I agree with the numerous reviewers who bemoan the questionable sound quality on these CDs.  FANTASIA was revolutionary for its time, featuring multitrack "Fantasound" audio 13 years before the first "stereo" films were released.  In the opinions of many, FANTASIA was one of Disney's greatest moments, and it remains a visual masterpiece 66 years after its initial release.  The music in the film was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, who was one of the (if not THE) most prominent conductors in the country at the time.  The Fantasound recordings must have indeed been impressive to say the least, if one was fortunate enough to see the film in one of the few theatres where it was presented as such.  However, since the audio equipment necessary for Fantasound was very expensive for theatres to install, the audio tracks were mixed to conventional monaural for general theatrical release.  The mono soundtrack has remained through subsequent rereleases; sadly, the multitrack Fantasound masters and release prints are lost or no longer exist, period.  When the film was rereleased in 1982, it was presented with an all new digital soundtrack recorded by Irwin Kostal with an uncredited orchestra.  While the original Stokowski performances are the preferred versions PERFORMANCE-WISE, the new recording nevertheless allowed the music to be once again experienced in multi-channel stereo the way it was intended.

For the film's 50th anniversary theatrical (and subsequent home video) release in 1990, Disney utilized the monaural Stokowski tracks along with other surviving sources and production records to try to recreate the Fantasound effect as closely as possible.  It is with these new audio mixes that the film is presented today, and from which this CD was made.

The result is mixed, however interesting.  I admire Disney's desire to try to recreate the Fantasound experience from existing mono sources (the multitrack masters no longer exist) and we must commend them for doing the best they could with the materials at their disposal; it was an ambitious project, I'm sure.  But let's be realistic...you can only "enhance" 65 year old monaural audio tracks so much before the result becomes undesirable.  I have nothing against mono recordings--some of the finest material ever put on records, as well as some of the finest films, were recorded and released monaurally--and I would have been completely satisfied if Disney had just properly restored the existing tracks and released them in pure mono.  The result would have been simply glorious.

I also have the 1982 Irwin Kostal recordings on CD (another reviewer has uploaded pictures of these so you'll know which CDs I'm talking about).  Although the performances are somewhat less inspired than the Stokoswki originals, the digital stereo sound is far easier to take than the original soundtrack, so my preference would be for those CDs - which, unfortunately, are out of print and hard to find.

When the film is rereleased on DVD in the next few years, I would love to see the Stokowski tracks presented in true mono (at least as an option), or even an all new recording, maybe by Mauceri and the H'wood Bowl Orchestra?  And ultimately, we can still hold out hope that the multi-channel Fantasound sources may turn up somewhere.
I agree with the numerous reviewers who bemoan the questionable sound quality on these CDs. FANTASIA was revolutionary for its time, featuring multitrack "Fantasound" audio 13 years before the first "stereo" films were released. In the opinions of many, FANTASIA was one of Disney's greatest moments, and it remains a visual masterpiece 66 years after its initial release. The music in the film was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Leopold Stokowski, who was one of the (if not THE) most prominent conductors in the country at the time. The Fantasound recordings must have indeed been impressive to say the least, if one was fortunate enough to see the film in one of the few theatres where it was presented as such. However, since the audio equipment necessary for Fantasound was very expensive for theatres to install, the audio tracks were mixed to conventional monaural for general theatrical release. The mono soundtrack has remained through subsequent rereleases; sadly, the multitrack Fantasound masters and release prints are lost or no longer exist, period. When the film was rereleased in 1982, it was presented with an all new digital soundtrack recorded by Irwin Kostal with an uncredited orchestra. While the original Stokowski performances are the preferred versions PERFORMANCE-WISE, the new recording nevertheless allowed the music to be once again experienced in multi-channel stereo the way it was intended. For the film's 50th anniversary theatrical (and subsequent home video) release in 1990, Disney utilized the monaural Stokowski tracks along with other surviving sources and production records to try to recreate the Fantasound effect as closely as possible. It is with these new audio mixes that the film is presented today, and from which this CD was made. The result is mixed, however interesting. I admire Disney's desire to try to recreate the Fantasound experience from existing mono sources (the multitrack masters no longer exist) and we must commend them for doing the best they could with the materials at their disposal; it was an ambitious project, I'm sure. But let's be realistic... you can only "enhance" 65 year old monaural audio tracks so much before the result becomes undesirable. I have nothing against mono recordings--some of the finest material ever put on records, as well as some of the finest films, were recorded and released monaurally--and I would have been completely satisfied if Disney had just properly restored the existing tracks and released them in pure mono. The result would have been simply glorious. I also have the 1982 Irwin Kostal recordings on CD (another reviewer has uploaded pictures of these so you'll know which CDs I'm talking about). Although the performances are somewhat less inspired than the Stokoswki originals, the digital stereo sound is far easier to take than the original soundtrack, so my preference would be for those CDs - which, unfortunately, are out of print and hard to find. When the film is rereleased on DVD in the next few years, I would love to see the Stokowski tracks presented in true mono (at least as an option), or even an all new recording, maybe by Mauceri and the H'wood Bowl Orchestra? And ultimately, we can still hold out hope that the multi-channel Fantasound sources may turn up somewhere.