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Fantasia review
Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 24 March 2023 11:22
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Night on Bald Mountain", minus the didactic intros and weaker surrounding sequences, could be viewed on a standalone basis, after all, they are the most iconic vignettes in Walt Disney's least accessible feat. However, being deeply averse to the truncation, revision or dumbing down of the several hundred classic movies of yesteryear, cineastes refuse to "cheat" their way through their cinematic journey, to them even the most languidly paced, stuffy and dated pictures are worth the effort. No matter how it is viewed, piecemeal or in its entirety, "Fantasia" is rewarding and edifying, showcasing some truly astounding, vivid animated sequences bolstered by defined themes and surreal imagery that do actually benefit from the addition of classical music. Recommended, but don't expect to hugely entertained. 6.5, based mainly on my impression of the aforementioned segments.
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Fantasia review
Posted : 2 years, 1 month ago on 24 March 2022 04:52
Fantasia is so educational, and I was gob smacked by how well the animation mixed with the classical music. Can I also say that Leopold Stokowski is one of the best conductor of the 20th century, right on a parallel with Herbert Von Karajan? I was listening to Sibelius's 5th symphony a few years back, and he conducted it the year before he died, and he was in his 90s. Not only that, but that was the best version of that symphony I had ever heard. Back to Fantasia then. Each piece was expertly introduced by Deems Taylor, and unlike its sequel didn't take too long.(Even the soundtrack vignette was interesting) In the sequel, almost half of the film felt like too much introduction and not enough music. Fantasia rectified that problem brilliantly:
1. Bach's Toccata- Brilliant silhouettes of the orchestra, and then masterful abstract images. The orchestra played the piece to a phenomenal standard, and I hate to say this, but I actually prefer the piece orchestrated. It was originally written for organ, you see. The best thing about Stokowski is that you see him conducting without a baton, which is exceedingly clever.
2. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker- I recommend you see the ballet, because it is a knockout. This is coming from a classical music lover. The animation was superb in this vignette. The most impressive thing though was the fact that the finishes immediately went into the next scene, without it being hackneyed. The waltz, or Dance of the Snow Fairies, was the highlight of this vignette, reminding me so strongly of Christmas.
3. Dukas's Scorceror's Apprentice- The most famous vignette, is the only vignette to feature in the sequel. YenSid(Disney backwards) has a magic hat, which he leaves lying around, and Mickey Mouse picks it up, and encounters various problems. the animation is very good here, and while I'm not a huge fan of the piece, I still found it enjoyable.
4. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring- This is the only reason why the movie isn't a 10. This vignette is far too long It's longer than the Beethoven. It is an interesting subject, dinosaurs, but the ballet wasn't simplified enough. This was boring, and was better left out. It was only here to give some historical context. However, there was beautiful animation and some lovely instrumental solos. Stravinsky hated what the film did to his work, but anyway I don't like Stravinsky much. I had no problem with the animation or the way it was performed, it was just too long.
5. Beethoven's pastoral Symphony- This is a fantastic piece of music. I am a huge fan of Beethoven, and I have all his 9 symphonies on my IPod. My favourites are this, the Choral and the Eroica. I loved the fact that they chose a Greek mythological setting, because it looked gorgeous. My dad who is a conductor wasn't keen on the centaurs, but I loved the winged horses, Bacchus and Zeus (who competes with Chernabog as the most frightening character of the movie). This vignette was so relaxing to watch; think it as like reciting a poem.
6. Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours-This was the funniest vignette of the film, and one of the many gems of Disney. It was a bit unrealistic of course, but it was fun. At first, I was worried that the most famous scene from the opera La Giaconda, would be ruined by the animation. But it wasn't. It was perfect. Even the elephants and hippos, considering their size, danced so elegantly, I was shocked. This vignette is a must-see if you want some comedy.
7. Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain- Now this was my personal favourite, as when I first watched it when I was 10, and I was terrified of Chernabog. The music is also very hard to play, as the mood is very hard to capture, but this is undoubtedly the finest recording of this music. Chernabog was genuinely frightening, and a masterful creation. And the animation, while dark, matched the music, which is enough to give you nightmares, flawlessly. It was very like a Witch's Sabbath, which was what the composer originally intended. Do you know, that for his underrated fantasy movie Legend, Ridley Scott based Tim Curry's Darkness on Chernabog? Children may find it a bit too frightening, and adults may find it inappropriate, as there is a tiny glimpse of nudity. But it was still an effective vignette, and one of my favourite Disney moments actually.
8. Schubert's Ave Maria- This is a beautiful song, and Stokowski did it justice. The harmonies and animation were perfectly captured. how could you say this was boring? The animation couldn't have been happy looking, it would have completely ruined the mood of the song. It was beautifully sung by Juillietta Novis, who was so quiet that you had to turn the volume up, but that was the intention. The thing that impressed me most, was the complete contrast of this from the Mussorgsky, so the key of Ave Maria was so well chosen. (It is sung in many different keys.) In conclusion, the most underrated of the earlier Disney efforts, is well worth watching and a true animated classic! Also I was offended by the review that said that it was the worst movie ever made, and that the people who love this movie need new taste, that is plain insulting to anyone who grew up with this film. 9/10 Bethany Cox.
1. Bach's Toccata- Brilliant silhouettes of the orchestra, and then masterful abstract images. The orchestra played the piece to a phenomenal standard, and I hate to say this, but I actually prefer the piece orchestrated. It was originally written for organ, you see. The best thing about Stokowski is that you see him conducting without a baton, which is exceedingly clever.
2. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker- I recommend you see the ballet, because it is a knockout. This is coming from a classical music lover. The animation was superb in this vignette. The most impressive thing though was the fact that the finishes immediately went into the next scene, without it being hackneyed. The waltz, or Dance of the Snow Fairies, was the highlight of this vignette, reminding me so strongly of Christmas.
3. Dukas's Scorceror's Apprentice- The most famous vignette, is the only vignette to feature in the sequel. YenSid(Disney backwards) has a magic hat, which he leaves lying around, and Mickey Mouse picks it up, and encounters various problems. the animation is very good here, and while I'm not a huge fan of the piece, I still found it enjoyable.
4. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring- This is the only reason why the movie isn't a 10. This vignette is far too long It's longer than the Beethoven. It is an interesting subject, dinosaurs, but the ballet wasn't simplified enough. This was boring, and was better left out. It was only here to give some historical context. However, there was beautiful animation and some lovely instrumental solos. Stravinsky hated what the film did to his work, but anyway I don't like Stravinsky much. I had no problem with the animation or the way it was performed, it was just too long.
5. Beethoven's pastoral Symphony- This is a fantastic piece of music. I am a huge fan of Beethoven, and I have all his 9 symphonies on my IPod. My favourites are this, the Choral and the Eroica. I loved the fact that they chose a Greek mythological setting, because it looked gorgeous. My dad who is a conductor wasn't keen on the centaurs, but I loved the winged horses, Bacchus and Zeus (who competes with Chernabog as the most frightening character of the movie). This vignette was so relaxing to watch; think it as like reciting a poem.
6. Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours-This was the funniest vignette of the film, and one of the many gems of Disney. It was a bit unrealistic of course, but it was fun. At first, I was worried that the most famous scene from the opera La Giaconda, would be ruined by the animation. But it wasn't. It was perfect. Even the elephants and hippos, considering their size, danced so elegantly, I was shocked. This vignette is a must-see if you want some comedy.
7. Mussorgsky's Night on Bare Mountain- Now this was my personal favourite, as when I first watched it when I was 10, and I was terrified of Chernabog. The music is also very hard to play, as the mood is very hard to capture, but this is undoubtedly the finest recording of this music. Chernabog was genuinely frightening, and a masterful creation. And the animation, while dark, matched the music, which is enough to give you nightmares, flawlessly. It was very like a Witch's Sabbath, which was what the composer originally intended. Do you know, that for his underrated fantasy movie Legend, Ridley Scott based Tim Curry's Darkness on Chernabog? Children may find it a bit too frightening, and adults may find it inappropriate, as there is a tiny glimpse of nudity. But it was still an effective vignette, and one of my favourite Disney moments actually.
8. Schubert's Ave Maria- This is a beautiful song, and Stokowski did it justice. The harmonies and animation were perfectly captured. how could you say this was boring? The animation couldn't have been happy looking, it would have completely ruined the mood of the song. It was beautifully sung by Juillietta Novis, who was so quiet that you had to turn the volume up, but that was the intention. The thing that impressed me most, was the complete contrast of this from the Mussorgsky, so the key of Ave Maria was so well chosen. (It is sung in many different keys.) In conclusion, the most underrated of the earlier Disney efforts, is well worth watching and a true animated classic! Also I was offended by the review that said that it was the worst movie ever made, and that the people who love this movie need new taste, that is plain insulting to anyone who grew up with this film. 9/10 Bethany Cox.
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Fantasia review
Posted : 3 years, 1 month ago on 3 March 2021 05:16
Fantasia es la menos popular de las películas del periodo clásico de Disney, pese a tener a Mickey Mouse, ser la mejor animada de la compañía y tener secuencias super alocadas (Disney andaba lleno de hierba lo más seguro para producir esto), a nadie le interesa hoy por hoy en lo más mínimo de lo que trataba porque, bueno, trata de nada. Verán, Fantasia más que una película convencional era un experimento, el propósito era centrarse en los límites audiovisuales que dispone la animación como medio y su estrecha relación con la música. Se presenta como una opera con secuencias abstractas entremezcladas con banda sonora ejemplar de compositores famosos, hay varios actos de personajes queridos sincronizados con ella, que dan la sensación que bailan y actúan por la misma. Se hace como muestra del poder la ambientación, de que no es mero movimiento sino de la dirección que lleva el trabajo técnico.
Como oda a la animación y la dirección no puedo decir que la desprecio, tiene su valor y la intención es buena, lo que significa es incluso mejor ya que te enseña que necesitas talento para explotar tu medio favorito. Pero tampoco voy a ignorar que Tatami Galaxy existe y tiene historia. Disney debió recordar que no es el medio lo que importa como tal, es el comunicar un mensaje importante, con la trama y los personajes usando el medio para representarlo. Por ende, no tengo algo importante que decir en esta reseña al carecer de elementos narrativos para ello. Sólo puedo hacer esta reflexión para aquellos que cometan la tontería de seguir estos pasos.
No tiene errores, cosa buena, tampoco tiene pros, cosa mala, así que como siempre con proyectos experimentales es un balance por completo, lo que los vuelve meh.
Apartado visual: 10/10
Dirección general 2/2 (experimental)
movimiento 2/2 (vivido)
fondos 2/2 (detallados)
Cinemáticas 2/2 (magistrales)
Efectos especiales 2/2 (experimentales)
Apartado acústico: 10/10
Actuación de voz 3/3 (no hay voz, pero se la dejaré pasar)
Banda sonora 4/4 (sincronizado con el actuar de los personajes y escenarios)
Mezcla de sonido 3/3 (casi lo mismo con la voz)
Trama: 4/10
Base 1/2 (entretenida)
Ritmo 2/2 (al menos la pasas rápido)
Complejidad 0/2 (no hay)
plausibilidad 1/2 (en sus propias caricaturescas reglas)
Conclusión 0/2 (es una antología)
Personajes: 2/10
Presencia: 1/2 (debil)
Personalidad 1/2 (blanda)
Profundización 0/2 (no hay)
Desarrollo 0/2 (no hay)
Catarsis 0/2 (no hay)
Importancia: 5/10
Valor histórico 1/3 (Parte de la edad dorada)
revisita 2/3 (por el estudio directivo al menos)
Memorabilidad 2/4 (tiene a Mickey Mouse)
Disfrute: 5/10
Los colores fueron bonitos.
Calificación: 4.5/10
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Fantasia review
Posted : 4 years, 2 months ago on 25 February 2020 01:15
Esta es una película en la que no hay una trama, no hay protagonistas y no hay un foco fijo, siendo una serie de cortometrajes, que muchas veces son tan experimentales que no tienen una historia del todo. Sin embargo, esto es lo que hace que sea una buena película. Siendo que no hay personajes que profundizar ni tramas que profundizar, la película se basa en ser un espectáculo visual que acompaña su hermosa animación con una excelsa banda sonora de música clásica. Y esto hace que Fantasia, más que un filme, sea una demostración de lo que era capaz Disney en sus primeros años. Las primeras películas de Disney se basaban mucho en experimentar tratando de transmitir sensaciones y emociones universales. Eran una prueba, tanto en el apartado técnico como en el narrativo, pruebas que establecieron las bases del medio de la animación. De ese modo, Fantasia es una excelente muestra de lo que es capaz la animación y en lo que puede resultar el esfuerzo de animar a papel.
Puede no ser profunda o muy interesante, pero vale la pena solo por el espectáculo que presenta y todas las sensaciones (desde pérdida, hasta tristeza, hasta felicidad) que la película puede transmitir con el poder de la banda sonora y los elementos visuales.
Muy recomendable.
Puede no ser profunda o muy interesante, pero vale la pena solo por el espectáculo que presenta y todas las sensaciones (desde pérdida, hasta tristeza, hasta felicidad) que la película puede transmitir con el poder de la banda sonora y los elementos visuales.
Muy recomendable.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 11 May 2016 02:44
I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, I always had a weak spot for this feature. Indeed, there is one thing that always bothered me with Disney’s animated features and it is their terrible lack of originality. Basically, all their movies tend to follow the very same formulas and set of rules and even though it was fine when ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was released, almost 80 years later, it has become seriously tedious. For this reason, I always had a weak spot for this flick because, even though it is flawed, it remains one of their most original productions and only for this, it should get much more credit, at least, that’s my opinion. Take for example the ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ sequence, it is probably one of the creepiest things ever produced by Disney and, even though parents have been complaining about this sequence for decades, I wish Disney would go more often in this direction. Still, while I was rewatching the damned thing, I was actually surprised by how little I actually remember it. Of course, you could argue that it had been more than 20 years since I saw it but I'm afraid that most of these sequences, while they were all interesting and valuable just based on their pure experimental value, were not really remarkable after all. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be Disney’s most heralded feature, it remains a fascinating blend of classic tunes with some top-notch animation so it is definitely worth a look and it's too bad these guys don't try to be more experimental from time to time.
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Fantasia
Posted : 8 years, 4 months ago on 8 December 2015 02:35
The runaway success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was massive enough to excuse anyone for thinking they were a new filmmaking god. With this in mind, Walt Disney decided to push the very limits he had set with that film. Pinocchio up-ended fairy tale story-telling only one film after those conventions were created and Fantasia threw out the playbook entirely.
Fantasia is the vision of artistic hubris let loose. I mean that as high praise. Only a lunatic or a genius would think of creating something this sprawling, diverse, and beautiful. Yes, it’s probably a bit pretentious, even wild to think of gaining prestige by animating classical musical pieces, but that ambition and daring is what makes it so appealing. It’s so great because it dares itself to be.
Like the prior films of this era, I first encountered this one during a revival in the early 90s. This was a favorite of mine as a child, I loved that it didn’t have a narrative, but gave me several different ones to chose from. It blew my mind about what a cartoon is, what an animated film looked like, and a deep appreciation for the technique and artistry involved. For a brief period of time I wanted to become an animator for the company, I think a field trip to their Burbank studio helped foster that dream. Then I realized I had a hard time consistently drawing the same character on model. Oh well, some things just aren’t meant to be.
Critical reaction was mixed upon its initial release. Mostly positively received, the bulk of the negative criticism was about the film being pretentious, that applying animated sequences to classical music pieces would rob them of integrity, or that the film was just pure kitsch. I can’t argue against the film being pretentious in spots, think that the second argument is purely reactionary and pearl-clutching, and find that parts of the film are pure kitsch. And god bless Fantasia for being different, for revealing a new color or tone with each new segment.
Production started on Fantasia in 1936 as a way of bringing back Mickey Mouse’s popularity. One of the few segments with a coherent narrative, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is a decent enough section to begin talking about the film as a whole. It was based upon a poem by Goethe, which Disney attached to a musical composition by Paul Dukas, and produced as an extended Silly Symphony-like cartoon, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is pure fantasy. Untied to a strict narrative, it moves with a strange dream-like logic. It plays more like a coherent music video, and it’s arguable that Fantasia was the music video in embryonic form.
Over the twenty-five-years I’ve watched this film my love for various segments has changed over the years. “Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria” used to freak me out, but now I think it’s unquestionably one of the greatest achievements of the Disney studio. “Bald Mountain” owes a debt to Faust, and it’s the strangest bit of demented surrealism to come out of the studio during an era when feverish, hallucinatory sequences was a must. While a demonic figure presides over a mountain top, he raises the dead, conjures up dancing imps, nude succubus’ fly around, and hellfire explodes. It all comes to a crashing halt as the church bells ring, and monks carrying lights expel the darkness away. While the orgy of brimstone and monsters are drawn in a clearly representational manner, the monks are abstractions of black robes and yellow circles making their way towards a cathedral that is nothing but bright light.
“Rite of Spring” is one I have always loved. Granted, the composition omits some of the harder sequences of Igor Stravinsky’s piece, and the orchestration is a little blunted of its force, it’s fun to watch Disney animate a sequence detailing the Big Bang, evolution, dinosaurs, and their eventual extinction. The animation is, of course, stellar, and all of your favorites are presented in scientifically accurate (for 1940) manners, even if they shouldn’t be occupying the same frame as they’re separated by millions of years. Still, it’s freaking dinosaurs!
“Dance of the Hours,” after “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” is the most beloved sequence. It doesn’t play like something from the stately Disney brand, it plays much closer to the manic Looney Tunes. A comic ballet in four sections, there’s ostriches, hippos in tutus, elephants blowing bubbles, and horny alligators. The anarchic spirit is strong with this one, and its joyous from the first moment to the eventual destruction of the palace. If nothing else, my appreciation of this one has grown larger as the years have gone by.
Time has not been quite as kind to “The Pastoral Symphony,” a hit-and-miss Greek Mythology 101 with satyrs, cupids, centaurs, Dionysus, Zeus, and a general feeling of being too cutesy. It’s not bad, there’s some animation in spots that is quite lovely, but it doesn’t feel entirely satisfactory. A similar thing happens with “The Nutcracker Suite,” a piece of music that’s just as well-known as the dance that accompanies it. It’s refreshing to see Disney tackle the piece without the titular Christmas object anywhere in sight, but some parts of it are just better than others. The luminescent fairies are great, the bowing mushrooms are not, but it averages out to be decent.
The only parts of Fantasia that could qualify as having to be endured are the more abstract ones. “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” which begins with live action shots of the orchestra, before fading away into abstractions of their instruments is pretty to look at, but not very engaging. The craft and special effects on display overpower the simplicity, and I spent more time wondering how they accomplished these effects than what was happening before my eyes. And the “Meet the Soundtrack” introduces an animated character in a straight line, then has it twist and distort itself into personifications of the various instruments. It seems at odds with the flamboyance of the rest of the film, but I guess Disney considered that the audience needed a spoonful of sugar to make the high culture go down.
Yes, Fantasia is only as good as any particular segment is, but the batting average is insanely high. Later films like Melody Time or Make Mine Music would try to borrow the formula, but they were lacking in the bravado to make it really work. After its failure as a road show picture, Disney would never again challenge his audience quite as much as he did here. I wonder if this had been a big hit, what would the company have produced in the following years? Would Fantasia’s originally conceived plan of revivals have gone through? Who knows. We should just appreciate that he had the madness to make this at all.
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Review of Fantasia
Posted : 11 years, 9 months ago on 6 July 2012 12:25
There comes a time in every critic's life, in which they have to give a negative review to a well known and loved classic. Unfortunately, I am in the situation of giving a negative review to one of the best known and best received animated films of all time; Fantasia.
Fantasia really doesn't have a plot of any kind. Instead, it boasts a unique premise. We are introduced at the beginning to a new kind of entertainment called Fantasia. This is a combination of music and visuals. There are three different varieties of this: The first being music that tells a story. The second being music with no particular plot, and the third being music that exists just for music's sake.
After seeing the introduction explaining this, I grew quite excited. I was certainly intrigued, and I was sure the magicians at the mouse house were about to present another true masterpiece. So imagine my disappointment when Fantasia turned out to be little more than a technical demo. An animation experiment, really.
And as such, the animation is a wonder to behold. Visuals are absolutely gorgeous. Abstract images, and defined images are portrayed beautifully creating a visually splendid film. So it's a shame to report that the visuals are one of the few appealing things about Fantasia.
Let's face it, Fantasia is dull beyond reason. Say what you want, but two hours of random images and classical music is way too much for any viewer. I really do appreciate music and movies, but Fantasia simply does not do either art any justice. We want to be entertained. Yet we're presented with little more than a series of laptop screen savers.
Fantasia is probably most popular for the segment titled "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." You've no doubt heard of it (and probably seen it), and know what it's about. For the benefit of you that haven't heard of it, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is about Mickey Mouse deciding to use the magic of a wizard to do a common household chore. Unfortunately for Mickey, the magic gets out of hand and the result is disastrous.
To be honest, I really wasn't all that impressed with this segment. I've seen much better Disney shorts than this. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't that great. Still, I can certainly agree that this was one of the main highlights. It at least wasn't boring like a majority of the rest of the film.
For a movie about music, I certainly expected a better musical score. In fact, I expected an original score. And at least 75% of the score was classical music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky among others. And while I have little against classical music, I'm disappointed that Disney didn't bother to bring us a musical score. Fantasia is all about music so for crying out loud, don't use recycled material!
And because the music was composed first, it's been paired up with some bizzare animation that really doesn't blend. There was great potential here for the music. Being a composer myself, the scenes in the film were extremely inspiring, so it was hard to see them wasted with an ill-fitting score. The potential in the music department was huge, yet no one bothered to do anything remotely interesting with it.
I suppose that if the music Fantasia had chosen to showcase was very good, I wouldn't complain as much. But alas, we are presented with the most uninteresting works of the composers' careers! And it doesn't help that the arrangement for these piece are so unexciting. They're not bad, but they're extremely straightforward and uninteresting. If anyone can put a unique spin on tired old tunes, it's Disney. So why did they choose to play it safe? It's basically the same arrangement of these tunes you've heard all your life.
Come on Disney, at least change it up a little! Add some spice to it! Change the instruments, the genre, the feel! Something! It's a shame that in a movie about music, the score becomes the most disappointing part.
Well, maybe second most disappointing. The entertainment value here is the most disappointing. Sure the animation is pretty to look at initially. But after a while, it starts to get pretty dull. With almost no dialogue, no characters (except for the narrator, the "soundtrack" which I'll discuss later, and a brief appearance of Mickey and a wizard), and no plot, it becomes difficult to concentrate on the film. I ended up glancing at my watch as often as the screen.
There are only two truly entertaining bits. The first one occurs right after intermission. This involves the narrator introducing us to a character called, "The Soundtrack." He's a little bar that represents sound. So the Soundtrack does a few impressions for us. I laughed once here, and that's more than I can say for almost any of the rest of the film.
The second entertaining part of the film occurs during the penultimate segment, in which Dance of the Hours is adapted into a ballet with animals. There are a couple decent bits here, but the best part is at the end of the ballet. This is when a group of alligators dance with a group of hippos. This is one of the only times when humor is used during Fantasia, and one of the few times when I was actually enjoying myself.
You can argue that Fantasia isn't necessarily made to entertain. Than what is the point of it's existence? Is the point of a film not to entertain? Isn't that why we all sit around the television or drive to the cinema? To be entertained? We certainly don't watch it to be bored or blankly watch obscure images over a course of two hours. So is there any real reason for Fantasia to exist? I can't think of any.
Despite some beautiful visuals and rare moments of entertainment, Fantasia is a pointless film in almost all respects. It wastes it's gigantic potential on little more than an overlong montage. As a short film, this might've worked. But as a full length feature? Hardly! Fantasia represents a technical achievement, Mickey's most famous role in history, and two hours of my life I'll never get back.
Fantasia really doesn't have a plot of any kind. Instead, it boasts a unique premise. We are introduced at the beginning to a new kind of entertainment called Fantasia. This is a combination of music and visuals. There are three different varieties of this: The first being music that tells a story. The second being music with no particular plot, and the third being music that exists just for music's sake.
After seeing the introduction explaining this, I grew quite excited. I was certainly intrigued, and I was sure the magicians at the mouse house were about to present another true masterpiece. So imagine my disappointment when Fantasia turned out to be little more than a technical demo. An animation experiment, really.
And as such, the animation is a wonder to behold. Visuals are absolutely gorgeous. Abstract images, and defined images are portrayed beautifully creating a visually splendid film. So it's a shame to report that the visuals are one of the few appealing things about Fantasia.
Let's face it, Fantasia is dull beyond reason. Say what you want, but two hours of random images and classical music is way too much for any viewer. I really do appreciate music and movies, but Fantasia simply does not do either art any justice. We want to be entertained. Yet we're presented with little more than a series of laptop screen savers.
Fantasia is probably most popular for the segment titled "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." You've no doubt heard of it (and probably seen it), and know what it's about. For the benefit of you that haven't heard of it, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is about Mickey Mouse deciding to use the magic of a wizard to do a common household chore. Unfortunately for Mickey, the magic gets out of hand and the result is disastrous.
To be honest, I really wasn't all that impressed with this segment. I've seen much better Disney shorts than this. It's not that it was bad, it just wasn't that great. Still, I can certainly agree that this was one of the main highlights. It at least wasn't boring like a majority of the rest of the film.
For a movie about music, I certainly expected a better musical score. In fact, I expected an original score. And at least 75% of the score was classical music by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky among others. And while I have little against classical music, I'm disappointed that Disney didn't bother to bring us a musical score. Fantasia is all about music so for crying out loud, don't use recycled material!
And because the music was composed first, it's been paired up with some bizzare animation that really doesn't blend. There was great potential here for the music. Being a composer myself, the scenes in the film were extremely inspiring, so it was hard to see them wasted with an ill-fitting score. The potential in the music department was huge, yet no one bothered to do anything remotely interesting with it.
I suppose that if the music Fantasia had chosen to showcase was very good, I wouldn't complain as much. But alas, we are presented with the most uninteresting works of the composers' careers! And it doesn't help that the arrangement for these piece are so unexciting. They're not bad, but they're extremely straightforward and uninteresting. If anyone can put a unique spin on tired old tunes, it's Disney. So why did they choose to play it safe? It's basically the same arrangement of these tunes you've heard all your life.
Come on Disney, at least change it up a little! Add some spice to it! Change the instruments, the genre, the feel! Something! It's a shame that in a movie about music, the score becomes the most disappointing part.
Well, maybe second most disappointing. The entertainment value here is the most disappointing. Sure the animation is pretty to look at initially. But after a while, it starts to get pretty dull. With almost no dialogue, no characters (except for the narrator, the "soundtrack" which I'll discuss later, and a brief appearance of Mickey and a wizard), and no plot, it becomes difficult to concentrate on the film. I ended up glancing at my watch as often as the screen.
There are only two truly entertaining bits. The first one occurs right after intermission. This involves the narrator introducing us to a character called, "The Soundtrack." He's a little bar that represents sound. So the Soundtrack does a few impressions for us. I laughed once here, and that's more than I can say for almost any of the rest of the film.
The second entertaining part of the film occurs during the penultimate segment, in which Dance of the Hours is adapted into a ballet with animals. There are a couple decent bits here, but the best part is at the end of the ballet. This is when a group of alligators dance with a group of hippos. This is one of the only times when humor is used during Fantasia, and one of the few times when I was actually enjoying myself.
You can argue that Fantasia isn't necessarily made to entertain. Than what is the point of it's existence? Is the point of a film not to entertain? Isn't that why we all sit around the television or drive to the cinema? To be entertained? We certainly don't watch it to be bored or blankly watch obscure images over a course of two hours. So is there any real reason for Fantasia to exist? I can't think of any.
Despite some beautiful visuals and rare moments of entertainment, Fantasia is a pointless film in almost all respects. It wastes it's gigantic potential on little more than an overlong montage. As a short film, this might've worked. But as a full length feature? Hardly! Fantasia represents a technical achievement, Mickey's most famous role in history, and two hours of my life I'll never get back.
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Fantasia
Posted : 12 years ago on 11 April 2012 07:08
The idea for Fantasia first came along in the mid-1930s where Walt wanted to do a Mickey Mouse short in the style of the Silly Symphonies with the story of the The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. At one night in a Hollywood restaurant, he ran into Leopold Stokowski famous for conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra among being in movies like “The Big Broadcast” and “100 Men and a Girl”. He agreed to conduct the score for the short. During the production, the idea grew more and more as Leopold Stokowski encourage Walt to turn the short into a full length movie with classical music/animation mixed together.
The film starts as if it was like a concert hall is getting started. After we see the musicians getting ready to perform, the master of ceremonies Deems Taylor introduces this program. During the sections of the film, he explains the origins of each pieces to gives you an idea to what it could be before it begins.
Without going into any details on my thoughts on this, it’s one of best movies I ever seen in my life. The idea to mix animation and music is great and the execution is perfect. The animation is very beautiful with great details, textures, very memorable moments, and it has at the end one of the most powerful moments in animation history. The music is handled very much and it matches to the movement of the animation very well. The one I would say that there not a lot of plot to it that may disinterest people and it can be slow at times.
Overall Fantasia is a brilliant movie with a great idea, execution, great animation, and great music. I very highly recommend this to film fans.
The film starts as if it was like a concert hall is getting started. After we see the musicians getting ready to perform, the master of ceremonies Deems Taylor introduces this program. During the sections of the film, he explains the origins of each pieces to gives you an idea to what it could be before it begins.
Without going into any details on my thoughts on this, it’s one of best movies I ever seen in my life. The idea to mix animation and music is great and the execution is perfect. The animation is very beautiful with great details, textures, very memorable moments, and it has at the end one of the most powerful moments in animation history. The music is handled very much and it matches to the movement of the animation very well. The one I would say that there not a lot of plot to it that may disinterest people and it can be slow at times.
Overall Fantasia is a brilliant movie with a great idea, execution, great animation, and great music. I very highly recommend this to film fans.
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Don't see what's so good about this one.
Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 15 February 2010 03:42
This film was really bizzare because there wasnt really a story to it. It was a mixture of different collections of stories. It is one of those films that a lot of people love because of its beauty and inspiring music but there are a lot of people that hate it because it is boring. I didnt hate it I just didnt like it that much. I think that it is a mixture of shorts that Disney thought of and he adapted them into one film. I just didnt understand the stories that much and I didnt really understand the point in the live action introduction at the beginning by Walt Disney himself. This was an introduction to how imaginitive Walt Disney really was and his development of different styles of characters.
His actions within this film seemed quite serious to Walt because he wanted Mickey Mouse and other characters in the film to be well known and to make other animated filmmakers develop powerful and beautiful characters together. Also, because Walt wanted this film to earn more than family pleasure but mostly because of the beauty in this world. This film was made during WWII so it sort of brought beauty into the world for people to sort of forget about WWII.
The direction was really good by all of Walt Disneys organization. It barely has any script at all but of some of the words that are said seem peaceful words. Mickey Mouse is the same sort of character as he always has been in every film and show he has ever been involved in. I have always been so puzzled about Mickeys voice in the past and in the present days. This film brought the bizarreness to animation because of the mixed stories and also because of the different types of characters. The twists were when the stories switched around. Fantasia had absolutely outstanding music that is a delight to listen to. Music is what Disney always used to be and still is really good at. It is a delight that Walt brings to all of his films. This film didnt earn any Academy Awards at all.
This is one of my least favourite Walt Disney films. I know that my review sounds like a good review but it isnt really because I found this film very boring and very strange because I didnt really understand what was going on between the characters. I thought it was just like a random film that is just a collection of shorts that Disney thought of in his past works before Fantasia. This film was quite a weird one after his two previous and first two films Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. That is why I have to rate it 2.5 because it was weird, confusing and quite complex for little kids. I simply loooove Disneys classics but this is one of those that I wasnt really keen on. It did have awesome music and that is about it. Wish I liked it more but dont I am afraid.
His actions within this film seemed quite serious to Walt because he wanted Mickey Mouse and other characters in the film to be well known and to make other animated filmmakers develop powerful and beautiful characters together. Also, because Walt wanted this film to earn more than family pleasure but mostly because of the beauty in this world. This film was made during WWII so it sort of brought beauty into the world for people to sort of forget about WWII.
The direction was really good by all of Walt Disneys organization. It barely has any script at all but of some of the words that are said seem peaceful words. Mickey Mouse is the same sort of character as he always has been in every film and show he has ever been involved in. I have always been so puzzled about Mickeys voice in the past and in the present days. This film brought the bizarreness to animation because of the mixed stories and also because of the different types of characters. The twists were when the stories switched around. Fantasia had absolutely outstanding music that is a delight to listen to. Music is what Disney always used to be and still is really good at. It is a delight that Walt brings to all of his films. This film didnt earn any Academy Awards at all.
This is one of my least favourite Walt Disney films. I know that my review sounds like a good review but it isnt really because I found this film very boring and very strange because I didnt really understand what was going on between the characters. I thought it was just like a random film that is just a collection of shorts that Disney thought of in his past works before Fantasia. This film was quite a weird one after his two previous and first two films Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. That is why I have to rate it 2.5 because it was weird, confusing and quite complex for little kids. I simply loooove Disneys classics but this is one of those that I wasnt really keen on. It did have awesome music and that is about it. Wish I liked it more but dont I am afraid.
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