Never underestimate the power of a childhood passion. “Fantasia/2000,” the long-awaited sequel to the classic 1940 “Fantasia,” had some of the highest per-screen grosses in the nation’s moviehouses last week, triumphantly fulfilling a long thwarted dream of the late Walt Disney to make “Fantasia” a regularly updated perennial. And it was all because of a little boy, back in 1940.
That little boy was Roy Edward Disney, who eventually grew up to become head of the animation division at his Uncle Walt’s studio. In 1940, when the first “Fantasia” — with its revolutionary blend of classical music and cartoon story accompaniments — angered the highbrow critics and bewildered the public, 10-year-old Roy fell in love with it.
The son of Roy O. Disney, Walt’s older brother and longtime head of the Disney Company’s business section, Roy E. went to work for his uncle in 1961 as a film editor. After a bitter year-long 1984 boardroom battle, Disney (with Michael Eisner and the late Frank Wells) was part of the triumvirate that took control of Disney and jump-started its current renaissance. As head of the animation division since then, Disney has been the key figure in that resurgence, championing the new-era Disney feature cartoons from 1986’s “The Great Mouse Detective” to “Toy Story 2.”
But “Fantasia” remained Roy E. Disney’s obsession — just as it had once been Walt’s. And this year, after an eight-year gestation, he was finally able to realize his uncle’s old dream. The IMAX “Fantasia/2000” has delighted audiences with its whimsical yet grandiose blend of Beethoven, Stravinsky, Gershwin and Respighi; flying whales; live toys; conductor James Levine (and the Chicago Symphony); Steve Martin; Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
How many other 10-year-olds have their heart’s desire so spectacularly realized?
Here’s what Roy Disney, on a recent Chicago visit, had to say about it all:
Tribune — Was it tough to convince people to do “Fantasia/2000”?
Disney — Actually, because of timing, it wasn’t. When the video came out in ’91 and sold a jillion copies, I really did write Michael (Eisner) a note and I said: “Not only do we now know that there’s a big public knowledge and goodwill for the thing, but we can afford it. The profits off the video — let’s use that and make it anyway.” And Michael said, “Sure.”
The first year, I didn’t spend more than $5, because we only had about four or five people. A little group, just trying to pick music and hopefully have good ideas for what the music would work (with).
Tribune — Did you have a master plan going in as head of animation?
Disney — Not really. You just make stories that attract you . . . I think there was master plan that said: We’ve got to get better at this. We need to be as good at it as we were in the ’40s — which is a very high aspiration.
I had spent all my life in film (starting out with the Oscar-winning ’50s nature documentaries “The Vanishing Prairie,” and “The Living Desert”). So I didn’t think animation was any different . . . because movies are movies are movies. And I knew too there was a period of neglect after Walt and my dad died (in 1966 and 1971).
Tribune — How difficult was the turnaround after you, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells took over the company from (Disney’s son-in-law) Ron Miller?
Disney — Well, it took a while. . . . The nicest thing that happened was the day we walked back in, in September of 1984, Michael and Frank and me . . . went out to lunch after the boat had floated on this thing to celebrate. . . . And at the end of the lunch, Michael turned to me and said: “What do you want to do now that this thing is all over with?”
I think Michael probably (he would never admit this), but the day that I said, “Why don’t you let me have animation?” he probably went, “Well, there’s one thing I don’t have to think about for a while!” Within a week, I saw the storyboards (for “The Great Mouse Detective”) and dragged Michael and Frank down. I walked them through the storyboard and said: “I think we ought to get going with this thing.” There were 180 people in the department . . . all terrified for their jobs. We OKd that and started up.
Tribune — Was Walt a de facto director on the great early features?
Disney — Yeah. He was where every buck in the place stopped. You couldn’t do anything without going by Walt — right up to the very end.
Tribune — What kind of guy was he?
Disney — I always say: I know two Walts. And actually, if you talk to — I don’t care how many people who worked with Walt, you will find that many different Walts. Because he was a really good actor. And a really good — manipulator is the wrong word — a psychologist. He knew how to get the most out of people.
I also knew two Walts, because I was a kid and he was my dad’s little brother and he was my uncle. And he loved kids; he was always great with kids.
Tribune — What was his relationship with your father?
Disney — Thank God they were brothers, because they could have fights — which, God knows, they did. And because of the blood, they could get through them. One of them lasted three years, in the early ’50s; it was related to Walt’s contract with studio and the use of his name and Disneyland.
Then I grew up and went to college and came back and wound up working for him. And I’m sure he was no tougher on me than he was on anybody else. But he was tough.
Tribune — Any truth to that urban legend about him being cryogenically frozen somewhere?
Disney (Laughs.) — It’s just astonishing how long that thing has lasted! You know, we were there at the hospital the day he died, and he was thoroughly wasted away from the cancer. And he was cremated. It was precisely the opposite of freezing.
Tribune — What’s your favorite of the Disney cartoon features done in your regime?
Disney — “Beauty and the Beast,” because I think it was truest to the traditional side of what we’ve always done in storytelling. I had a wonderful thing: (legendary Disney animators) Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston came to the wrap party. And I kind of tailed them out afterwards, because I was so pleased and proud with what we’d done. I wanted to hear them say, “Wow! Boy! That was really good!” And I’m kind of like tuggin’ on their coats: “Waddaya think, waddaya think?” Finally Ollie looks at me and says: “It’s really good, Roy. It’s almost as good as we used to do.”
Tribune — Are there any unrealized ideas for “Fantasia”?
Disney — Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini”; I always loved that piece of music. We had a pretty good idea, Rachmaninoff’s original sense of what he wrote. The good dream and the bad dream. A little girl asleep.
We (also) had an idea: Donald Duck — or Goofy, maybe — as Icarus to “Ride of the Valkyries.” There was a lot of stuff that floated in and out and never got developed. So there’s a ton of things that we’d love to do. I’d love to do jazz, ethnic music.
I think “Fantasia” can be anything you say it is. I’d love to try something in a lot of mediums. The freedom of it is what’s fun about it.
Tribune — The essence of Disney cartoons from “Steamboat Willie” to the Silly Symphonies to “Fantasia/2000” is that integration of pictures and music. So I hope you do keep on doing new “Fantasias.”
Disney — We sure want to. Speaking as a representative of all the artists over there — it’s funny. This was made over a period of pretty near eight years. It took that long largely because we made it as a series of little short subjects. It slid in and out of the animation department without ever disturbing the feature schedule.
So as a result of that, we had a whole series of completion parties . . . for each segment. The final one was last spring for Beethoven (Symphony No. 5) and (Stravinsky’s) “Firebird.” We had our final party. And we all made little speeches. At the end of it I said something about “the next one.” And the place just went wild! It was great.
