Editing Fantasia (1940 film) (section)

==== 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 />