Pink Flamingos and Yo-yo’s
Written: Jun 20 '00 (Updated Jun 20 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stunning animation, excellent musical selections
Cons: none
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| WritingLife's Full Review: Fantasia/2000 |
Almost fifty years ago, the Walt Disney studios created a milestone in cinematic history when artists created a series of animations to accompany classical scores. Not that music and animation hadn’t been combined before: Max Fleischer had used popular songs as the basis for many of his Betty Boop cartoons, while Warner Brothers had brought us a whole series of “Silly Symphonies” based on classical music, including the Wagnerian, “What’s Opera, Doc?” (“Kill the waaabit, kill the waaabit!”). But to combine beautiful, serious animation with symphonic music to create a full-length feature was a massive undertaking.
The intent was to create not just one film, but a regular series of films. Each new production would show some of the favorite older pieces, and some new pieces. Unfortunately Walt Disney’s dream was never realized -- until now.
With the wonders of computer animation, expectations for Fantasia 2000 were sky-high. Audiences might naturally expect the sophisticated special effects of such movies as Dinosaur or Toy Story. At the same time, the original Fantasia was, for its time, state-of-the-art hand-drawn animation, and fans would be nostalgic for the look and feel of the film they knew so well. In Fantasia 2000, Disney studio artists strove to combine the two, and, for the most part, succeeded.
James Levine conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, providing magnificent renditions of the scores. Hollywood personalities including Steve Martin, James Earl Jones, and Bette Midler (all unfortunately unidentified) introduce the pieces and provide varying measures of levity.
The film begins with Bethoven’s Symphony Number Five, a piece that has no story behind it. In keeping with the moody, “abstract” nature of the music, the animation begins with abstract color splashes, then resolves into a storyline involving flying triangles that resemble butterflies seeking light.
Respighi's Pines of Rome comes next, and like many who have heard the piece, the animators didn’t “see” pines while listening to the score. Instead, the sequence opens with an arctic seascape and breaching whales -- which then begin to behave in a un-whale-like way that appears so natural that one willingly suspends disbelief. My only quarrel with this piece is that the whales were fully 3-D, while the background appeared almost flat, as though artists couldn’t make up their mind which sort of artwork they wanted. Otherwise it’s weirdly beautiful.
Art inspired by Al Hirschfeld accompanies George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue to create a cityscape where dreams really do come true. The rendition is a trifle “orchestral” -- a proper rendition of Rhapsody in Blue requires a heavier dose of sassy saxophones, but the artwork is a wonderful throwback to the animation styles of the late 50’s and early 60’s.
Music arranged by Shostakovich provides the moody background to the animated story of the Steadfast Tin Soldier, fortunately with a happier ending than Hans Christian Anderson gave the original tale. This is the most visually stunning of all the sequences. The animation is largely three-dimensional computer rendering, yet there is a quality to it that suggests something hand-created.
A flock of animated pink flamingoes come to life and dance to the tune of Carnival of the Animals, until one bored young bird finds more entertainment in “walking the dog” and “rocking the cradle.” It’s a nice breath of levity before the final three sequences.
What is Fantasia without The Sorcerer’s Apprentice? Disney brings back the classic piece of the lazy young apprentice who learns the hard way that magic isn’t all fun and games and ordering other people around. The original hand-rendered animation stands up very well to its modern computerized counterparts.
Who hasn’t heard the march portions of Pomp and Circumstance, usually played over and over again at a graduation ceremony? Seldom do we hear the piece in its entirety, but here the music serves as a background to a retelling of the story of Noah’s ark. When the familiar chords of the march ring out, we see -- not nervous graduates, but the animals marching two by two. A schmaltzy love story involving Donald and Daisy Duck adds some laughter.
The last sequence is set to the score of Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite. Around the music the artists weave a mythical tale of life, death, and rebirth. While the animation isn’t as technically stunning as the Steadfast Tin Soldier sequence, there is a heartfelt quality to it that leaves one gasping.
Each of the selections is fairly short, an improvement over the original Fantasia that, despite its overall artistic magnificence, was just plain long. Fantasia 2000 moves along at a steady clip, making it suitable for younger audiences.
Disney studios has scored another hit of the caliber of the original Fantasia. Let’s hope they continue Walt Disney’s original vision with more gorgeous productions like this one in the future.
Recommended:
Yes
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WritingLife
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Location: Salem, OR
Reviews written: 76
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Iconoclastic, skeptical, dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon. Synesthete. Surprising.
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