Disney’s FANTASIA (1940) presented by Strange Brew
December 2 : 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
This film is presented by St. Louis’s long-running cult film series Strange Brew — winner of the 2025 A-List Award for Best Movie Night in St. Louis. Strange Brew programmer Jon Scorfina will provide an introduction.
Fantasia is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential animated films ever made. Released in 1940, producer Walt Disney originally conceived a short Silly Symphony cartoon called The Sorcerer’s Apprentice to help revitalize the popularity of Disney’s mascot Mickey Mouse. However, the production cost proved to be too expensive for one short animated piece, leading Disney to expand the idea into an anthology film that included eight different animated sequences adding visuals to classical music pieces.
Disney toured Fantasia with a theatrical roadshow, starting at the Broadway Theater in New York City in November of 1940, and introduced Fantasound, a sound-system that made Fantasia the world’s first commercial film released in stereo sound. The film was not originally a financial success, primarily because leasing the Fantasound equipment to movie theaters across the country was very expensive. The film was re-released by RKO and Buena Vista Distribution in 1942 in a standard-format and garnered both critical and commercial acclaim. In 1990, Fantasia was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The classical music pieces are conducted by Leopold Stokowski and are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. The program includes:
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. Directed by Samuel Armstrong.
The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Directed by Samuel Armstrong.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas. Directed by James Algar.
The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. Directed by Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield.
Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen and David D. Hand
The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven. Directed by Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, and Ford Beebe
Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli. Directed by T. Hee and Norm Ferguson.
Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky.
Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. Directed by Wilfred Jackson
Arkadin does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. However, we encourage researching titles to determine if a screening may contain content that could be upsetting to you. Please feel free to contact us for guidance on specific films. Information about content can also be found on Common Sense Media, IMDB and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.
Theater Policies
- All seats are first-come, first-served.
- The theater opens 30 minutes prior to showtime, except for “Happy Hour” events and pre-shows when the theater opens at the listed start time.
- When a screening is sold out, we open a waitlist 30 minutes before showtime. You must physically come to the lobby to get your name on the waitlist. Seats are released as they become available. All remaining seats are released at showtime.
- All ages are welcome at Arkadin except for Drinkolas Cage events, which are restricted to 21+. We follow the MPAA rating guidelines for all other films.
- Tickets can be purchased using the BUY TICKETS link above. Upon ordering, you will receive a confirmation email from Square. Tickets may also be purchased on the day of the show at the concession counter.
- If you’ve purchased advance tickets, when you arrive, please give your name at the concession counter to check in.
- Tickets are returnable by sending a request through the contact form located on our About Us page prior to showtime.
- When an event is sold out, we reserve the right to release open seats to customers on the waitlist. If you have a pre-purchased ticket and arrive late and there is no seat for you, your ticket will be refunded.
- All screenings are held in our indoor theater unless indicated otherwise in the event description above.
- Please respect your fellow movie-goers by remaining quiet and refraining from using your cell phone throughout the screening.