Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 Review

Hello! I'm going to keep greetings short and just go into my first review: Fantasia and it's sequel Fantasia 2000.


Fantasia
   Fantasia was the third animated feature to be released by Disney in 1940. Fantasia started out with the plan to revive Mickey's faltering career in 1937. But one of Walt's friends conductor Leopold Stokowski convinced Walt to make it part of a full-length feature with various shorts being set to classical musical pieces. It was meant to played every few years with different segments being added or removed. It's a very unique movie in Disney's library and a good representation of the artistic capabilities Disney had. However Fantasia is a very conceptual movie and lacks narrative in many of the segments.
  Fantasia is basically an animated concert experience so it better have an amazing soundtrack. Thankfully The Philadelphia Orchestra provides excellent music to go along with the animation. Speaking of which, the animation is also pretty good. There are some fantastic visuals in some of the segments with lots of details and beautiful special effects.
  There are some problems with Fantasia. Many of the segments lack a narrative and are basically a series vignettes with an exception to a couple. While this doesn't hurt some of the segments, it can lead to some being incredibly dull. Some of these segments also are hindered by going on too long, however I'll cut Fantasia a little slack as the segments are set to a particular piece of music.


Fantasia 2000
Fantasia was not the huge success, so that coupled with World War II causing a huge loss in the international market that made getting any feature film released difficult. However in 1990 Disney decided to give Fantasia another shot. Fantasia 2000 was a movie I like to think from a period in time when Disney became re-interested in it's past. Destino, a short that Disney collaborated on with Salvador Dali but went uncompleted for many years, went back into production, the Disney Treasures series was started to be released, it was a period of getting back to Disney's roots and it started with Fantasia 2000, which was released in 1999. Fantasia 2000 is also very beautiful, really taking advantage of the technology Disney had developed since the first Fantasia. The celebrity guests may not be to everyone's liking though.
  The segments in Fantasia 2000 are a beauty to look at. It has a huge advantage with the technology that has developed since the 1930's and it shows. There are some very impressive segments which boast some of the most impressive animation ever put to film. It's segments are also more cohesive on the whole and pretty much all of them have a plot to push them along and generally almost all of them are interesting. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra also does a fairly good job matching the Philadelphia orchestra, the music is no better or no worst.
  But I can't let Fantasia 2000 get by without any criticism though. One of the biggest complaints most people have with this movie is the Celebrity guests introducing all the various segments. Many say that they are annoying and don't add anything. I don't mind them that much, some do a wonderful job like James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury, most of them are okay, with maybe the exception of Bette Midler who really didn't seem to care about the interesting history she was telling and just wanted to make it sound funny. It really depends on your opinion though. Anyways, Fantasia 2000 really has trouble making it's own identity. It relies on nostalgia from the first Fantasia and even uses the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment from the first movie.


Final Word
Both of these films are based on a concept of putting short animations to music but they take different approaches to this idea. Fantasia is an original, it views itself more as a high class original work, it is much more conceptual and less narrative, however that works against the film as it sometimes the shorts can become dull and go on for too long. Fantasia 2000 relies more on the tradition of the original Fantasia rather than it's own message. But the shorts are more narrative which makes all the individual shorts easier to follow and almost all of them enjoyable.
  Now I know one of the big questions you might be asking is which movie I prefer. I'd have to say Fantasia 2000. I know it's a bit weird, but I like the more narrative approach the shorts carry and find all of them as a whole much more enjoyable to watch then the original Fantasia. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't see the first Fantasia, just realize that it may not be to everyone's cup of tea.
   Both movies are well-worth your time, but should buy them or rent them? Fantasia 2000 I think is worthy enough on it's own to buy, the original Fantasia I'm hesitant to declare a buy. I think you should rent it and if you enjoy it enough, you should buy it as it really depends on the person's tastes.


Fantasia- RENT
Fantasia 2000- BUY


See you all next time!