Naiads From Disney’s Pastoral Symphony

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as The Pastoral Symphony, is the fifth segment of Fantasia. It utilized delicate color styling to depict a mythical ancient Greek world of centaurs, families of Pegasus, the Gods of Mount Olympus, fauns, cupids, and other legendary creatures and characters of classical mythology. It tells the story of the mythological creatures gathering for a festival to honor Bacchus, the god of wine riding his horned donkey, Jacchus, which is disturbed by Zeus, who decides to have a little fun by throwing lightning bolts at the attendees.

At some point during the segment, Naiads (river nymphs) would have been shown swimming in the river while a playful faun played his pipe for them and offered them some flowers. Unfortunately, the nymphs were deleted from the final cut of “The Pastoral Symphony” segment.