Fantasia & Fantasia 2000 arrive as a double pack Blu-ray this November

Released for the First Time in over a Decade
to Astound the Eyes and Ears of a New Generation

Disney's Breathtaking Animation Classic Debuts on Blu-ray from Monday 8 November

Fantasia & Fantasia 2000: Two-Movie Collection Special Edition

Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, the magical, animatedmusical masterpiece and the contemporary classic inspired by it, make their long awaited debut in highly anticipated Blu-ray High Definition on Monday 8th November. The Walt Disney Company is opening the Disney vault to be able to present these two films that broke the boundaries of imagination, now in spectacular high definition.
The Blu-ray transformation of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 will showcase the magic, music and majesty of both films as never before experienced, with state-of-the-art picture restoration of the original Fantasia. Having spawned one of the most iconic scenes in movie history with The Sorceror's Apprentice, the Blu-ray Double Pack offers viewers a reinvented viewing experience, as well as a wealth of captivating, never before seen (!) bonus features. Fantasia can also be purchased as a Double Play edition, where fans can enjoy the original masterpiece on both Blu-ray and DVD.

Among the special features is the highly requested Academy Award® nominated short Destino. Available for the first time ever on Blu-ray, the seven minute film is the result of a unique collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, which begun in 1946, but was put on hold due to studio financial concerns. In 2003, Roy E. Disney worked with a team of modern day animators to complete the film as a tribute to Walt's pioneering artistic vision. Accompanying the eagerly awaited short is an all-new feature length documentary entitled "Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino,"whichexplores the origins of the relationship between Disney and Dali, their collaboration on Destino, and ultimately how the film came to fruition so many years after its inception.

Now in its seventieth anniversary year, Fantasia, a groundbreaking and compelling combination of music and animated images, was initially released by the Studio in 1940 as a "road show" release. The following year, at the 14th Annual Academy Awards, Fantasia earned two Special Awards. The first was given to Walt Disney and associates for their outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures, being the first commercial film released in multi-channel sound using a process called Fantasound, and the second to conductor Leopold Stokowski and his associates "for…unique achievement in the creation of a new form of visualized music…thereby widening the scope of the motion picture as entertainment and as an art form."

Considered avant-garde during its time, Fantasia has gone on to become one of the most popular movies of all time and today is considered an animation classic. In 1990, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Stokowski, this groundbreaking film, which consists of animation set to eight musical pieces, is narrated by Deems Taylor and includes an appearance by Mickey Mouse (voiced by Walt Disney himself).

Equally impressive is Fantasia 2000, the awe-inspiring extravaganza of sight and sound which appears exclusively on the Blu-ray Double Play, executive produced by the late Roy E. Disney. Featuring an array of celebrity hosts including Steve Martin, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn and Teller, Angela Lansbury, Itzhak Perlman and Quincy Jones, the film, like its predecessor, expertly visualises classical music compositions, intertwined with animation and live-action introductions. Fantasia 2000 is primarily performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by James Levine.

Synopsis: The dreams and visions of Walt Disney come to life in Fantasia, which blends music and film magic into an exhilarating movie-going experience. Unforgettable images are brought to life by some of the world's best music, and highlighted by the comedy of Mickey Mouse as a troublemaking Sorcerer's Apprentice, along with the beauty of winged fairies and cascading snowflakes, the majesty of Noah's ark and even plump hippos performing ballet in tutus.

Motivated by his uncle's foresight, Roy Disney continued the magic with Fantasia 2000 which begins where its predecessor left off. There are seven completely new segments, and viewers watch a bustling Depression-era metropolis in the style of Al Hirschfeld's famous cartoons, a flock of flamingos with slapstick yo-yo talents, an ark full of animals gathered by Donald Duck as Noah's first mate, and musical life breathed into a family of flying humpback whales.

· Fantasia / Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Double Pack is released on 8th November 2010, available for a limited time only.
· Fantasia is also available in a Blu-ray and DVD Double Play from 8th November 2010 for a limited time only
· Fantasia 2000 can only be bought as part of the Blu-ray double pack

Fantasia DVD Bonus Features:

• New Audio Commentary with Disney historian Brian Sibley
• Roy Disney Tribute

Fantasia Blu-ray Bonus Features:

• New Audio Commentary with Disney historian Brian Sibley
• Roy Disney Tribute
• Disney Family Museum (running time: approx. 5 minutes) -Walt's daughter Diane Disney-Miller takes viewers on a tour of the new Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, California featuring a very large exhibit on Fantasia and most importantly, the Schultheis notebook with long lost Fantasia production notes found in more recent years in the walls of a convent.
• Disney View - This viewing mode maximizes the Blu-ray viewing experience with a 16 x 9 aspect ratio. Original artwork created by a Disney artist, in a style that complements the beauty of the film.
• Interactive Art Gallery and Screensavers - Viewers can explore the artwork of Fantasia as never before, in HD resolution with unique Blu-ray interactivity and programming.

Fantasia 2000 Blu-ray Bonus Features:

• Dali & Disney: A Date With Destino (running time: 82 minutes) - This feature length documentary explores the collaborative relationship between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, revealing how and why the Destinoshort came to fruition under the lead of Roy E. Disney in 2003 so many years after its inception in 1946.
• Musicana - Walt's Inspiration for a Sequel (running time: approx. 10 minutes) - This documentary reveals rarely-seen art created for Musicana, a late 1970's project intended as a Fantasia sequel with a focus on exploring other cultures via their greatest musical compositions. Viewers are offered a look at the origins of pieces that were started by Walt, such as "The Emperor and the Nightingale" which was then taken over by a very young John Lasseter. Ultimately, Musicana was stopped to begin production on "Mickey's Christmas Carol," but the memories of this piece still live on with the animators who conceived it.
• Destino (running time: approx. 7 minutes) - The legacy of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali lives on in this highly anticipated short film.
• Audio Commentaries from Fantasia Legacy Collection (total running time: 84 minutes)
• With executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, and producer Don Ernst.
• Audio commentary with the directors and art directors for each segment.

Aspect ratio: Fantasia - 1.33:1, Fantasia 2000 - 1.78:1
Sound/Language Tracks: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 DEHT
French and Spanish Language Tracks
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

DVDs:
Aspect ratio: Fantasia - 1.33:1,
Sound/Language Tracks: 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix (DEHT), 5.1 DEHT
French and Spanish Language Tracks
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles

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