MCU: 10 Fascinating Facts Behind Doctor Strange (2016)

10. The Visuals Were Inspired By Classic Disney Animation

Doctor Strange marked a big stepping stone for the MCU, as it was the first film to introduce the concepts of both magic and alternate dimensions. In doing so, it also had to have a look and feel that was completely unlike anything else that had come before it. Or at least, that’s how cinematographer Ben Davis saw it.

Davis was no stranger to the MCU at this point, having already worked on films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Age of Ultron, but still had to earn the job once again on Doctor Strange. Turns out that the way he got the job was by referencing some classic Disney animation. As Davis recalls it;

“I described it, I think, when I was talking to Marvel as Marvel’s Fantasia, in a way, because it’s so sort of out there and different to everything else that they’ve done.”

Davis viewed Walt Disney’s seminal classic Fantasia as a key reference point both in terms of design and color for the film’s more psychedelic sequences, giving them their now-iconic appearance