Fantasia 2000

The phrase "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" oddly enough fits this film, since Fantasia 2000 is very much a marriage of classical music to animation much like the original film was.

Fantasia 2000 oddly enough has a pretty nice introduction. I really enjoyed seeing clips of the older film passing by as the narrator discussed Fantasia. The very first piece we are introduced to is "Symphony Number 5" and features abstract butterflies and bats who explore a world of light and darkness. This piece has several visually pleasing bits to it, including two butterflies playing with water, as well as the bats. It makes for a nice introduction to the movie, though the best is yet to come.

After the first sequence concludes we are introduced to Steve Martin who, sadly, is the first of our celebrity narrators. This constant shift of narrators is rather jarring, even more so when a number of them are simply obnoxious or feel like they aren't being used very well. Often the camera will pan away mid-speech, which only adds to the annoyance, after all why have these people here if we aren't going to focus on them for their whole piece?

With that out of the way we then move into our second sequence, Pines of Rome. This one is rather iffy for me. While it does look great visually, it does hit a lull in the middle when the young whale becomes lost in an iceberg. The visual appearance does help to keep the interest as we are treated to pleasing backgrounds, but it does slow things down until the climax - which is the part I enjoyed most.

The Steadfast Soldier, much like the preceding shorts, is enjoyable enough. This one does have a more 'Disney' feel to it, taking a well known story and giving it a twist for a happy ending. Much like the bats from Symphony Number 5, the rats here were rather neat visually.

Rhapsody in Blue follows the lives of several New Yorkers, their stories interweaving with each other. Their melancholy lives are easy to relate to, which only makes the resolution at the end rather satisfying as each story wraps up.

What happens when you give a flock of flamingos a yo-yo? Well we find out in this rather brisk feeling sequence. The watercolor animation is enjoyable and helps to give the short it's own identity.

Pomp and Circumstance is where the animation really felt great for me. Seeing the opening bit with all the animals looked great, and it stayed consistent at that level through the sequence. There were a couple of gags that actually made me giggle, such as the two ducks staring at Donald Duck and watching a ton of rabbits pour out of the Ark at the end.

Now we reach the final short of the new batch. The Firebird Suite is nothing short of awesome for me and it works as a great finale to the film as a whole. It's... rather hard to fully put things into words for this short. There's a ton of great pieces in it including the cherry blossoms and the expressions upon both the Elk and the Sprite. For now I will leave it simply as "Gorgeous and a great ending"

So that concludes Fantasia 2000. The entire film does have the perk of each sequence having it's own unique identity from the different styles of animation used. Ultimately though.... a number of the sequences just aren't "Wow" worthy and the jarring transitions can be quite tiresome.

3/5 Stars.