Stupid zoomer question: what was the big deal about The Sorcerer's Apprentice that made it such an iconic piece of animation?Was it just seen as really good and memorable in the way you speak of other Disney films like The Lion King? Or was it more of technical marvel like Snow White being the first feature length animation? Long before I ever watched Fantasia I knew the imagery of Mickey in the robe and hat and the dancing broomsticks. But why did that image stick around so much up to the early 2000s for me to see it as a kid?
>>154817343>What made it such an iconic piece of animationBecause it was marketed as such since he is the mascot. This is not necessarily the most praised segment from that film>Why did the image stick around?Because they are a big company and use their marketing power to keep it in public conscious >Why was it impressive outside of that?Because this is what Mickey looked like just 12 years earlier in at the time top level animation
>>154817343In eight years this design of Mickey will be public domain, that's when Disney will seethe because this is the true Mickey. And no one cares about Rudish Mickey.
>>154817343It certainly wasn't iconic at the time. Despite Mickey's redesign and Walt putting as much effort into it as was possible, Fantasia didn't actually get any traction until it was re-released after his death. Sorcerer also benefited from wizard-hat Mickey being used in marketing and the segment being shown independently and frequently on the Disney Channel up through at least the mid-90s, possibly later (which probably answers your last question). Also the worst Disney game on Genesis, but let's not get into that.
>>154817343Sorcerer's Apprentice is just a great a piece of work. It has escalation, it has an arc, it has a great sense of timing and atmosphere, it has a variety of different emotions. All set to a great piece of music. If somebody like Charlie Chaplin had made something like this, he would probably be extremely happy. And it was all done in the medium of animation, and the animation of Fantasia is excellent and ahead of anything else not by Disney at the time. The Golden Age of Disney represents a really interesting and powerful period where Disney were funding passion projects like this by themselves. Like Disney paid for the installation of Fantasound (essentially an early version of surround sound) out of their own pockets, because RKO didn't want to. It was an incredible thing to do for a film. Fantasia is really a culmination and expansion of what was achieved in the Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse shorts. It takes the basis of putting music to animation, and pushes it to different degrees. The fact that the Sorcerer's Apprentice version of Mickey is such a famous iteration just makes sense. Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi aren't /just/ technical marvels, they're entirely well-made.
>>154817343Being really well animated goes a long way.
>>154817343it was probably the most memorable thing about fantasia back in the day, which, other than that, was mostly this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LBnB5WcuRM
>>154817343It was beutiful and hand amazing sound. It was competeing against black and white movies, which it curb stomped
>>154820665I have picrel more ingrained into my memory than the actual short he's based off of.
>>154817343Because wizards are the shit
