While I think that it's really great that Disney decided to resurrect Walt's vision for "Fantasia," I think they could have done a much better job recapturing the magic.
The basic Fantasia concept, setting highly sophisticated animation to classical music in an attempt to make the music come alive, is still obviously intact, but what has been lost to some degree in "Fantasia 2000" is the mid-blowing high-art spectacle of the original Fantasia.
What I mean by this is that the original Fantasia was all about visual art. There were so many scenes that were stunningly beautiful, and were in the film for the sole purpose of being beautiful. You can see this all over, most noticeably in the Nutcracker, the Rite of Spring, and A Night on Bald Mountain / Ave Maria. They were beautiful in their simplicity, and neither animation nor music overpowered the viewer. But this simple beauty has dropped significantly with Fantasia 2000. Every small change in the music has been amped up to the hundredth degree in order to make the animation sync up with the music. On other words, they tried way too hard to make everything 'fit,' at the cost of the simple beauty of the animation / music combo.
That's not to say that this movie still isn't great fun, and has some amazing showcases of animation that will leave you open-mouthed at the rich and colorful visual spectacle. Because it does more often than not, and is still a must-see. But it's just that it pales in comparison to what Walt did on the original Fantasia, because it tried a bit too hard. If they had stuck with finding the essence of the music, then animating the simple beauty to be found in it, I have no doubt that this could have been an absolute masterpiece. But as is, it's just a bit too loud and a bit too cartoon-y rather than a mind-blowing artistic spectacle.
I only wish that this movie could have been made after the Pixar merge, because John Lasseter is a man who truly understands animation as an art, and probably could have made a much more sophisticated follow-up to "Fantasia" than Michael Eisner did.
Anyway, here's what I thought about each segment, since the quality is highly varied.
Beethoven's 5th Symphony - 5/10. This is, quite frankly, my least favorite segment in the whole film. The character is overdone, and the oversimplified animation is completely dwarfed by the music. The visuals are completely forgettable compared to the timeless music.
Pines of Rome - 9/10. There are moments where this piece is a bit too loud and comical, but this is also one of the most beautiful segments in the film. It takes ample time to breathe, and let you take the visual spectacle in. I especially love the sequence where the small whale rises up into the light at the top of the ice block. For just a second there, it rivals Miyazakian beauty.
Rhapsody in Blue - 8/10. I love the design of the animation in this segment, because its shapes and flow mesh with the music almost perfectly, creating a great jazz-era blues-iness for the music to go with. There are some great artistic moments that stuck in my head, but as a whole there's just a bit too much action happening in this segment to fully appreciate the unique and distinctive animation. Quite good, though.
Piano Concerto #2 (Steadfast Tin Soldier) - 6/10. Plain and simple, they were trying way too hard to make this segment fit the music perfectly; at the expense of artistic opportunity and character. This segment was completely forgettable.
Carnival of the Animals - 7/10. While this segment was very silly, so was the music. So the wild action and bright color pallet of the yo-yo-ing flamingos came together to form a quite amusing piece. While not a favorite of mine, it was great fun.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice - 10/10. What can I say? This was, and still is, possibly the greatest six minutes in Disney history. A perfect blend of character, visual art, and subtext.
Pomp and Circumstance - 6/10. What Disney tried to do with Donald here was obviously an attempt to recreate what happened with Mickey in the original "Fantasia". And they failed. The arrangement of the music was fantastic, but all of the animation was too loud, and again completely forgettable. There was basically no simple visual artistry, and no subtext to ponder.
The Firebird Suite - 10/10. Finally, after 65 minutes of animation and music, there is a segment that comes close to recapturing the magic of the original "Fantasia." That's not saying that this is prefect; far from it. There still aren't enough "breathing" moments, where you can just pause and enjoy the beautiful animation, for my tastes. But this is by far the most visually stunning and insightful of the new segments. It's no "Princess Mononoke," but for the new Disney, it's close enough.
The basic Fantasia concept, setting highly sophisticated animation to classical music in an attempt to make the music come alive, is still obviously intact, but what has been lost to some degree in "Fantasia 2000" is the mid-blowing high-art spectacle of the original Fantasia.
What I mean by this is that the original Fantasia was all about visual art. There were so many scenes that were stunningly beautiful, and were in the film for the sole purpose of being beautiful. You can see this all over, most noticeably in the Nutcracker, the Rite of Spring, and A Night on Bald Mountain / Ave Maria. They were beautiful in their simplicity, and neither animation nor music overpowered the viewer. But this simple beauty has dropped significantly with Fantasia 2000. Every small change in the music has been amped up to the hundredth degree in order to make the animation sync up with the music. On other words, they tried way too hard to make everything 'fit,' at the cost of the simple beauty of the animation / music combo.
That's not to say that this movie still isn't great fun, and has some amazing showcases of animation that will leave you open-mouthed at the rich and colorful visual spectacle. Because it does more often than not, and is still a must-see. But it's just that it pales in comparison to what Walt did on the original Fantasia, because it tried a bit too hard. If they had stuck with finding the essence of the music, then animating the simple beauty to be found in it, I have no doubt that this could have been an absolute masterpiece. But as is, it's just a bit too loud and a bit too cartoon-y rather than a mind-blowing artistic spectacle.
I only wish that this movie could have been made after the Pixar merge, because John Lasseter is a man who truly understands animation as an art, and probably could have made a much more sophisticated follow-up to "Fantasia" than Michael Eisner did.
Anyway, here's what I thought about each segment, since the quality is highly varied.
Beethoven's 5th Symphony - 5/10. This is, quite frankly, my least favorite segment in the whole film. The character is overdone, and the oversimplified animation is completely dwarfed by the music. The visuals are completely forgettable compared to the timeless music.
Pines of Rome - 9/10. There are moments where this piece is a bit too loud and comical, but this is also one of the most beautiful segments in the film. It takes ample time to breathe, and let you take the visual spectacle in. I especially love the sequence where the small whale rises up into the light at the top of the ice block. For just a second there, it rivals Miyazakian beauty.
Rhapsody in Blue - 8/10. I love the design of the animation in this segment, because its shapes and flow mesh with the music almost perfectly, creating a great jazz-era blues-iness for the music to go with. There are some great artistic moments that stuck in my head, but as a whole there's just a bit too much action happening in this segment to fully appreciate the unique and distinctive animation. Quite good, though.
Piano Concerto #2 (Steadfast Tin Soldier) - 6/10. Plain and simple, they were trying way too hard to make this segment fit the music perfectly; at the expense of artistic opportunity and character. This segment was completely forgettable.
Carnival of the Animals - 7/10. While this segment was very silly, so was the music. So the wild action and bright color pallet of the yo-yo-ing flamingos came together to form a quite amusing piece. While not a favorite of mine, it was great fun.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice - 10/10. What can I say? This was, and still is, possibly the greatest six minutes in Disney history. A perfect blend of character, visual art, and subtext.
Pomp and Circumstance - 6/10. What Disney tried to do with Donald here was obviously an attempt to recreate what happened with Mickey in the original "Fantasia". And they failed. The arrangement of the music was fantastic, but all of the animation was too loud, and again completely forgettable. There was basically no simple visual artistry, and no subtext to ponder.
The Firebird Suite - 10/10. Finally, after 65 minutes of animation and music, there is a segment that comes close to recapturing the magic of the original "Fantasia." That's not saying that this is prefect; far from it. There still aren't enough "breathing" moments, where you can just pause and enjoy the beautiful animation, for my tastes. But this is by far the most visually stunning and insightful of the new segments. It's no "Princess Mononoke," but for the new Disney, it's close enough.