The Philadelphia Orchestra Fantasia (Original Film Soundtrack) (2-CD)

Originally envisaged as a nine minute short, based around Mickey Mouse performing the Sorcerer's Apprentice, both the budget and the project grew to become one of Walt Disney's grandest releases. Whilst most animated shorts were produced on a budget of $30,000, the Disney studio routinely spent $40,000, yet the segment for the Sorcerer's Apprentice came in at $125,000! Realizing that they would never make their money back as the clip stood, they decided to build a film around it, with the final budget coming in at $2.2 million, of which $400,000 was spent on the recording alone. The eight classical pieces are used to tell the story in the film - there is no dialogue - and was perhaps too far ahead of it's time when originally released. Indeed, the money spent on Fantasia was such that Walt Disney needed it to make a quick profit; when it didn't, Disney quickly turned out Dumbo, which rescued the ailing finances of the company.