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Apart from his love of wholesome, family
entertainment, Walt Disney had a deep appreciation
for the peculiar and that led to a short-lived
partnership and decades-long friendship with
surrealist Salvador Dali.
Disney was born in Chicago in 1901 and Dali just
three years later in Catalonia and they both began
drawing at a young age. Over time, their childhood
imaginations blossomed into impressive portfolios
earning them each accolades but from quite different
crowds.
Disney became drawn to Dali and shortly after
World War II, he approached the artist to
collaborate on a film. After facing critics who
felt his work favored tradition and safety over
innovation, Disney took a turn to surrealism and
released Fantasia in 1940. This evocative film
melded animated imagery with classical music
marking a new era for Disney.
Following Fantasia, Disney recruited Dali to
collaborate on "Destino." The film, based off
a Mexican folk song of the same name, follows
Chornos, the serpent-shaped god, on his
hopeless quest for a mortal woman. Sans dialoge,
the hallucinatory romp features the unearthly
soundtrack by Mexican songwriter Armando
Dominguez.
The project was, unfortunately,
never completed. Disney pulled
the plug on the film after its third
month of production. Despite this
setback, Disney and Dali had a mutual
admiration for each other and formed
a strong friendship in the process.
The two remained in touch for the
remainder of their lives and even
traveled to each other's homes and
discussed future plans for cinematic
collaborations.
Disney and Dali:
An Unlikely Pair
FROM TOP: Mary
Blair, "Fantasy
sequence of maids,"
Cinderella concept
art, ca. 1950
The Dalí and Disney
families around the
dinner table in Spain,
1957
