Question 1

True or false: Walt Disney personally voiced all the narration in the original theatrical cut.

Accepted Answer

False. Deems Taylor, a composer and critic, provided the narration. Disney never narrated it; Taylor's calm voice introduced each segment.

Question 2

True or false: The film was originally intended to be a short called 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'.

Accepted Answer

True. Disney planned a short starring Mickey, but costs ballooned, so he expanded it into a full feature with multiple classical pieces—hence 'Fantasia'.

Question 3

True or false: The film bombed at the box office when it was first released in 1940.

Accepted Answer

True. High production costs, limited theater installations for its stereo sound, and World War II cutting off European markets led to financial losses.

Question 4

True or false: The conductor Leopold Stokowski shook hands with Mickey Mouse in the film.

Accepted Answer

True. In a live-action segment, Stokowski actually shakes Mickey's hand on screen, a first for animated-character interaction with a real person in a Disney film.

Question 5

True or false: The film was banned in several countries for depicting a nude centaur.

Accepted Answer

True. The 'Pastoral Symphony' included bare-breasted female centaurs, leading to censorship in places like the UK and some US states upon initial release.

Question 6

True or false: A segment featuring 'The Rite of Spring' was cut from the film due to its violent imagery.

Accepted Answer

False. It remains in the film, depicting the Earth's creation and dinosaur extinction. No segment was cut for violence; the 'Pastoral Symphony' caused controversy for nudity.

Question 7

True or false: All the music in 'Fantasia' was recorded in a single continuous take.

Accepted Answer

False. The music was recorded over several sessions with multiple takes, though it was pioneering for its multi-track stereophonic sound system called Fantasound.

Question 8

True or false: Disney animators used live-action reference footage of ballerinas for hippo dancers in 'Dance of the Hours'.

Accepted Answer

False. They actually filmed a hippopotamus named Gloria from a circus, but no ballerinas were used—animators relied on hippo movement studies.

Fantasia Trivia Questions