People have loved to revive paintings for a long time. In medieval Europe, whole performances were played, when the artists froze in the right positions at certain time intervals. The freshly baked Soviet state spoiled the leaders of various ranks with moving miniatures like "The Cossacks write a letter to the Sultan" at various amateur festivals. Hollywood directors, long before the introduction of computer bells and whistles, were conjuring with the frame. But it was difficult to achieve such grace, as in the Dominique Monferi cartoon.
Irrationality also has its own laws, but finding them is much more difficult. "Destiny" draws on five paintings by Salvador Dali, tying them together in the image of a girl going through the trials of life. She finds a young guy whom love pulls out of stone captivity and carries into her arms. The plot is simple, but it is not needed here. There is no sense in the poetry of broken lines, but there is an unreal harmony. Which merges into a single melody with the musical range of Armando Dominguez (concept) and Michael Starobin (modern processing).
The cartoon gives a special impression to those who have previously emerged from Dali's work. When the characters in an incomprehensible way occupy familiar positions, you get, in addition to aesthetic pleasure, also mathematical the puzzle is formed, the problem is solved. And, of course, touching the illusory world revives that part of the subcortex that sends dreams. As a result, you can plunge into the borderline state between reality and otherworldliness. True, for a full-fledged meditation, the timing is very short.
But it is he who allows you to make a crystal of pure water from a cartoon. In general, in terms of art in animation, the principle “better less is better” applies. To prove it, just look at the winners and nominees of the Oscar solid commerce on the one hand and depth and virtuosity on the other. "Destiny" predictably passed the selection of film academics, although it did not take the statuette, but for films created for eternity this is not essential.
And the fact that the picture will fall into the annals of cinema is undeniable. Here is a historical fusion of two geniuses, and an amazing digression into the chaos of surrealism, and an unlimited flight of fantasies on the verge of dreams. It remains only to regret that "Destiny" is a derivative of the original idea, where initially the fate of the girl should be intertwined with the deity. But the followers also carefully treated the unusual task, preserving everything created earlier, and even organically combining those developments with computer sophistication.
“As for painting, I have one goal: to capture concrete images of the Irrational as accurately as possible” Salvador Dali
"If you can dream, then you can make your dreams come true" Walt Disney
Salvador Dali considered Walt Disney a surrealist, and maybe that's why in 1946 the Great Mystifier collaborated with the Great Animator. The audience could see the result only in 2003.
The cartoon has gained worldwide fame, but the audience is wondering: what is there directly “from Dali”, and what is a Disney product? Well, the answer is surreal, like the very fate of "Destino"!
Salvador Dali came to America in 1945, but not because of a multi-occasion. The visit took place. The "King of Horrors" needed scenery for the film, but Dali was furious with the film adaptation of his ideas: instead of pianos suspended from the ceiling, they were pathetic imitations! So, at the exhibition of his paintings in the Binyu Gallery, the surrealist also presented to the public the “pseudo-newspaper” Dali News with the exposure of Hollywood and ... the announcement of the upcoming project with Walt Disney. A pleasant meeting between the two creators determined the fate of the new idea: their interests coincided.
The animator, in the wake of his pioneering work of 1940, Fantasia, was carried away by the idea of synthesis of animation and high art. And Dali was constantly looking for new opportunities to embody his dreams and fantasies. And, although the artist requested a huge amount for the work, setting conditions for copyright, the contract was signed. Inspired, Dali spoke of creating a "film in new ways" in which "... Thanks to the craftsmanship of Disney, for the first time it will be possible to see the clock in motion." And things moved on!
Salvador Dali had a director, animators John Hench and Bob Cormac, and music at his disposal. The animation was conceived to the ballad "Destino" by the Mexican Armando Dominguez, and Dali was captivated by the word itself, in translation - "fate". Her turns in Dali's imagination were constantly changing, new images and paintings appeared.
“A girl walks along the road and ... finds herself riding a huge elephant with the legs of an arthropod insect, surrounded by various monsters ... We see a pyramid ... next to a church floating over a pond formed by two human palms, from which two cypresses grow. Naked people ride bicycles around the pond. They all disappear into the pond" - Dali's words about the future cartoon from an interview with Arts magazine.
Some moments were reminiscent of the ideas of existing paintings by Dali - he wanted to "revive" the work of 1939 "Swans reflected in the form of elephants", include the image of "a girl jumping over a rope", other famous paintings. After all, the artist did not create a cartoon, but a means of immersion in the personal world of Salvador Dali's surrealism!
Disney, who originally defined "Destino" as "the usual love story of a girl and a boy", was overwhelmed by the fantasies and works presented by Dali.
The artist created 22 paintings and about 135 sketches, and John Hench prepared an 18-second cartoon segment. For Disney, after the Second World War, was worried about the question: will the idea be commercially successful? Alas, eight months after the start of work, the “birth” did not take place: Disney postponed the project for financial reasons. However, half a century later, Walt Disney's nephew - Roy, while working on a new version of the studio's legendary cartoon - "Fantasy - 2000", discovered Dali's achievements in the archives! He got excited about the idea of finishing the work of the Masters also because, under a long-standing contract, the original works of the artist will belong to the Disney studio only after the completion of the cartoon.
Salvador Dali. Design for Destino
New world on a turtle
Roy Disney was lucky: 95-year-old John Hench, Dali's "same" collaborator, agreed to personally work with a team of 25 artists. There were diaries of the wife of Senor Salvador - Gala, where the thoughts-fantasies of her husband are recorded. 5 paintings and sketches by Dali were used, as well as new works by artists. In the autumn of 2003, 58 years after the start of work, the premiere of "Destiny" took place at the French Film Festival in Annecy.
The original 18-second scene remains unchanged in the cartoon, so look for turtles!
TO When two brilliant personalities intersect in one time period, the interaction between them is inevitable. Fate wanted not only to settle Salvador Dali and Walt Disney in the same era, and introduce them. Disney, the recognized genius of animation, was so intrigued by the Spaniard's creative genius that he suggested that Dali create a cartoon that would be the epitome of surrealism.
The artist liked the idea, and in 1945, together with the Walt Disney team, he began work on the cartoon Destino (“Destino”), the plot of which is based on the ballad of Armando Dominguez. The 8-month work of Dali and Disney artist John Hench resulted in an 18-second excerpt and a huge number of drawings and sketches.
But in the post-war period, the creative ideas of Salvador Dali did not come true: the Destino project was closed at the direction of the owner of the studio, Walt Disney. The officially announced reason is the financial difficulties of the company due to the fact that all the years of the Second World War the animator carried out government orders, which almost did not bring income to the studio.
The rebirth of Destino
For more than half a century, the materials for Destino lay “on the table”. The idea to complete the project started by Dali belongs to Ray Disney, the nephew of the legendary cartoonist. He invited Baker Blodworth to become the producer of the picture, and the Frenchman Dominique Monfary to direct. The 25-member art team included John Hench, who was 95 years old by then. With his help, and also thanks to the entries from the diary of Salvador Dali's wife, the realization of the plans of the brilliant surrealist became possible. The premiere of "Destino" took place in 2003, a year before the centenary of the maestro, at the Annecy French Film Festival.
It is not known what Destino would have been like if Dali had managed to complete it. The team of Roy Disney turned out a cartoon completely in the "Disney" style and at the same time very surreal. A kind of tribute to the memory of Salvador Dali: a film with a touch of sadness and inevitability, leaving a piercing aftertaste of love.
1.
The name "Destino" became prophetic for the cartoon. Translated from Italian (as well as Spanish and Portuguese), destino means "fate". The picture, indeed, has an unusual and very interesting fate.
2.
In 1940, John Hench took part in the creation of another fateful cartoon: he is a member of the Fantasy cartoon team and one of the "parents" of the famous Mickey Mouse. Curiously, the rebirth of Destino is also associated with Fantasia: Roy Disney thought about recreating the cartoon while working on Fantasia 2000, the sequel to the legendary film.
3.
Destino uses an original 18-second clip created during the 8 months the cartoon was drawn by Salvador Dali and John Hench. The episode with two turtles and a girl with a pearl head is easy to notice: it stands out a little from the general picture with a higher rhythm and bright colors.
4.
One of the reasons why Dali agreed to participate in the creation of the cartoon was that he considered Disney to be a surrealist. Here is how he described his first meeting with the animator: "I came to Hollywood and became intimately acquainted with the great American surrealists: the Marx brothers, Cecil DeMille and Walt Disney."
5.
"Destino" was awarded the Grand Prix of the Melbourne Film Festival in the category of short films and was nominated for an Oscar.
