This is perhaps my favorite animation, filmed on at least four panes of glass and layered in an improvisational pattern.
Fischinger's tastes ran to form and color. Some of the color moods of Disney animations during his day reflect this, even though he was not retained [ahem] as an employee of Disney and evidently made no direct contribution to any Disney flicks.
I saw one of his best paintings hanging in a funny little antique store in Glendale, CA. I always wish I would have inquired if it was for sale.
Fischinger was more of a painter than an animator. His animation skills were limited, or should I say that he probably just wasn't interested in what turned into mainstream animation techniques and subjects.
Folks who like Fischinger should also check out Alexander Alexeieff. Alexeieff does not play with color but does play with form. There are some overlaps in their styles. For obvious reasons (lack of color film stock in the 1930s) Fischinger did a lot of black and white (charcoal) animations exploring motion and symbolism. In the black and white material Fischinger and Alexeieff seem to complement each other more.
Carl Jung comes to mind.
Oh I am jumping around aren't I?
I wish Disney would revisit the Fischinger influence in their animations.
See Disney's original Fantasia, Make Mine Music and Melody Time DVDs to see color and style influences by Fischinger. There is some great material there.
Anyway Motion Painting #1 is like nothing else [not like Disney at all] and will probably blow your mind.