Walt Disneyโs radical 1940 film Fantasia demanded a sound system that didnโt yet exist. In response, William Garity and J.N.A. Hawkins built Fantasoundโthe first surround sound, decades ahead of Dolby. The system flopped commercially but changed cinema forever.
Eighty-four years ago, Disney released Fantasia, and the world would never look at animated filmsโor hear classical musicโthe same way again. November 13, 1940, marked the debut of a cinematic experiment so ambitious it mightโve seemed crazy at the time. A cartoon? Sure. But a cartoon with no dialogue, featuring Bach, Beethoven, and Stravinsky? This…