|1983|pp=30–31}} Ticket demand was so great that eight telephone operators were employed to handle the extra calls while the adjoining store was rented out to cater the box office bookings.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=345}} ''Fantasia'' ran at the Broadway for forty-nine consecutive weeks, the longest run achieved by a film at the time.{{sfn|Hall|Neale|2010|p=110}} Its run continued for a total of fifty-seven weeks until February 28, 1942.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/03/01/archives/by-way-of-report.html |title=By Way of Report |work=The New York Times |page=X3 |date=March 1, 1942 |first=Thomas M. |last=Pryor |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The remaining twelve roadshows were held throughout 1941, which included a 39-week run{{sfn|Hall|Neale|2010|p=110}} at the [[Carthay Circle Theatre]] in Los Angeles from January 29.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21162302/the-los-angeles-times/|title=Celebrities attend film premiere |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=June 6, 2011 |date=January 30, 1941 |first=Read |last=Kendall |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fO08AAAAIBAJ&pg=3789%2C5540970 |title=''Fantasia'' in last 2 weeks |work=Oxnard Press-Courier |access-date=June 6, 2011 |date= October 7, 1941 |via=[[Google News Archive]]}}</ref> ''Fantasia'' broke the long-run record at the venue in its twenty-eighth week; a record previously held by ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S-08AAAAIBAJ&pg=6973%2C3119681 |title=''Fantasia'' passes ''Gone With Wind'' Theater Record |newspaper=[[Oxnard Press-Courier]]|access-date=February 12, 2011 |date=August 5, 1941 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref> Its eight-week run at the [[Byham Theater|Fulton Theatre]] in [[Pittsburgh]] attracted over 50,000 people with reservations being made from cities located one hundred miles from the venue.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EcwaAAAAIBAJ&pg=3082%2C3940441 |title=Disney movie to be held at the Fulton Theater eighth and final week |work=The Pittsburgh Press |access-date=January 16, 2011 |date=April 18, 1941 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref> Engagements were also held at the [[American Conservatory Theater|Geary Theatre]] in [[San Francisco]] for eight months,<ref name=15facts /> the [[Hanna Theatre]] in [[Cleveland]] for nine weeks,<ref>{{cite news|title=''Fantasia'' Stays another Week|last=March |first=W. Ward |date=May 8, 1941 |newspaper=[[The Cleveland Plain Dealer]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Disney at highest and best with ''Fantasia''|last=March |first=W. Ward |date=March 19, 1941 |newspaper=[[The Cleveland Plain Dealer]]}}</ref> the [[Cutler Majestic Theatre|Majestic Theatre]] in [[Boston]],<ref name=15facts /> the [[Apollo Theater, Chicago|Apollo Theater]] in [[Chicago]],<ref name=tribune85>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-02-08-8501080333-story.html|title=The Film That Saved Mickey|first=David|last=Prescott|date=February 8, 1985|newspaper=The Chicago Tribune|access-date=January 6, 2012}}</ref> and also in [[Philadelphia]], [[Detroit]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Minneapolis]], [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[Baltimore]].{{sfn|Amernic|Craig|2006|p=194}}

''Fantasia'' grossed over $300,000 in the first sixteen weeks in New York; over $20,000 in the opening five weeks in San Francisco; and almost the same amount in the first ten weeks both in Los Angeles and Boston.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=345}} The first eleven roadshows earned a total of $1.3&nbsp;million by April 1941,{{sfn|Hall|Neale|2010|p=110}} but the $85,000 in production and installation costs of a single Fantasound setup,{{sfn|Shepherd|2003|pp=3–6}}{{sfn|Goldmark|Taylor|2002|p=87}} along with theatres having to be leased,{{sfn|Eagan|2010|pp=323–324}} forced Disney to exceed their loan limits.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=347}} The onset of the Second World War prevented plans for a potential release in Europe, normally the source of as much as forty-five per cent of the studio's income.{{sfn|Culhane|1983|pp=30–31}} Up to eighty-eight engagements were outlined across five years, but wartime demands for material limited the number of Fantasound prints to sixteen.{{sfn|Hall|Neale|2010|p=110}} All but one of the Fantasound setups were dismantled and given to the war effort.{{sfn|Goldmark|Taylor|2002|p=88}} Upon acquiring the film's distribution rights in April 1941, RKO initially continued the roadshow booking policy but presented the film in mono, which was easier to exhibit.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/04/28/archives/rko-will-distribute-goldwyn-productions-and-acquires-rights-to.html |title=RKO Will Distribute Goldwyn Productions and Acquires Rights to ''Fantasia''|first=Douglas W. |last=Churchill |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 28, 1941}}</ref>{{sfn|Hall|Neale|2010|p=110}} The combined average receipts from each roadshow was around $325,000, which placed ''Fantasia'' at an even greater loss than ''Pinocchio''.{{sfn|Barrier|2008|p=162}}

==== 1942–1963 runs ====
Disney allowed RKO to handle the general release of ''Fantasia'', but fought their decision to have the film cut. He gave in as the studio needed as much income as possible to remedy its finances, but refused to cut it himself, "You can get anybody you want to edit it&nbsp;... I can't do it."{{sfn|Thomas|1994|p=162}} With no input from Disney, musical director [[Edward H. Plumb|Ed Plumb]] and Ben Sharpsteen reduced ''Fantasia'' to one hour and forty minutes at first, then to one hour and twenty minutes by removing most of Taylor's commentary and the ''Toccata and Fugue''.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=347}}<ref>{{cite AV media notes|last1=Disney|first1=Roy E.|author1-link=Roy E. Disney|last2=Levine|first2=James|author2-link=James Levine|last3=Canemaker|first3=John|author3-link=John Canemaker|last4=MacQueen|first4=Scott|title=Fantasia|type=DVD audio commentary|year=2000 |publisher=Walt Disney Home Entertainment}}</ref> ''Fantasia'' was re-released in January 1942 at more popular prices with a mono soundtrack, and was placed on the lower half of [[double feature|double bills]] with the Western film ''[[Valley of the Sun (film)|Valley of the Sun]]''.<ref name=fantdelayed>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZRtKAAAAIBAJ&pg=6683%2C5633957 |title='Fantasia' success delayed |work= The Press-Courier |first=Bob |last=Thomas |access-date=March 4, 2011 |date=September 28, 1990 |via=Google News Archive }}</ref>

RKO reissued ''Fantasia'' once more on September 1, 1946, with the animated sequences complete and the scenes of Taylor, Stokowski, and the orchestra restored but shortened. Its running time was restored to one hour and fifty-five minutes. This edit would be the standard form for subsequent re-releases, and was the basis for the 1990 restoration.<ref name=dvdreleasehistory/>

{{Quote box|width=30%|quote=I wanted a special show just like [[Cinerama]] plays today&nbsp;... I had ''Fantasia'' set for a wide screen. I had dimensional sound&nbsp;... To get that wide screen I had the projector running sideways&nbsp;... I had the double frame. But I didn't get to building my cameras or my projectors because the money problem came in&nbsp;... The compromise was that it finally went out standard with dimensional sound. I think if I'd had the money and I could have gone ahead I'd have a really sensational show at that time.|source=—Walt Disney on the widescreen release in 1956.{{sfn|Barrier|2008|p=162}}}}

By 1955, the original sound negatives began to deteriorate, though a four-track copy had survived in good condition. Using the remaining Fantasound system at the studio, a three-track stereo copy was transferred across noise-free telephone wires onto magnetic film at an RCA facility in Hollywood.{{sfn|Goldmark|Taylor|2002|p=88}}<ref name=seattle1990/> This copy was used when ''Fantasia'' was reissued in stereo by [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Distribution]] in SuperScope, a derivative of the [[anamorphosis|anamorphic]] widescreen [[CinemaScope]] format, on February 7, 1956.<ref name=dvdreleasehistory /> The projector featured an automatic control mechanism designed by Disney engineers that was coupled to a variable anamorphic lens, which allowed the picture to switch between its [[Academy ratio|Academy standard]] [[aspect ratio (image)|aspect ratio]] of 1.33:1 to the wide ratio of 2.35:1 in twenty seconds without a break in the film. This was achieved by placing the cues that controlled the mechanism on a separate track in addition to the three audio channels. Only selected parts of the animation were stretched, while all live action scenes remained unchanged.<ref name=projectionist>{{Cite journal | last1 = Wasserman | first1 = Norman | title = Special Projection Process Gives ''Fantasia'' New Look | journal = International Projectionist | pages = 14–15 | location = United States | date = March 1956  }}</ref> This reissue garnered some criticism from viewers, as the widescreen format led to the cropping and reframing of the images.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7OxjAAAAIBAJ&pg=2127%2C4278836 |title=Favourite films revived |first=Colin |last=Bennett |work=The Age |access-date=June 6, 2011 |date=August 29, 1958 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref>

On February 20, 1963, ''Fantasia'' was re-released in both standard and SuperScope versions with stereo sound, though existing records are unclear. Its running time was 56 seconds longer than the previous issue which is unexplained.<ref name=dvdreleasehistory /> This was the final release that occurred before Disney's (and Taylor's) death in 1966.<ref name=dvdreleasehistory />

==== 1969–1990 runs ====

[[File:Fantasia 1969 Re-release poster.jpg|thumb|right|150px|1969 psychedelic-style re-release poster]]
''Fantasia'' began to make a profit from its $2.28&nbsp;million budget after its return to theaters on December 17, 1969.{{sfn|Goldmark|Taylor|2002|p=88}}<ref name=dvdreleasehistory /> The film was promoted with a psychedelic-styled advertising campaign, and it became popular among teenagers and college students who reportedly appreciated it as a [[psychedelic experience]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cc0bAAAAIBAJ&pg=7439%2C1680455 |title= Revisited ''Fantasia'' still thrills |work=[[The Pittsburgh Press]]|first=Kaspar |last=Monahan |access-date=March 6, 2011 |date=April 5, 1970 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref> Animator [[Ollie Johnston]] recalled that young people "thought we were on a trip when we made it&nbsp;... every time we'd go to talk to a school or something, they'd ask us what we were on."<ref name=herald1990 /> The release is also noted for the [[#Controversies|removal]] of four scenes from ''The Pastoral Symphony'' over racial stereotyping. ''Fantasia'' was issued on a regular basis, typically for exhibition in art houses in college towns, until the mid-1970s.<ref name=dvdreleasehistory />

The film was reissued nationwide once more on April 15, 1977 (the same year as Stokowski's death), this time with simulated stereo sound.{{sfn|Goldmark|Taylor|2002|p=88}}{{sfn|Culhane|1983|pp=30–31}} This edit featured the RKO distribution logo being replaced with that of Buena Vista Distribution, since RKO had not been part of a release since 1946. It had not been removed earlier as the credit sequence would have required to be re-shot. A two-and-a-half-minute reduction in the film's running time in this version remains unclear in existing records.<ref name=dvdreleasehistory />

In 1980, the studio shipped a damaged segment of ''The Nutcracker Suite'' to various film restoration companies; each advised that the sound recording could not be upgraded to a quality suitable for theatre screenings.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.amps.net/media/files/library/journals/16_December_1995_1.pdf#page=6|title=Fantastic ''Fantasia''|first=John|last=Aldred|page=7|magazine=The Newsletter of the Association of Motion Picture Sound|date=December 1995|via=AMPS.net|issue=16|access-date=November 20, 2020}}</ref> In late 1981, Disney executives decided to replace the Stokowski soundtrack with a new, digital recording in [[Dolby Stereo]] with conductor [[Irwin Kostal]]; president and CEO [[Ron W. Miller]] said that the original had degraded and "no longer matched the extraordinary visuals."<ref name=1982backcover/> Kostal directed a hand-picked 121-piece orchestra and 50-voice choir for the recording that took place across 18, three-hour sessions in January 1982 at [[CBS Studio Center]] in Los Angeles, costing almost $1.4&nbsp;million to produce.<ref name=1982backcover/><ref name=sound1982>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mv0rAAAAIBAJ&pg=2289,2168778 |title=Disney Gives ''Fantasia'' New Sound Work-Over|newspaper=[[Kentucky New Era]]|access-date=February 6, 2011 |date=March 13, 1982 |first=Bob |last=Thomas |via=Google News Archive}}</ref><ref name=CON82/><ref name=ARE82>{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Recording-Engineer/80s/Recording-1982-10.pdf#page=114|title=Re-Recording and Post-Production for Disney's ''Fantasia''|first=Larry|last=Blake|date=October 1982|pages=116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 126|magazine=Recording Engineer/Producer|access-date=July 17, 2023}}</ref> Five musicians who took part in the 1940 recording performed on the new one.<ref name=CON82>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/connoisseurillus213janlon/page/n337/|title=Rescoring ''Fantasia''|first=Ronald|last=Haver|date=July 1982|pages=22, 24, 26|magazine=[[The Connoisseur (magazine)|The Connoisseur]]|access-date=July 17, 2023}}</ref> Kostal had the difficult task of pacing his conducting to match Stokowski's, but chose Mussorgsky's orchestration of ''Night on Bald Mountain'' instead of the arrangement Stokowski had used which was based on [[Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s version.<ref name=sound1982/><ref name=CON82/> The new recording also corrected a two-frame lag in projection caused by the recording techniques used at the time the film was made.<ref name=pitts82/> The Kostal soundtrack was prepared for the film's reissue from April 2, 1982, which had Taylor's scenes replaced with briefer voiceover narration from Hugh Douglas as the studio felt audiences by now had become "more sophisticated and knowledgeable about music."<ref name=dvdreleasehistory /><ref name=pitts82>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8tBRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6877%2C3362530 |title='Fantasia' gets a re-recorded soundtrack |work= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=March 6, 2011 |date= November 13, 1982 |first=Barry |last=Paris}}</ref> Mickey Mouse and Stokowski's voices in the handshake scene were also redubbed, the former by [[Wayne Allwine]], who would do so again in ''Fantasia 2000''{{'}}s version of the same scene.<ref name=ARE82/>

The 1982 version was reissued from February 1985, which kicked off with a run at the Plitt Century Plaza Theatre in Los Angeles that was fitted with the HPS-4000 digital speaker system. This allowed the digital stereo recording of the Kostal soundtrack to be presented for the first time, and made ''Fantasia'' the first theatrical feature film presented in digital stereo sound.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Audio/Archive-REP-IDX/IDX/80s/Recording-1986-02-OCR-Page-0094.pdf|magazine=Recording|title=Digital sound for motion pictures|first=Larry|last=Blake|volume=17|number=1|date=February 1986|page=100|via=American Radio History|access-date=November 14, 2019}}</ref> The standard recording was used for the film's wide release to around 400 theaters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ko5PAAAAIBAJ&pg=3206%2C3173404 |title='Fantasia' to get new soundtrack |work=Ocala Star-Banner |access-date=March 4, 2011 |date=February 20, 1985 |via=Google News Archive }}</ref> This time, actor [[Tim Matheson]] provided the narration.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://d23.com/a-to-z/matheson-tim/ |title=Matheson, Tim |website=D23 |access-date=January 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906013304/https://d23.com/a-to-z/matheson-tim/ |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

For its fiftieth anniversary reissue, ''Fantasia'' underwent a two-year restoration process that began with a six-month search to locate the original negatives, which had been in storage since 1946, and piece them together. This was the first time since then that a print of the film had been prepared using the original negative and not a copy.<ref name=prov1990>{{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/396822008|title=A Fantastic ''Fantasia''|newspaper=[[The Providence Journal]]|date=September 30, 1990|first=Michael|last=Janusonis|access-date=August 15, 2023|archive-date=February 19, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219035429/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/projo/doc/396822008.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:&type=current&date=&author=&pub=&edition=&startpage=&desc=|id={{ProQuest|396822008}} }}</ref> A new print was formed that was identical to the 1946 version with Taylor's introductions restored but with a new end credits sequence added. As the original opening shots of ''Rite of Spring'' could not be found, footage from the Disney educational film ''A World is Born'', which used footage from the segment, was used instead. This was also the case for a sequence in ''The Pastoral Symphony'', so a duplicate was used.<ref name=seattle1990>{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19900930/1095890/restoring-classics-fantasia-leads-way|title=Restoring Classics: ''Fantasia'' Leads Way|newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]]|first=John|last=Hartl|date=30 September 1990|access-date=13 September 2018|archive-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913185110/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900930&slug=1095890|url-status=live}}</ref> Each of the 535,680 frames were restored by hand with an untouched print from 1951 used for guidance on the correct colors and tone.<ref name=prov1990 /><ref name=nytimes1990>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/30/movies/film-disney-sweeps-the-dust-off-fantasia-at-50.html |title=Disney Sweeps the Dust Off ''Fantasia'' at 50 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=January 16, 2011 |date= September 30, 1990 |first=Max |last=Alexander}}</ref> Theaters that agreed to screen the film were required to install specific stereo sound equipment and present it in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.<ref name=herald1990>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SQYqAAAAIBAJ&pg=5566%2C990584 |title='Fantasia' won't show locally |work=Herald-Journal |date=October 5, 1990 |access-date=March 25, 2011}}</ref><ref name=beaver1990>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9LUiAAAAIBAJ&pg=1244%2C1060169 |title=At 50, Disney's restored ''Fantasia'' is more fantastic |newspaper=[[The Beaver County Times]] |first=Lawrence |last=Toppman |date=October 5, 1990 |access-date=March 25, 2011 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref> The 1990 reissue also had the Stokowski soundtrack restored, which underwent digital remastering by [[Terry Porter (sound engineer)|Terry Porter]] who worked with the 1955 magnetic soundtrack. He estimated 3,000 pops and hisses were removed from the recording.<ref name=gazette1990/>{{sfn|Shepherd|2003|pp=3–6}}<ref name=beaver1990/> Released on October 5, 1990, the reissue grossed $25&nbsp;million domestically.<ref name=fantasiahitchic1991 />