Fantasia 2000 was such a breath of fresh air. The movie opens with Leopold Stokowski's opening naration from the first Fantasia. The film brings in the original animation from the opening Tocatta in D Sequence, and as the sound waterfalls through the clouds and to the ground, the animation changes into a burst of color and we see a group of colorful triangles floating like butterflies. They fly around and are chased by an ominous cloud of black "bat" triangles. It's thrilling and gorgeous and a wonderful introduction to a new Fantasia. We then meet our first in a series of celebrity cameos as Steve Martin explains the original vision for Fantasia was an ever evolving work of art, with new and old pieces changing all the time. Then we get into the pieces:
1. Toccata in D reimagined- 8/10 - I already spoke about this above, but it really is a beautiful melding of the old and new (and a refreshing change from the revolting animation in Oliver and Company)
2. Pines of Rome - 7/10 - This isn't my favorite piece, but it is still a stunning, sureal vision of the artic ocean. We get flying whales, swimming birds, and some great shots of icebergs and the northern lights
3. Rhapsody in Blue - 11/10 - This is hands down my Favorite. It starts with that long clarinet note and one line on the screen which turns into the New York City skyline in the 1930's. We get to see a day in the life of several characters across the city: A young construction worker who wants to be a musician, a man looking for work, a rich husband with an overbearing wife, and a precocious young girl who doesn't quite fit in. It's thrilling, heartfelt, and all set to an all-time American classic.
4. Steadfast Tin Soldier - 9/10 - This Hans Christian Anderson tale uses an interesting mix of what looks like hand drawn and computer animation. The story is very sweet and a great reminder that a Jack-in-the-box is creepy and probably wants to steal your girlfriend and murder you. Because that's how they roll... Jerks.
5. Carnival of the animals - 9/10 - What happens when you give a flamingo a yo-yo? About 2 minutes of slapstick genius, that's what.
6. Sorcerer's Apprentice - 10/10 - I think they brought this one back mostly for the people whose attention span would never let them get through the 2+ hours of Fantasia. That's ok, because this piece is a classic
7. pomp and circumstance - 10/10 - Noah's Ark starring Donald and Daisy duck. Donald proves once again that he is the true talent and that Mickey has been riding his coattails for the last 80 years. It's funny and clever and so well done that you forget that this song is actually quite insufferable on its own.
8. The Firebird - 7/10 - And then we end on a lower note. This is a fine little piece about a spirit of nature and her struggle against the destructive and terrible Firebird. It's not that this is bad, but the imagery brings to mind to far superior Night on Bald Mountain from the original.
Overall, this is a much shorter Fantasia, but I think this might be a better length for this type of film. Between the two films, we get enough truly stunning and visionary animation that I hope that we get another installment someday, hopefully with installments featuring the Pixar studio and Studio Ghibli.
9/10
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