http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Fri, 16 May 2008 04:10:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/#comment-1053662 Mark Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:46:48 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/#comment-1053662 Unfortunately, modern audiences will never be able to hear what contemporary audiences heard in theatres; because in the 1950's the original "Fantasound" tracks were transferred onto magnetic recording tape in such a way that the tape copies suffered from varying degrees of distortion and lessened sound-quality. Part of the problem was that the signals from the original optical sound elements were fed over telephone lines to a remote recording facility. In the process, a low-level hum from the telephone wires ended up on the tape copies. When Fantasia was restored for its 50th anniversary, technicians were able only to work with the tape copies (utilizing technical data from the Disney Archives to replicate the configuration of the original 9-channels) when remastering the soundtrack. The engineers did their best to correct any phasing problems and to erradicate some of the hum from the tape sources, but the restored 1990 soundtrack did not have the full impact of the original 1940 soundtrack. The original optical sound elements were lost in the intervening years. For the 60th anniversary "roadshow" edition that came out on Disney DVD in 2000, the voice of Deems Taylor had to be dubbed by an actor because the original voice tracks are still lost. Hopefully one day all of the original voice and music tracks might be found in useable condition and a new restoration of Fantasia might be done for release in Disney's "Platinum Edition" series. Unfortunately, modern audiences will never be able to hear what contemporary audiences heard in theatres; because in the 1950’s the original “Fantasound” tracks were transferred onto magnetic recording tape in such a way that the tape copies suffered from varying degrees of distortion and lessened sound-quality. Part of the problem was that the signals from the original optical sound elements were fed over telephone lines to a remote recording facility. In the process, a low-level hum from the telephone wires ended up on the tape copies. When Fantasia was restored for its 50th anniversary, technicians were able only to work with the tape copies (utilizing technical data from the Disney Archives to replicate the configuration of the original 9-channels) when remastering the soundtrack. The engineers did their best to correct any phasing problems and to erradicate some of the hum from the tape sources, but the restored 1990 soundtrack did not have the full impact of the original 1940 soundtrack. The original optical sound elements were lost in the intervening years. For the 60th anniversary “roadshow” edition that came out on Disney DVD in 2000, the voice of Deems Taylor had to be dubbed by an actor because the original voice tracks are still lost. Hopefully one day all of the original voice and music tracks might be found in useable condition and a new restoration of Fantasia might be done for release in Disney’s “Platinum Edition” series.

]]> http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/#comment-1053545 Max Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:04:44 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/#comment-1053545 It went beyond stereo - it was multi-channel sound in some theaters. They were several decades ahead of their time. It went beyond stereo - it was multi-channel sound in some theaters. They were several decades ahead of their time.

]]> http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/#comment-1053517 Casandro Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:37:08 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2008/04/20/mickey-mouse-goes-classical/#comment-1053517 Fantasia actually was one of the very first movies in stereo. Fantasia actually was one of the very first movies in stereo.

]]>