Never say “never” is but one lesson to be learned from Destino, as it was released in theaters on this day in 2003, 57 years after work had begun on the film. Renowned surrealist artist Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, better known as Salvador Dalí, was a friend of Walt’s. In 1946, Walt invited Dalí to the Studio to work on a film project based on a Mexican ballad. Influenced by Dalí’s surrealism, the story was brought to life through animation; ants morphing into bicycles, a ballerina who tosses her sphere head into the air — this short was a true artistic original. But after filming 18 seconds of this animation, the project was abruptly cancelled. In 2003, Roy E. Disney went to work on the project to bring the short back to life. Although it saw an extremely limited release, the film did manage to win an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Short.
