NEWS: Dali-Disney Collaboration Premieres
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Fri Oct 15, 2:37 PM ET
By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A narrow waisted, emerald-eyed brunette flits through a
desert full of melting clocks and wacky perspectives, looking for her
lover. Giant telephones levitate. Bicyclists with bread loaf helmets
pedal by.
No, it's not a delusion — it's "Destino," a film by Salvador Dali and
Walt Disney. Only six-minutes long, the fantastical jewel packs enough
symbols to keep art historians and psychologists busy for years.
Begun in 1946 but shelved because of financial difficulties, the film
was finally completed in 2003 by Roy E. Disney, Disney's nephew and son
of Walt Disney Co.'s co-founder. It is showing for the first time in New
York City as the centerpiece of a new exhibit at Animazing Gallery.
The honor surely would have delighted the exhibitionist Dali, who is
getting another dose of fame during the Year of Dali 2004, an array of
exhibits and events celebrating the 100th anniversary of the surrealist
artist's birth on May 11, 1904.
His collaboration with Walt Disney puzzles some, but the two had great
respect for each other, with Dali describing Disney as one of the three
great American surrealists; Disney's imaginative freedom of animation
mirrors Dali's artistic vision.
Roy Disney became interested in "Destino" while working on the movie
"Fantasia 2000," and decided to animate it after learning that, legally,
the company did not own Dali's work until the film had been completed in
the manner first intended. He and director Dominique Monfery had the
original recording of Armando Dominguez's ballad, "Destino," and the
memories of studio artist John Hench, who worked with Dali on the story,
as guides.
"Way back when they were working on it, Walt used to say, 'There's
nothing to it — it's just a simple little love story,'" Disney quipped.
"Destino" garnered a 2003 Academy Award nomination for best short film.
Rendered with 21st-century technology, the result may be better than any
film its creators could have made. A documentary DVD about "Destino" is
planned.
Also on display at Animazing are 150 pieces of animation art from the
1920s through the mid-1950s — Disney's "Golden Years" — paintings by
company artists Harrison and Peter Ellenshaw and one of Dali's ink
drawings from "Destino." According to Animazing director Heidi Leigh,
it's the first of Dali's story boards from the film to be shown or
offered for sale in the United States, and has an estimated value of
$45,000.
The Ellenshaws' sugar-spun castle paintings have the glitzy feel of
Hollywood merchandising, but the early drawings and story boards are
enchanting. Erasures, technical notations and orders wreathe wrinkled
pencil sketches of Mickey Mouse — with his original tail and solid black
eyes — Cinderella and scenes from "Fantasia." Cruella De Vil's lurid
green cigarette smoke, as rendered in a gouache animation cel, seems
about to drift off the page and poison the air.
"The vintage work is a very sophisticated part of Americana art," Leigh
said. "These pieces could easily go into a museum show — a couple of
them have."
Still, the star of the show is "Destino," which appears at Animazing
Gallery through Saturday. The film is also part of "Dali & Mass
Culture," showing through Jan 30 at The Salvador Dali Museum in St.
Petersburg, Fla.
The exhibit at Animazing Gallery runs through Nov. 14 and will not
travel.
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On the Net:
Animazing Gallery: http://shopping.animazing.com/gallery
Salvador Dali Museum: www.salvadordalimuseum.org
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Sounds awesome. Dali, Hench - Amazing!!
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