Destino
|
|
Destino is the title of a short animated cartoon released in 2003 by The Walt Disney Company.
Destino is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, fifty-eight years before its original release. What's more, the project was a collaboration between the legendary American animator Walt Disney and the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Dominguez -- Destino was a globe-spanning production.
Destino was storyboarded by Disney studio artist John Hench and Dalí for eight months in late 1945 and 1946; however, financial concerns caused Disney to cease production. This was as the Walt Disney Company, then Walt Disney Studios, was plagued by many financial woes in the World War II era. Hench compiled a short animation test of about eighteen seconds in the hopes of rekindling Disney's interest in the project, but the production was no longer deemed financially viable and put on indefinite hiatus.
Fortunately for the short, this is not the end of Destino's story. In 1999, Walt Disney's nephew Roy Edward Disney, while working on Fantasia 2000, unearthed the dormant project and decided to bring it back to life. Disney Studios France, the company's small Parisian production department, was brought on board to complete the project. The short was produced by Baker Bloodworth and directed by French animator Dominique Monfrey in his first directorial role. A team of approximately 25 animators deciphered Dalí and Hench's cryptic storyboards (with a little help from the journals of Dalí's wife Gala Dalí), and finished Destino's production. The end result is mostly traditional animation, including Hench's original footage, but it also contains some computer animation.
Destino premiered on June 2, 2003 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival (http://www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=2) in Paris. The five-minute short follows a female dancer as she dances through surreal scenery inspired by Dalí's paintings.
The short was very well received; it won many awards and was nominated for a 2003 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.
It is scheduled to be released on DVD in early 2005.
Destino is the Spanish word for "destiny."
External links
- Template:Imdb title
- Disney/Dalí's Completed Destino Kicks Off Annecy Fest (http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=all&sort=date&article_no=1761)
- 2004 AWN Oscar Showcase - Destino (http://awn.com/oscars04/?type=shorts&id=destino) - Pictures and a short video clip
- Roy Disney's Oscar-nominated short film is long on implications (http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/8045453.htm) - Focuses on Destino's role in the feud between Roy Disney and current Disney CEO Michael Eisner