How did I not know about this? From Dali-Disney Collaboration Premieres:
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.
Intriguing:
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.