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10.19.04

Dali-Disney Collaboration

CNN.com reported a couple of days ago on "Destino," a collaborative effort between Salvador Dali and Walt Disney currently on display at the Animazing Gallery in NYC:

[Dali's] collaboration with Walt Disney puzzles some, but the two had great respect for each other, with Dali describing Disney as one of the three great American surrealists; Disney's imaginative freedom of animation mirrors Dali's artistic vision.
The intellectual property aspects are also interesting. In the Copyright Law course I'm taking this semester, we're currently working on copyright duration and transfer, especially as it affects heirs and estates. I'm sure a lot of lawyers got very busy with this one, given the superpower estates involved as well as the contributions of a composer and director:
Roy Disney became interested in "Destino" while working on the movie "Fantasia 2000," and decided to animate it after learning that, legally, the company did not own Dali's work until the film had been completed in the manner first intended. He and director Dominique Monfery had the original recording of Armando Dominguez's ballad, "Destino," and the memories of studio artist John Hench, who worked with Dali on the story, as guides.