Fantasia

Fantasia. Months ago I started this blog with Fantasia 200, and what better way to end the first series of movies than with the original classic? Fantasia is one of those very unique pieces that the studio produced, as well as unique in the way that I have grown up with this film. Fantasia is one of those pieces that is considered art, and as such it does tend to be a bit tedious for the younger generations who don't always want to sit through a film quite like this. Growing up, I was one of those kids. Whenever I did watch this film, I often found myself fast forwarding several segments to get to the ones I liked the most if I even had the attention span to be bothered. Now as an adult, I truly appreciate this film, all of the hard work that was put into it, and walk away with a lot of respect for Fantasia. Obviously I do have some partial bias now, given my blog name, and that is a sign of just how far I've come since I was a kid who quite often couldn't make it through the first half of this film.

Now that I'm done rambling on, it's time to dive right in and go over each of the segments themselves. First up is Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. This segment is one of the ones I used to hate sitting through as a kid simply because I never cared about the abstract imagery being shown. As an adult, this segment isn't really one of my favorites but it is still visually interesting to watch and really helps to get the film going on a good note.

The second segment we come across is the Nutcracker Suite, which highlights the changing of the seasons through various means. This is one of my favorites. I have always loved watching the sprites work their magic, creating dew filled fields of flowers and skating upon the ice. The entire segment is a visual treat and tells a rather loose story of the seasons changing, just enough to keep it all tied together in comparison to our first segment.

Moving along, we reach the segment which I am sure everyone remembers the best. I am, of course, talking about the Sorcerers Apprentice, starring none other than Mickey Mouse. Who doesn't love this segment? Watching Mickey dream of being a wizard equal to his master, and learning the hard way of how easily things can go wrong is still entertaining even to this day. Perhaps an overlooked thing by casual movie viewers, is that Mickey's master does have the name Yen Sid which is "Disney" backwards. I never quite caught on to this until I did a bit of reading and thought it was a rather neat addition.

Our fourth segment is the Rite of Spring. This segment is an odd one. On the one hand I have always loved watching the dinosaurs roam the earth, and especially enjoyed the fight between the T-Rex and the Stegosaurus. On the other hand, the opening and closing do feel a bit slower to me, and when I was younger the opening especially felt too long. Regardless, it is still an interesting look at the history of Earth's evolution

Now we reach the Pastoral Symphony. This has always been one of my favorites of Fantasia simply because of the heavy use of ancient Greece. The Pastoral Symphony simply has it all, from the courtship of the centaurs, the fauns, the unicorns, the pegasus families, to the various Greek gods and goddesses. This segment has everything going for it in order to keep my attention. The colors are vibrant and enjoyable, and the backgrounds themselves are quite beautiful to watch. I know what most readers are thinking. "What about the deleted character?" Yes. There is a deleted centaur female named Sunflower, who was removed because of the heavy racial stereotyping, and racist manner in which she was incorporated. In later years, this character was removed, and to those with a much better eye than myself, are able to point out the parts where she was removed and how to spot it. Do I agree with the removal? Well, yes and no. I do fully understand why she was removed, and respect that choice. On the other hand, it does raise the question of "How can we learn from this mistake by pretending it never happened?" However, this is a can of worms better suited for another post.

Moving on, we reach the Dance of the Hours. This segment, much to my shame, is one of the segments I don't really remember that well. To be honest, it was quite a miracle for me to make it THIS far viewing the film as a kid, so it really is no wonder that I don't have quite the same nostalgic connection. With that said, the segment itself is actually a very entertaining look at the hours of the day as we see different animals dancing about at first on their own, and then all together in a madcap, chaotic finish.

Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria. What can I possibly say about these two segments to really do them justice? Obviously, I have quite a connection to Night on Bald Mountain and that is largely thanks to Chernabog being such a driving force during this segment. He is a visually powerful character, with facial expressions that easily convey his thoughts with the aid of his actions. This character is quite powerful as well in a magical sense as he is able to draw the dead out of their graves, even if they are on holy ground. Opening his wings at night, the demonic god summons the dead to come swirling up the mountain to him as he allows the creatures of the night to dance and transform to his cruel amusement. The ghosts are varied visually and always interesting to watch. The entire segment is quite dark, and rather scary for a Disney film which is what makes it so much fun for me, especially now as an adult. This segment is also perfectly complimented by Ave Maria which begins to sunrise as Chernabog is forced back into hiding as a mountain peak while beautiful scenes of a forest unfold before us. These final two segments end Fantasia on an extremely good note.

In the end, Fantasia is really well animated and fully worth the couple of hours it takes to sit and watch it. Even though there is no singular plot, or even spoken words during the segments themselves, the entire film still manages to convey so many stories, emotions and thoughts to the audience. This film is easily one of my favorites, not only for Disney but perhaps of all time.

5/5