"Et in" (Disney) "Arcadia ego"
"Et in" (Disney) "Arcadia ego"

In Search of Hope in the 1940 "Fantasia"

Author(s): Anna Mik
Subject(s): Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Arcadia; Disney; education; Fantasia; feminism; hope; Olympus; race; racism; social conflict
Summary/Abstract: "Fantasia" by Walt Disney Productions might be perceived as a true marriage of the so-called high and low culture – in this case classical music and children’s animation. Although those two blend and it is hard to distinguish what is for children and what for adults, this movie certainly might be perceived as a true masterpiece combining various motifs, both from popular culture and art. Among them stand out motifs received from Antiquity – full of hopes for the world to come – serving also as a metaphor for cosmic and social isolation.In the 1940s, war was obviously one of the major everyday topics, and this also is reflected in "Fantasia" – even if not literally. The fight takes place somewhere else – at the foot of the Mountain Olympus – where centaurs have been trapped in an oppressive social cage. Chauvinism, racism, and general social conflict are still there, very often criticized, but never reformulated. In the article I investigate where to find the mythical hope, an important factor in creating children’s perception and sensitivity in a world constantly faced with intolerance.

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