Pros: Exquisite Animation art, and of course, music. Experimental, innovative, its not aimed at kids!
Cons: The Pastoral Sequence, wayyy too cutesy. many minor quibbles in aesthetics, failed at initial release.
The Bottom Line: Disney wanted to bring cartoons to the level of “High Art” with this feature. It is his best work. Some sequences are innovative others suffer from Disneyisms.
I will say this now really don’t think too highly of Disney’s films. I’d never thought I’d be giving a film that wasn’t done by Pixar or any other outsourced animation studio, a rating as high as 4 stars. Disney is the company that has put animation down. It has given it a cutesy image in America, an image that limits its possibilities as a film medium. It may not have been good ol’ Uncle Walt that did this, but since most of his films were formulaic, and only really good on a technical level, I never thought he’d do something as experimental as this. I had heard of Fantasia, but kind of looked it over, reciently I began to become curious about it. I was thinking that the idea of Fantasia was quite innovative for a studio known for its lack of storytelling innovation (they do have a lot of technical innovation, though).
Compared to Studio Ghibli who is in my mind, the foremost animation studio in the world. They are an example of a truly innovative studio, and without them anime (Japanese Animation) as a whole would not be as experimental or willing to try new ideas. American animation is almost always stagnant, never wanting anything that strays too far from the Disney mold. I don’t think a single movie from that studio would get less than 3 stars from me.
Not to mention Disney has the rights to all most all of their films, focusing on Hayao Miyazaki, and have only released two of them (Princess Mononoke and Kiki’s Delivery Service). There are about 10 others that they haven’t released yet. One release Castle in the Sky was advertised to be out on video in 1999, its 2002, the dub is completed, and the idiotic idea of rescoring the music is completed, why aren’t they releasing it? All of these films are very highly acclaimed, two of them are listed on Roger Ebert’s “Great movies”, and they dominate the top spots for best-animated film on the imDb. Princess Mononoke was a box office failure, (in Japan it was its highest grossing movie, until Titantic and Miyazaki’s new Spirited Away took over its spot), but how many of you actually saw advertisements for it? How many of you would take notice at the atrocious poster they used; a giant coin in front of a stylized version of Iron Town, unlike the Japanese Poster which was The Princess Mononoke in front of a wolf with blood smeared across her mouth. How many of you would want to see a movie that you’ve never heard of on television, and had a coin as a poster? I wouldn’t think that very many would want to.
Anyway, back to the movie. This is the one film where Disney tried to experiment beyond their normal formula. Walt Disney after his success of Snow White wanted to take things to the next level for animation. While working with what was then one of the most prolific music conductors of his time, Leopold Stokowski, on an animated short called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” he thought that their should be an entire feature, composed of Animation set to classical music. Not all of the shorts were to follow the set story of the original short. Many of them were images set to music, complementing the music, not overshadowing it. He envisioned a continually changing special motion picture event. It was originally called the ‘Concert Feature’ but Stokowski, recommended the name Fantasia.
Disney was really ambitious with this project. He wanted to sell it as a special “Roadshow” production. A Roadshow was a special release of a film. Ticket prices were higher, and they were actually reserved. People often would dress up for roadshows and they were seen as more formal filmgoing events. Another ambition was a type of sound system that could better simulate a concert experience. This system was called Fantasound, and it was the first stereophonic sound system (aka surround sound) ever invented. It wouldn’t be until the 1980s (I believe) that this sort of sound system would become commonplace.
This is would cause problems for Disney, since the system cost over $87,000 for a theatre to install, and remember this is 1940, the entire film cost only $2 million (in today’s money it would be upwards of $100mil). Most theatres were not able to afford the elaborate system, so this limited the number of places that could show the film. Add to this the fact that the film initially received bad reviews from music critics (who were mad about some of the creative retellings of stories songs were supposed to tell, and about cuts made for time), and that World War 2 started not long after its release, the film was a flop.
It did eventually get a mainstream release with a large chunk edited out (it was only 80min vs. 120min). This was also a failure, because people were expecting another movie like Snow White, and got something completely different. It wasn’t until the 1960s when it was marketed as psychedelic (dancing mushrooms, swirling colors) did the film actually make any decent money. By the 1990 release the film made enough money for a lackluster sequel (soon to be reviewed by me) called Fantasia 2000.
The movie isn’t really one whole movie, but rather a collection of animated shorts of varying quality. I will divide this review into each short.
Toccata in Fugue
Directed by Sam Armstrong (also Nutcracker)
*****
An impressive beginning that really draws you into this film. It gradually builds to an abstract world. This is abstract animation, with no real story (unlike the so-called abstract animation in Fantasia 2000) or no real construct. It has been dumbed down from the German experimental animations that it paid homage to (Sky was added on the landscape scene, shapes were made to look like objects.). This segment is by far the hardest to review, but it works. It works because the music and the animation flow together well, and the transition from this world to the real world and back is masterfully done.
Nutcracker Suite
****
The second segment of Fantasia is quite different than the story that the music was intended for. It was redone as a tale of nature and the swirling of seasons, versus the familiar story about a nutcracker. This segment is simply beautiful. Pretty colors, amazing effects (that modern Disney animation could never capture). Of note is the segment where several mushrooms dance around. Everything fits well with the music, and the reinterpretation is done in such a good manner that it doesn’t reduce the impact of the music.
Rite of Spring
Directed by Bill Roberts and Paul Shatterfield
*****
This is my favorite segment of Fantasia. The reason why I think it’s that way, is because it is so far removed from Disney’s stereotypes. Even though the music was supposed to be representative of primitive man, Disney rethinks it as a telling of the history of our planet. Even though the meaning was changed from the original, in my opinion, it works with the music just as well. It takes a route that was somewhat controversial in the 1940s, it fully espouses the Theory of Evolution.
The first segment is a little too slow, showing the formation of the earth from a cloud of gas. The second segment was interesting with all of the lava, one of my favorite effects was the swirling colors given off through the volcanoes. The third sequence is when things start to get more interesting. It shows a progression of the evolution of life underwater. I really love how it transitions between the different eras, the music flares up and in a cloud of dust another time passed. My only problem with this part is that it is disjointed with the next segment, it jumps from the first life on land, to dinosaurs.
The next two segments are easily my favorite part of Fantasia. Even though the dinosaurs occasionally seem way too human, for the most part they are portrayed in a cold animal like behavior. One great sequence involves a bunch of pterodactyls searching for prey, until one of them becomes prey due to a sea creature. Another excellent scene features a Tyrannosaurus Rex chasing after prey. Oddly it starts storming the moment the T-Rex arrives, but this really makes the scene more intense. A large group of dinosaurs run away but one is eventually trapped. This is the most exciting sequence I’ve ever seen animated in a Disney movie. It is a scene where the T-Rex and its prey fight to the death. The prey attacks the T-Rex several times, but eventually the T-Rex proves too much for it, and it falls to its death. I cheered, I was sure that Disney would sugarcoat it and make it so that the prey actually survived, instead, it was killed in a fantastic death. What makes it all the more exciting is how well it is animated, the animation really creates a tension. Few other “full-animation” animated movies (Watership Down, Akira, Miyazaki’s giant fish fight in Horus the Prince of the Sun) compare to the intensity of this segment *.
The next segment is a spectacularly directed scene showing the starvation and death of all the dinosaurs. Some of them are trapped in mud struggling to get free, others drop due to exhaustion and starvation. Dust blows all over the place, making the Earth a baren wasteland. The final sequence is a little odd (I was expecting more of a history) but well animated. It shows the destructive power of earth, mountains rising contents moving. Congratulations to Directors Bill Roberts and Paul Shatterfield for giving us a sequence that was really well done. It is totally different from anything else I’ve seen from Disney, it is cold, intense, and well put together. (As opposed to sappy, sugary and sloppy, the Disney Magic™ norm).
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Directed By James Algar
****
This is probably the best known segment of Fantasia. It was actually the short that sparked the idea of making Fantasia into a movie. Most people, even people who haven’t seen fantasia are familiar with this segment. It is the only part of this film that has a definite story. The short is a classic for a good reason, the music and the story meld very well, and it is a genuinely solid production. My favorite part has to be where the brooms are chopped in half and come back together. The story is very familiar to most, this is the short where Mickey Mouse is the apprentice of a sorcerer who goes a little over his head. Not my favorite short, but a solid and mildly amusing segment. Better than the average Disney cartoon. (Which weren’t my favorite of the Golden Age that would go to MGM with their Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery shorts). I think the biggest problem I have reviewing this comes from the fact that I’ve seen this a lot, it certainly is unforgettable, but maybe I’ve seen this segment a few times too many.
The Sound Track
****
Another difficult to review segment. It really is just a visual representation of various sounds, which is a good idea. I have no huge problems with this segment, and it is by far the shortest of the group.
The Pastoral Symphony
Directed by Hamilton Luske, Jim Handely, and Ford Beebe
*
This segment really makes me want to puke. It is way too cutesy and too long! Their were a couple of scenes that would be considered controversial in the 1940s (in fact Disney had to cut out a lot of the nudity, but not all, in order to get an MPAA certification, as this was prior to the movie rating system, and strict censorship codes were in place.) But other than that, this is just your typical Disney cutesy short. On the flip side there are a couple of scenes that are too controversial for today’s audiences (Wow! one Conservative censorship, one Liberal). Disney says that the film is uncut, it doesn’t mean that it is truly unedited. Some of the centaurs were black and looked goofy, definitely not PC. Zooming in really close on the head of the centaurs cut these ‘racial stereotypes’ out. It involves a bunch of over-cute Greek gods flying around, and some drunken fat guy in the middle. Not worth your time, at least the animation is good.
The Dance of the Hours
Directed by Norm Ferguson, and Thorton Hee
***
The Dance of the Horus, a song that I knew from The Simpsons as Camp Granada. I couldn’t help but hear that song when I listened to this music. According to the documentry that came on the DVD this was an overused classical piece at the time. It was used in a lot of “Dance number” movies that were popular in the 1930s. It was used so much that Disney decided to make fun of it. My problem with this short, is that I never really cared too much for Disney’s humor, it really isn’t good enough. Had Tex Avery (who Disney really didn’t like at all) directed this short this would have been quite funny.
What is in this short is quite goofy though. The gracefulness of hippos and classiness of ostriches performing ballet is good material. Unfortunately it needed a director like Avery to really make it funny, add a punch that I thought was missing. Not a bad short, but kind of forgettable.
Night on Bald Moutain
Directed by Wilfred Jackson (also the adjoining Ave Maria)
*****
The finale to Fantasia is a big one. It demonstrates Disney’s black and white view of good and evil, but it does so with a lot more passion than any of his other films. The first part shows the evil depths of hell and despair. The final part shows faith and light.
This segment is very impressive, the strongest aspect is how menacing the Mountain Demon is (who may possibly be the Devil). During the documentary that came with the DVD I saw some of the pre-production drawings of the demon. The animation is on par with the excellent drawings, something that often gets lost in the transition. What I really like about this segment is how menacing the demon is, you can literally feel his evil. The only other work I’ve seen Disney do that compares is the Horned King in The Black Cauldron. The other monsters are exquisitely animated, some of them look ghastly and well done, but there is something that prevents most of them from being really creepy. I don’t know if it is the movement, or the way there drawn. Fantastic effects fill the screen, swirling colors, flames, and dark evil stares, all to an intense classical piece of music. Overall an excellent short.
Ave Maria
***
The Demon is subdued by church bells and light. The end of Fantasia was originally much more religious ending with the Virgin Mary. I’m glad that they replaced that with a more universal symbol of a sun rising, for it makes the scene have more of a meaning with more people. This segment contains some of the greatest “camera” work I’ve seen in Animation, topped only by Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Stink Bomb” segment in Memories* (which was 20 minutes with one continuos shot, of course CGI really helped). This long pan was about a minute long, but very well put together. You sort of feel the power of the people slowly trudging along. I read somewhere that this scene almost didn’t make into the film, they had to finish it just hours before the premiere of the film. Despite this shot and the beautiful music, I found this short to be a little long, a little dull and not nearly as memorable as the Night on Bald Mountain.
Final
Overall an impressive work, some flaws, but probably Disney’s best. I really didn’t have too much respect for good ol’ Uncle Walt prior to seeing this. I thought that he thought that animation was a medium only for children. I was wrong. Walt really wanted to see more done with animation. It is a real shame that this was a failure. With its failure, Disney didn’t experiment any more on an Artistic level, only innovated with technology, which seems to be the only concern with most Western animation these days. His company grew increasingly arrogant and thus, we see a bunch of terrible films. Had Fantasia been more successful, would animation be more respected? Would American film critics who ignorantly discredit Miyazaki’s animation, discrediting him, because animation should not deal with complex themes or experiment with new ideas? Would many people actually not pass animated films at the theatre knowing that they could be quality? It brings up a lot of interesting questions. It’s a shame that Walt’s Dream had never been realized. The sequel to this film is a poor fluffy slick piece of nothing. The only film that I’m willing to respect Disney for is this one and this one alone. It is a shame there couldn’t be more.
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* Watership Down is a British film about a society of Rabbits, it is somber and excellent. While not quite full animation (but the closest you’ll see to it in anime) Akira is an intense ride through a city filled with anarchy and chaos (shame the story was lacking). Memories is an anthology by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo featuring some of Japan’s best talent (outside of Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli). Horus the Prince of the Sun was the first film to break away from the previous Disney-like stereotypes. It was the first film from Isao Takahata, and Miyazaki directed many key parts such as a spectacular battle with a giant fish. I will soon write a review of Watership Down, Memories and Horus can both be found in my article about Great anime not released in America, and the rest are found throughout my reviews.
Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: DVD Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8
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