Regarded by many as Walt Disney's masterpiece, FANTASIA predicted the modern music video by offering nine animated segments that were directly inspired by compressed versions of well-known classical music without necessarily adhering to the original composers' intent. Featuring the work of the Disney studio's artists at the height of their powers, and coupled with conductor Leopold Stokowski's musical arrangements, FANTASIA's fanciful interpretations include a semi-abstract rendition of Bach's 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'; water sprites, dancing mushrooms, and other creatures in Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker Suite'; Mickey Mouse as the title character in Paul Dukas' 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'; dinosaurs roaming a primordial Earth in Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring'; frolicking mythical creatures in Beethoven's 'The Pastoral Symphony'; ballet-dancing ostriches, hippopotamuses, and alligators in Ponchielli's 'Dance of the Hours'; and the rise and fall of the dark demon Chernobog in Mussorgsky's' Night on Bald Mountain' and Schubert's "Ave Maria." Deems Taylor's narration (and brief words by Stokowski and Mickey) provide the only spoken words in the film.

"A landmark in animation (and a huge influence on the medium of music video), Disney's Fantasia is a relentlessly inventive blend of the classics with phantasmagorical images." (Rotten Tomatoes)

"The words most used to describe "Fantasia," besides the conventional "beautiful" and "wonderful" were "path-breaking" and "courageous." The phrase "courageous beyond belief" would be even more accurate." (LA Times)

Sunday, October 11
Doors 4:00 pm | Movie 4:20 pm *Start time subject to change
Advance tickets $15 | $15 at the door
*Minors OK in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.

**Groupons and passes OK for any single film screening. Please redeem at the door.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the Rio Theatre’s screenings are operating at a sharply reduced capacity. We can’t guarantee availability of tickets at the door, so advance tickets for all screening events are strongly recommended. Our online box office can be found at www.riotheatretickets.ca. Online sales for every screening automatically end 1 hour before any given showtime.

FANTASIA (1940 / 124 mins / G) A collection of animated interpretations of great works of Western classical music.