When Dali met Disney
August 19th, 2009 at 11:50am Will Pfeifer
Back in 1946, surrealist painter Salvador Dali and animation legend Walt Disney started to collaborate on a cartoon. DESTINO was designed to take advantage of Dali’s distinctive painting style (you know — melting clocks, floating eyeballs, etc.) and give it actual movement thanks to the vast resources of the Disney Studios. Trouble is, it was never finished.
Until 2003, that is, when Disney’s nephew Roy discovered the film. (This is, of course, long after both Dali and Disney were dead.) Using the studio’s animation department (and new technology), Roy oversaw the completion of the film. It was nominated for an Oscar in 2003, shown at a Dali exhibit in 2007 and was supposed to be released on home video in 2008.
So far, however, it’s still AWOL. According to a Disney press release, it’s supposed to arrive next year, packaged with a documentary about the Disney-Dali collaboration. It’ll definitely be worth keeping an eye out for, but in the meantime, here’s a peek — thanks to the magic of You Tube…
3 Comments Add your own
1. John N | August 19th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Will, you made my day if not my week for this clip. I’ve read about this movie for years but have never seen even any of its images in even a book. To see the actual animation online like this is thrilling. I hope this makes it to the big screen. I’ll be there opening night.
From this clip, it looks like it could be the most beautifully animated feature to come out of Disney ever.
By the way, if anyone is ever in St. Petersburg, Florida, go out of your way to check out the Salvador Dali Museum. Before I went there the first time (sometime in the 1980s), I didn’t think that much of Dali and saw his style as gimmicky. But his huge paintings collected in one room revealed a man who not only had a terrific imagination and vision, but incredible talent at draughtsmanship and painting.
Anyway, thanks so much for this, Will.
2. Will Pfeifer | August 20th, 2009 at 8:49 am
John — I’ve been to that museum more than once, and you’re right — it’s a revelation. Some of those paintings just tower over you and you can’t help but be overwhelmed. It’s not just Dali’s wild visions that impress you, it’s the sheer scope of his talent. The guy had serious, serious chops!
And you’re welcome for the clip — when it does hit DVD, I’ll be sure to alert everyone.
3. John N | August 20th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Do you know if it will get a theatrical release first? I’d love to be in the center of an aisle near the front of the theater and get overwhelmed with the visuals. It would be a shame for a project in the works for so many years combining geniuses of the magnitude of Dali and Disney to go straight to video.
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