8/3/08

I Saw "Destino" In the Middle of the Ocean!

So there I was, on a cruise ship going 'round the Caribbean, when suddenly, quite out of the blue, I got the chance to attend a screening of the unreleased-and-abandoned-but-later-finished collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, "Destino"! You just never know.

I talked to one of the Art guys, and here's the lowdown on the film. The auctioneers on the cruise line have a relationship with Disney, as well as the Dali estate, and, as they were going to be auctioning a set of 7 lithographs of Dali's storyboard artwork, they arranged a screening of the film. I asked the guy what the release plans were, since I had read different things, and he told me that Disney now plans to add it to their next feature release as a short, thus getting it into theaters...as well as a home video release. So, you may have to pay to attend a (possibly) middleweight Disney CGI feature in order to see it on the big screen, but I can tell you it's worth it. I enjoyed it immensely, and could've watched a whole feature's worth. It was funny, but it was definitely more "Dali" than "Disney," and that was a great thing. The story goes that Disney met Dali at a cocktail party at Jack Warner's house, and approached him about collaborating. an ecstatic Dali actually punched a clock at Disney for SEVEN MONTHS, working 9 to 5 on the project...only for it to be abandoned incomplete. By the way, if you are interested in obtaining a set of the 7 storyboard lithos, they are only $11,000. And, my attempt at photographing them failed miserably.

There were a few neat collectible cels at the auction (but they didn't come up for auction, or else I would have bid!), including some signed by both William Hanna and Joe Barbera, and two neat Fleischer cels, both signed by animator Myron Waldman (which would've looked GREAT on my wall!)