Fantasia 2000 (2000, VHS)

When I was a pup, the only music in the house was classical music. My father had (still has, actually) nearly 1,000 albums (LPs and CDs), and his love for classical music has rubbed off on us. We all love classical music now, and I'm grateful for the years of unwilling culture he forced down our throats. Fantasia and Snow White were the only two Disney movies he ever liked, and as a result we'd see them every time they came to the theatres.

When I heard about Fantasia 2000, I was skeptical....could they successfully replace segments from the original with new material? Would the animators of today be able to produce something on a mar with the masterpiece that I loved so much?

Well, when I was in Las Vegas, we stopped by the IMAX and took a gander at what the Animators had to offer us in 2000, and I was...impressed. But not blown away. I loved the selections of music they chose, and much of the animation. Here's my rundown of the individual sequences:

*Beethoven's 5th* --An absolute masterpiece of music, of course, I loved the abstract butterflies-to-bats animation that was placed with it. A wonderful juxtaposition of light and darkness, good and evil, to go with the romanticism of Beethoven's most popular and well-known work.

*Pines of Rome* --music I hadn't heard in a while, but very majestic, and probably my favorite piece of the entire film. I don't know whose idea it was to use whales with this, but it worked so beautifully and was so surprising that I just goggled at the screen in wonder. When the whales begin to fly, it's just a natural progression in the music and the story of the whale family. If I had tear ducts, I would have wept.

*Rhapsody in Blue* --my least favorite piece of music, and my least favorite animation in the film. I never have liked this Gershwin piece, which makes me feel musically immature, but I don't care much for that period of American music. I know that this piece was the favorite of many critics, but I just didn't like it. This is where I'd go find popcorn if I were to watch it again. The animation is jarring, especially after the darker pieces which precede it. I usually like this sort of Chuck Jones-ey animation, very 2-dimensional and with a limited palette; the music and the animation just didn't jive very well for me.

*Steadfast Tin Soldier* --one of my favorite bedtime stories, finally rendered by Disney. I was pleased with most of this tale, but was jarred by the happy ending; The soldier is supposed to die with the ballerina at the end of the story....but since this is Disney (who didn't kill the Little Mermaid like the Hans Christensen Andersen story does either...), I guess the happy ending is obligatory. Music and story blended very well.

*Carnival of the Animals* --the flamingo and yo-yo sequence. Bah. I thought it was WAY too derivative of the Hippo-and-Alligator ballet in the original Fantasia, and I didn't enjoy it at all. After it was over, some guy behind me just said "hunh". That's how I felt. If they want to do a carbon copy of the original, they should just do it. I would have prefered something more original. And for the record, I love yo-yos. And flamingos.

*The Sorcerer's Apprentice* --still works well, although the animation is very dark and was somewhat blurry; could be that it works better on traditional screens than IMAX? The only time in my life I've liked Mickey Mouse. Don't get me started on THAT.

*Pomp and Circumstance* --I DO like Donald Duck, and putting the music to the story of Noah's Ark worked surprisingly well. This piece was one of my favorites, and if I remember right, I think I may have gotten a little teary eyed when Donald and Daisy were reunited. Dork. A great blend of traditional animation with the music.

*Firebird* --the legend of a Phoenix brought to life...the animation was very "Princess Mononoke"ish, but I really enjoyed this. The music is full of passion and fire, and the animation matches it. I found it interesting that The Powers That Be ended Fantasia 2000 with the same flavor that ended Fantasia, and I found it entirely appropriate. The same tale of death and life that was found in "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" is in "Firebird", just in a different form. Not a rip-off, but possibly an homage. I enjoyed this sequence very much.

On the whole, I enjoyed Fantasia 2000; the interspersed introductions by people like Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury were rather startling (seeing Ms. Lansbury in IMAX is something I may never recover from), but were appreciated; and I learned things I hadn't thought about. The first two and last two segments were by far my favorites; a combination of my musical and visual tastes, I suppose.

It was also a relatively short film--I don't know if it's our shorter attention spans or if they just didn't feel they could fill two hours, but I would have enjoyed a few more pieces (unless they were more Gershwin...).

I hope they continue releasing future Fantasias...I'd much rather see an imperfect Fantasia every ten years or so than two mediocre Disney movies every year. I was intrigued by some of the suggestions for future Fantasias, including a "Ride of the Valkyries"--there's enough music out there for a hundred more--is there enough imagination in the mouse house? Disney should thin out their animation division and wait for a story worth animating. Fantasia should be an ongoing project, a tradition that we look forward to and enjoy again and again.