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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Disney’s Fantasia did not lead Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard to found their company after the film came out. Their partnership was formalized on January 1, 1939, nearly two years before the film’s November 1940 premiere. But Disney’s order for eight customized HP oscillators gave the young company an important early customer—and helped its first product business gain momentum.
What did HP make for Fantasia?
Disney ordered eight HP 200B audio oscillators for work on Fantasia’s sound production and Fantasound presentations. The 200B was a customized successor to HP’s first product, the 200A. It was a test instrument: Disney engineers used the oscillators to test audio channels, recording equipment and speaker systems. They were not speakers, recording devices or the Fantasound system itself.
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Hewlett-Packard Company Archives identifies the eight-unit order in its artifact record for the HP 200B oscillator. Its account of the Disney deal connects the instruments to audio production and Fantasound installations in selected theaters.
How did the 200A become HP’s first product?
In 1938, Hewlett and Packard were developing an audio oscillator in a Palo Alto garage. An oscillator generates tones at controlled frequencies, useful for making and calibrating audio equipment. The challenge was producing a stable signal without introducing distortion.
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Hewlett’s solution used a 15-watt incandescent bulb in the oscillator circuit. As the bulb warmed and its resistance changed, it helped regulate the signal. Hewlett Packard Enterprise describes the bulb as a negative-feedback element that stabilized output. The resulting 200A became HP’s first product; the company’s history calls it “the first practical, low-cost method of generating high-quality frequencies.”
HPCA’s history of HP’s first products dates Hewlett’s variable-resistance breakthrough to July 27, 1938, and says the 200A had reached production-model status by Christmas that year. Hewlett Packard Enterprise gives a fuller company history.
How did Disney’s order help the young company?
Disney sound engineer John “Bud” Hawkins saw Hewlett’s prototype in November 1938 and commissioned modifications to suit Disney’s needs. Those changes produced the 200B, HP’s second product. Disney ordered eight units for Fantasia-related sound work.
The order mattered because it brought a prominent customer to a company still establishing its first product business. It is fair to say the deal helped HP gain early commercial momentum. The available company histories do not establish a specific financial impact or show that the order alone determined the company’s later success.
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Why does the chronology matter?
The film’s release came after HP was already operating. The sequence makes clear how the Disney deal helped the new business without making Fantasia the cause of its founding.
- 1937: HPCA says Hewlett was researching at Stanford and developing variable oscillators.
- July 27, 1938: HPCA dates Hewlett’s light-bulb variable-resistance solution to this day.
- September 1938: Hewlett and Packard began operations in the Addison Avenue garage, according to HPCA.
- November 1938: Hawkins saw Hewlett’s prototype and later commissioned custom models.
- Christmas 1938: The 200A had reached production-model status, according to HPCA.
- January 1, 1939: Hewlett and Packard formalized their partnership as Hewlett-Packard Company. HPE says they pooled cash and equipment totaling $538.
- Circa 1939: HPCA dates the custom 200B to approximately this year and records Disney’s order for eight.
- November 13, 1940: Fantasia premiered at New York’s Broadway Theatre. Walt Disney Animation Studios lists November 13 as the film’s release date.
The founding date and garage origins appear in HPCA’s founding history. Disney’s official film page lists the release date, while D23’s reference entry for Fantasia records the Broadway premiere and its original theatrical context.
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What was Fantasound, and where did the oscillators fit?
Fantasound was an early stereo and surround-style presentation system developed for Fantasia. It required specially equipped theaters, so the film did not open everywhere with the system. D23 says the initial release was limited to 14 theaters because installing Fantasound was expensive. HPCA describes the 200Bs as supporting Fantasound installations in selected theaters; its Virtual Museum says Disney engineers also used them to test channels, recording equipment and speaker systems.
The theater count and system description come from D23’s film reference and HP’s Virtual Museum account of the audio oscillator. HP’s Virtual Museum says the 200A sold for $54.40 in 2002-published historical material, compared with $200 to $600 for similar competitor equipment. Those are historical prices, not present-day values.
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