Destino (2003) Walt Disney’s & Salvador Dali

“Destino” (Spanish for destiny) is an animated short film released in 2003 by The Walt Disney Company. The film is unique in that it is a creative collaboration between Walt Disney and the Spanish surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí. Its production began in 1945, 58 years before its completion.

Disney approached Dali in 1945 to propose the collaboration that would be based upon a Mexican folk song of the same name. The surrealist agreed and quickly began sketching storyboards. Disney’s sudden turn to surrealism was an attempt to silence critics who felt that his films all too often sacrificed genuine artistry at the altar of marketability—favoring tradition and safety over innovation and experimentation. The evocative “Fantasia”, released in 1940, had been a groundbreaking first step, and the animator hoped that “Destino” would keep this newfound momentum going.

“Destino” was storyboarded by Disney studio artist John Hench and Dalí for eight months. Disney pulled the plug in 1946. The company, then Walt Disney Studios, was plagued by financial woes in the World War II era. Hench compiled a short animation test of about 17 seconds in the hopes of rekindling Disney’s interest in the project, but the production was no longer deemed financially viable and put on indefinite hiatus.

54 years later, Walt Disney’s nephew Roy E. Disney, while working on “Fantasia 2000”, decided to revive the shelved project. Disney Studios France, the company’s small Parisian production department, was brought on. A team of approximately 25 animators deciphered Dalí and Hench’s cryptic storyboards (with a little help from the journals of Dalí’s wife Gala Dalí and guidance from Hench himself). The short was produced by Baker Bloodworth and directed by French animator Dominique Monféry in his first directorial role. The end result is mostly traditional animation, including Hench’s original footage, but it also contains some new computer animation.

“Destino” tells the story of Chronos, the personification of time, and the inability to realize his ill-fated love for a mortal woman named Dahlia. The scenes blend a series of surreal paintings of Dali with dancing and metamorphosis. There is no dialogue. The soundtrack includes music by the Mexican composer Armando Dominguez. The 17 second original footage that is included in the finished product is the segment with the two tortoises. This original footage is referred to in Bette Midler’s host sequence for The Steadfast Tin Soldier in “Fantasia 2000”, as an “idea that featured baseball as a metaphor for life”.

Music by Mexican songwriter Armando Dominguez and performed by Dora Luz.

“Entertainment highlights the art, its possibilities are endless.” The plot was described by Dali as “A magical display of the problem of life in the labyrinth of time.”

“Destino” premiered on June 2, 2003 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France. The film was nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. “Destino” was released theatrically in a very limited release with the film Calendar Girls.

Walt Disney said it was “A simple story about a young girl in search of true love.”