Destino

I had a chance to view the Destino DVD and was highly impressed. I was impressed so much that I bought a suite (set of 6)from the time line done by Dali and Disney. The DVD captures the true surrealism that Disney (who would ever think of a talking mouse) and Dali is famous for. These two individuals that one would think we be as far apart in personalities would actually come up with one the best short films and some of the most treasured art work ever created. I am truly blessed to have seen such a work of art and truly honored to own a piece of history. If you have the chance to see the DVD or own some of the art work that has come out of this experience, jump on it. It is very rare that two famous individuals with such diverse backgrounds collaborate on such a unique piece.

At one time Disney and Dali wanted to collaborate for one of the former's compilation animated films (one could image this with Donald Duck, right?) and it kind of fell apart for reasons unknown. Thankfully Roy Disney picked up the mantle in the 21st century - after Fantasia 2000 the spark was reignited - and the results are rather extraordinary: it's like going into Dali's art gallery and seeing characters walk around.

One might almost be taken aback, if one knows Dali's art, how close a lot of this is to paintings he made. He is co-writer on the script, however, so I have to think this was how he intended it (a script was written for the short, it's hard to dismiss that at least). Par for the course for the co-creator of Un chien Andalou, the film has only the closest thing to a 'story' insofar as as there's a man, and a woman, and they want to be together, and passion ignites... except they're in a world full of uninhibited things, like ants which turn into men, eye-balls in tuxedo suits, and, at one (very clever) point in the background, a moon walking on spider legs.

It's not very long, only about seven minutes long, but the film never stops to amaze with how it presents its unique creature-creations and sights down long, distorted hallways with squared designs, and the distortions that can be provided by modern-day technology. The only thing holding it back from top-10-OMG-masterpiece terrain is that some, not all though, of the CGI animation isn't convincing. The characters themselves look great, as do several of the amalgamation-beings (eyeballs, insects, 'things', statues), but here and there a touch of the smooth look of CGI doesn't totally flow with the rest of the film. But this is a nitpick only for me.

What also carries this, and I have to think this was one of those elements in place when the film had its inception, is the song: Destino is passionately sung and performed, and it carries the viewer along with the images, just as the tango did in 'Andalou' - you can't really have what's on the screen without the melody, only here it's not as ironic or whimsical. It's a gorgeous experience, and I'm glad Disney decided to finish what it started, especially for a creator like Dali who had so few film projects realized in his time.

Originally conceived as a joint project between Disney and Dalí back in the 1940's, this short animation never got to the stage of being completed for various reasons and instead existed as paintings and storyboards Dalí made with Disney animator John Hench. These were on display at the Tate Modern as part of the exhibition "Dalí & Film" and I did like the fact that I could see the creation of the film and then step next door to watch it and see how close it came to the original design from over fifty years before.

Watching it is a strange but enjoyable experience because it is at once Disney and Dalí and this is a combination that I didn't think sat all that well together thematically or visually. I did get used to it but it did jar with me to see a woman with a typical modern Disney face, suddenly becoming part of a Dalí's creation. Perhaps this was the intension but it did feel a bit like someone was flicking a switch somewhere to go Dalí then Disney then back again – not so much a combination of styles as the two being placed next to one another in one piece. This feeling aside though, it is a quiet engaging and enjoyable film that I enjoyed immensely visually. Dalí's vision is brought to life really well and the images from his storyboard and paintings generally are instantly recognisable.

Again I did wonder if the film would have been quite so "Disney" if it had been made in 1946 with the man himself directly involved – at times I did feel that I was watching Pocahontas and it did take away from the experience a little bit. Fortunately the storyboards prevent it going too far from the original images and as such it is interesting and imaginative; the CGI is a blessing and a curse though. On one hand it makes all this possible but on the other it seems significantly less real than Dalí's actual paintings – I'm not sure quite why but I think the colours are too simple and the imagery lacking in the detail that some of his work has.

Overall though, it is still an enjoyable and enchanting film and a chance to see Dalí's images flowing across the screen. Perhaps a little too Disneyified for my tastes, it is still well worth seeing for the chance to enter a Dalí painting and follow a story about loss and love.

Normally, when I review a film, like everyone else, I give it a rating. However, occasionally I have come upon experimental films so unusual and so non-commercial that doing so would be impossible...and this is definitely the case with "Destino". It's a very surreal film based on story boards designed by Salvador Dali and so it's NOT the sort of thing the average viewer would enjoy...and it coming from Disney must have come as a real surprise to those who have seen it. It seems that back in the 1940s, Walt Disney and Dali wanted to collaborate and a few seconds of film were actually animated. But the project was abandoned and only recently did Disney's nephew, Roy, discover the film and commissioned a team of artists to complete the animated short. It's well animated but odd in every possible way and a film best seen and heard instead of describing. Well worth seeing if you don't mind experimental artsy films...I sure did.

I spent the day yesterday in Philadelphia Museum of Art. One of the reasons I went there was to try to see the Salvador Dali's exhibitions but the tickets have been sold until the end of April. While in the museum, I was able to see two films that Dali was a big part of. In the video Gallery of the museum, two intriguing projects have been running together in the continuous loop, the early "Un Chien Andalou" (17 minutes) and the recently released, animated Destino (6 minutes). This was the first viewing for me. I kept coming back to the gallery for few more times and I never was tired of both short films.

What would've happened if Salvador Dali and Walt Disney had decided to work together on a project? The answer is "Destino" , the 6 minutes, 40 seconds long animated film based on a Mexican love ballad entitled "Destino". Dali and Disney admired each other's work and their meeting at a dinner party in 1945, inspired the idea for collaboration. Although, the film was abandoned in 1946 due to the economic problems created by WWII, Dali's storyboards, sketches, and paintings were saved. Work began on Destino in May 2001 and in June 2003, "Destino" premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Set to the Mexican ballad, the idea behind the film was described by Disney as "just a simple love story - boy meets girl". Dali called it "a magical exposition on the problem of life in the labyrinth of time". The end result is a tender, beautiful, sad, and charming love story as only Dali could imagine it, complete with the images as only he could create by the power of his imagination - melting clocks, tuxedo-clad eyeballs without faces, ballerinas, ants that turn into bicycles, and surprising baseballs.