It’s never been mentioned in anything I’ve read about the making of Disney’s “Fantasia”, but was this film influential in any degree? Heinrich Kley is clearly an inspiration and only recently being acknowledged but what about “La Joie de Vivre” (The Joy of Living), by Anthony Gross and Hector Hoppin?
Could this 1934 film have inspired the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker sequences of the 1940 film “Fantasia”? To me the sprites of “La Joie de Vivre” looks strikingly like the fairies in Fantasia with their long legs and relationship to nature. The nude bathing scene in particular has all the proportional designs of the fairies and echoes of the ice fairy can be seen in their involvement with the lake. The sprites of “La Joie de Vivre” make flowers grow and dance among leaves. They also disguise themselves as flowers and the Disney’s fairies are introduced emerging from flowers, and have similar interactions with nature. There seems to be many parallel elements to me.
I see “La Joie de Vivre” as a viable springboard to “Fantasia”. It also reminds me graphically of what Lionel Feiniger, (“The Kin-der-kids”) might have looked like animated. I also see some “Yellow Submarine” too.
6 comments:
This is such a great post. I never knew that this video existed and being a big fan of the original fantasia i especially appreciated it.
Thanks Anne-Catherine, I hope you can see how this may have been an inspiration. Glad to know someone is looking in!
It may have been an influence, but I'm not sure that it wasn't influenced by some art deco illustration or something like that. Your hypothesis certainly makes sense.
GW, thanks for commenting. Anything is possible.
I love your blog. Thanks for posting "La Joie de Vivre" it was a joy to watch, an uncanny similarity to "Fantasia" without a doubt! Creativity can in someways be simultaneous. Just goes to show that there are so many hidden treasures yet to surface! Thank You.
Alina, thank you for looking into my blog and the great complement.
I'm glad you see the similarities too.
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