FantasiaClassical music is beloved for its complexity, range, and ability to stir the imagination, to invoke a reaction in our hearts and minds, transcending barriers of language and nations. At the dawn of animation in movies, music was paired with the action to compliment the story, in keeping with silent movies at the time. The marriage of animation and classical music is at the heart of Walt Disney's Fantasia, a collection of vignettes set to selections of popular classical music, creating a symphonic harmony and unique storytelling experience, part moving artwork, part ballet.
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It could be said that Fantasia is an example of one of the earliest popular forms of an experimental film. Although Walt Disney and his revolutionary animation studio had produced feature length animated films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs prior to Fantasia, here was not only an example of a feature film with a multitude of vignettes--like a collection of the kind of animated shorts which made Mickey Mouse such an icon--but a film which approached the content from a highbrow standpoint, as if to emulate the experience of attending the symphony, hosted by master of ceremonies, Deems Taylor, who introduces each selection with commentary on the action to follow. The seven animated selections are each diverse, as befits the selections of classical music accompanying them. As Deems Taylor comments, at times the music seems to tell a distinct story, and the animation is coordinated so tightly with the score that one feels like the music were composed for the action, and not the other way around. At other times, the imagery is more abstract, a selection of colors and shapes, as if a mood piece more than a narrative, the manifestation of a wandering mind at play. Fantasia was originally born from trying to work arguably the most popular selection of the film--"The Sorcerer's Apprentice", featuring none other than Disney mascot, Mickey Mouse--into a feature-length film. It is itself an excellent inclusion into Fantasia, a story of magic and wonder, ambition and humility, broadening the image of this indelible cartoon mouse further into the global cultural icon he would become. The result was a collection of like-minded animated pieces, a cornucopia of diverse animation, evoking varied moods and defying conventions only recently established by Disney himself about what to expect from an animated film. The nature of the animation varies between the elegant styles and classical beauty of works like Snow White as well as the bouncy, jovial energy similar to Pinocchio. Moments of playful, anthropomorphic hippopotamuses dancing a ballet along with sly alligators is thoroughly comical, while the terrifying climax of lurking devils atop Bald Mountain is chilling and haunting. Scenes of centaurs frolicking with cherubs capture both styles simultaneously, as do the various depictions of the gods of Mount Olympus. The diversity of the animated pieces gives a varied experience, one that is not unlike a fireworks show of light and sound, a showcase of a future where animated films can be taken seriously. The style of Fantasia has also been a major influence on a variety of animated films to follow, including numerous anthology films; one such film, Robot Carnival, even features direct homages to Fantasia.
The presentation of Fantasia as a symphonic performance with a live orchestra and with commentary interjected between selections may seem jarring by today's standards. However, for a film made over three-quarters of a century ago, it should be noted that there was no other film quite like Fantasia at the time. While it may be like a bit of hand-holding for the audience, it is also an opportunity to thin the gulf dividing animation and live-action film. Even though it may seem a throwaway moment, following "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", none other than Mickey Mouse (or his silhouette, at least) comes out to greet conductor Leopold Stokowski, and the two shake hands. In a way, both the conductor and the sorcerer's apprentice are alike, both conjuring their respective magics amid a booming score, waiving their hands to cause swells of dynamic energy; even a conducting baton isn't superficially that different than a magic wand. And the illusion that the orchestra is merely "tuning up" or getting acclimated to perform isn't for their benefit, it is for ours, a fabrication to create the sense that we are attending a symphony, a rare one accompanied by a magical display of animation, an augmentation to our imagination. Even the intermission, which seems unusual for a film of two hours, is a stylistic element as much as it is an opportunity to afford the audience attending Fantasia the opportunity to discuss the experimental film prior to its conclusion, especially useful when the presentation is in part abstract and different from virtually any other movie at the time. Interestingly, while those acquainted with classical music might no doubt be familiar with the selections present in Fantasia, these pieces of music have also become popularized in cinema, perhaps as a result of Fantasia. Selections like "The Pastoral Symphony" by Ludwig van Beethoven is featured prominently in Soylent Green, and "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by Johann Sebastian Bach has been a popular inclusion in horror films like The 1962 film Hammer horror adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. Outside of film, the selections featured in Fantasia have virtually become a part of the contemporary zeitgeist, with selections from "Nutcracker Suite" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky being used in a multitude of trailers for Christmas movie comedies as well as the popular video game, "Tetris". In an ironic turn, many of the musical selections from Fantasia can be found in the surprisingly excellent animated short "Stimpy's Invention", from the television series, "The Ren & Stimpy Show", including "Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli and "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky. Fantasia was popular upon release, although the onset of World War II meant that it initially lost money. During the 1960s, a campaign highlighting psychedelic undertones in Fantasia popularized the film again for a new audience. No matter the audience or the era, Fantasia has made a cultural and aesthetic mark in animation history, its relevance and effect felt throughout the years to follow, influencing creators and audiences onward.
Recommended for: Fans of a beautiful and diverse animated film, whose history and artistry define it as a turning point in film, while remaining a hypnotic and vibrant cornerstone of what made Walt Disney such a master of the craft.
The presentation of Fantasia as a symphonic performance with a live orchestra and with commentary interjected between selections may seem jarring by today's standards. However, for a film made over three-quarters of a century ago, it should be noted that there was no other film quite like Fantasia at the time. While it may be like a bit of hand-holding for the audience, it is also an opportunity to thin the gulf dividing animation and live-action film. Even though it may seem a throwaway moment, following "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", none other than Mickey Mouse (or his silhouette, at least) comes out to greet conductor Leopold Stokowski, and the two shake hands. In a way, both the conductor and the sorcerer's apprentice are alike, both conjuring their respective magics amid a booming score, waiving their hands to cause swells of dynamic energy; even a conducting baton isn't superficially that different than a magic wand. And the illusion that the orchestra is merely "tuning up" or getting acclimated to perform isn't for their benefit, it is for ours, a fabrication to create the sense that we are attending a symphony, a rare one accompanied by a magical display of animation, an augmentation to our imagination. Even the intermission, which seems unusual for a film of two hours, is a stylistic element as much as it is an opportunity to afford the audience attending Fantasia the opportunity to discuss the experimental film prior to its conclusion, especially useful when the presentation is in part abstract and different from virtually any other movie at the time. Interestingly, while those acquainted with classical music might no doubt be familiar with the selections present in Fantasia, these pieces of music have also become popularized in cinema, perhaps as a result of Fantasia. Selections like "The Pastoral Symphony" by Ludwig van Beethoven is featured prominently in Soylent Green, and "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by Johann Sebastian Bach has been a popular inclusion in horror films like The 1962 film Hammer horror adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. Outside of film, the selections featured in Fantasia have virtually become a part of the contemporary zeitgeist, with selections from "Nutcracker Suite" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky being used in a multitude of trailers for Christmas movie comedies as well as the popular video game, "Tetris". In an ironic turn, many of the musical selections from Fantasia can be found in the surprisingly excellent animated short "Stimpy's Invention", from the television series, "The Ren & Stimpy Show", including "Dance of the Hours" by Amilcare Ponchielli and "Night on Bald Mountain" by Modest Mussorgsky. Fantasia was popular upon release, although the onset of World War II meant that it initially lost money. During the 1960s, a campaign highlighting psychedelic undertones in Fantasia popularized the film again for a new audience. No matter the audience or the era, Fantasia has made a cultural and aesthetic mark in animation history, its relevance and effect felt throughout the years to follow, influencing creators and audiences onward.
Recommended for: Fans of a beautiful and diverse animated film, whose history and artistry define it as a turning point in film, while remaining a hypnotic and vibrant cornerstone of what made Walt Disney such a master of the craft.