Abstracts

The Sorcerers Apprentices: Authorship and Sound Aesthetics in Walt Disneys Fantasia

by Daniel Fernandez




Institution: Florida Atlantic University
Department:
Year: 2017
Posted: 02/01/2018
Record ID: 2199258
Full text PDF: http://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau:34546


Abstract

This thesis makes three claims new to the critical literature onWalt Disneys1940 film Fantasia. Setting the scene by placing a spotlight on the long-servingPhiladelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski, it contextualizes his pervasiveinfluence, as well as contributions by others that shaped Fantasia and defined the filmsstylistic elements. Inspired by recent critical debates on post-silent era filmmaking andtheories of authorship, it makes a case for Fantasia being the culmination of a soundfilm and notes that its displays of individual artistic talent makes it a noteworthyexample of distributed authorship. Fantasia remains a unique experiment in Disneysfilmmaking in that it acquired its eventual form only because of decisions taken duringproduction since no absolute blue-print for the finished film existed at the time it wentinto production, when a large selection of musical numbers were assigned to teams ofanimators. 2017 Degree granted: Thesis(M.A.) FloridaAtlanticUniversity, 2017. Collection: FAUAdvisors/Committee Members: Guneratne, Anthony Dr. (Thesis advisor), Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters (Degree grantor).