As we continue on our journey to watch every movie produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, we are introduced to a film that has a unique premise compared to the company’s previous motion pictures. This distinctive movie, Fantasia, was released in 1940 and is vastly different from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio because its story consists of multiple short stories instead of one prolonged narrative. Fantasia has multiple segments to showcase the studio’s artistic talents and how they can utilize them to provide unique visual interpretations of classical music pieces, creating an ideal balance of beautiful sights and sounds. Since this movie does not follow the typical format of a singular and continuous story, I have decided to alter the structure of this particular blog post. I will begin by combining the analysis and the rating sections because while this movie is a noteworthy accomplishment for the Disney company, I find that I do not have as much material to comment on compared to their previous two films due to the lack of dialogue and the movie’s prioritization of impressive imagery over an overarching storyline. Nevertheless, let’s discuss the different segments that makeup Fantasia and see if they each hold up with the film’s timeless reputation.
Analysis and Rating
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach: 6/10 ✨✨✨✨✨✨
Toccata and Fugue serves as an introduction to the film’s synergy of music and animation. I was fascinated to see the Disney animators’ visual interpretations of the piece. It was interesting to see the beginning of the segment feature some simplistic symbols such as sparkles and glowing orbs and then display more complex images with shimmering lines, vibrant splotches of color, and bright beams of light. Overall a great start to the movie that showcases what the remainder of the film will look like which is to synchronize the notes of classical music with captivating imagery. However, this segment, while it fulfills its role as a prelude for the film’s other animated sections, has a very simplistic premise and is not as grand or memorable compared to the rest of the movie. For these reasons, I have decided to give Toccata and Fugue a lower rating.
The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 8/10 🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
I found The Nutcracker Suite to be very engaging. Each of the environments presented in the segment are beautiful and I love how it emphasizes the enchanting qualities of nature. Having fairies be in charge of changing the seasons was also a clever choice because it fits with the enthralling and dazzling settings this segment is striving to create. The scenes taking place between the fairies changing the different seasons are also very appealing. I particularly liked the Dance of the Reed Flutes and Russian Dance scenes and I believe this is mainly due to my fascination with the animators’ abilities to give flowers humanoid characteristics. It was impressive to see how the flowers’ movements were reminiscent of human dancers and that they were also capable of dancing in a lively and jovial manner. The rest of the sections in The Nutcracker Suite also depict a cheerful atmosphere due to their bright colors and the graceful, energetic movements of all the plant and animal dancers. In general, I found the pretty scenery in The Nutcracker Suite to be very enjoyable and this segment is definitely one of my personal favorites from the movie.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas: 8/10 🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is another segment that I found to be entertaining to watch. I really liked how this segment had a more structured story where Mickey Mouse is so desperate to practice magic, that he borrows the sorcerer’s hat and casts a spell on a broom to finish his chore of filling a cauldron with water. This choice allows him to have more time to indulge in his desire to cast spells instead of completing the task he was assigned. Unfortunately, Mickey’s plan backfires when he miscalculates how much instruction he needs to provide the broom, leading the broom to flood the room due to it constantly filling up the cauldron. It was intriguing to see how Mickey’s situation becomes more hectic as the segment progresses. He attempts to chop up the broom to prevent it from continuing the chore, only for the remaining scraps of wood to morph into more brooms determined to continue their duty of filling the cauldron, making the mouse’s dilemma more chaotic. When the Sorcerer, Yen Sid, witnesses what Mickey has done, he is able to use his magic to quickly put a stop to the mess his student has made and confronts Mickey. One of the elements that stand out to me the most in this section is the relationship between Yen Sid and Mickey. Even though they never say a word to each other, it is evident that Yen Sid has an intimidating presence due to his composed demeanor and stern facial expressions. His formidable appearance makes Mickey feel regret for the trouble he has caused and the segment ends with him returning to his task of retrieving water for the cauldron, with Yen Sid smacking him with a broom to make him move more efficiently. The effective portrayal of Mickey and Yen Sid’s dynamic and the construction of the story make this segment very memorable and is undoubtedly worth watching at least once.
Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky: 4/10 🦕🦕🦕🦕
Yeah…this section of the film was not one of my favorites. I thought the premise was very interesting and the segment did an adequate job of exhibiting the development of life on Earth, starting with single-celled organisms, then marine creatures, and ending with the reign and extinction of the dinosaurs. However, while I did like the concept and the Disney animators provided a satisfactory portrayal of this concept, I found The Rite of Spring to be very tedious and it did not have very beautiful imagery like most of the musical sections in this film. I understand that organisms and dinosaurs are not commonly regarded as pretty or appealing to the eye, but one of the main things I enjoyed about some of the sections in Fantasia is the pleasant images the animators procured to synchronize with their corresponding pieces of classical music. Unfortunately, I struggled to see the beauty in dinosaurs killing each other and inevitably dying out, so my rating of this segment is drastically low compared to the other sections in this movie.
Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack: 6/10 🎻🎺🥁🎻🎺🥁
Similar to Toccata and Fugue, this section serves as a simple demonstration of the movie’s endeavor to create symmetry between animation and music. This balance is displayed through the soundtrack’s visual interpretations of the sounds produced by various musical instruments. It was interesting to see how the animators decided to portray the different beats and chimes through the soundtrack by making softer-sounding instruments like the harp appear as soft ripples and louder instruments like the bass drum look more imposing with the use of dark circles and bright shocks of light. I was also fascinated to see that the colors of the soundtrack tend to get deeper when lower notes are played, a small but effective detail in the segment. Generally, a fun and straightforward segment, however, since it is relatively simple compared to other parts of the film, I felt the need to not give it a very high rating.
The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven: 8/10 🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄🦄
I found The Pastoral Symphony to be very pleasant. The colors in this segment are very bright and vibrant and the overall tone is generally pretty playful. I especially liked watching the unicorns and the pegasi. They are so adorable with my personal favorite being the little black pegasus due to his determination to fly like the rest of the pegasi and his loving relationship with his mother. I also found it charming that the animators made the pegasi behave similar to birds with the mother pegasus and her children residing in a nest and their ability to float around on water like ducks. In regards to the centaurs, I did find their efforts to find love mildly engaging but I did not find this portion of the segment to be as appealing as the unicorns and the pegasi. Honestly, I kind of wish that all of The Pastoral Symphony was dedicated to the horses and their cute antics instead of spending so much time on the centaurs looking for romantic partners and partying with Bacchus the god of wine. However, the centaurs’ activities do fit well with the carefree atmosphere of the segment so I will concede that their presence is tolerable. As the party continues, Zeus shows up and creates a storm to sabotage Bacchus and the centaurs’ festivities. Since most of the segment focuses on everyone having fun, it was intriguing to watch everyone quickly change from being cheerful to frightened as they retreat from Zeus’s storm. Luckily, Zeus also likes to have an easygoing approach to life since he chooses to stop his storm and take a nap after he has released all of his frustration. The blissful environment we have seen for most of the segment returns and the goddess, Iris appears to spread a rainbow across the sky, causing everyone to become jovial again. Finally, The Pastoral Symphony concludes with other gods creating the transition from day to night with Apollo making the sun set, Morpheus bringing forth the evening sky, and Diana shooting an arrow to shower the sky with stars, allowing the characters in the segment to fall asleep. I found this segment to be entertaining and I believe it has some of the most beautiful imagery in the entire film, therefore, I think it is worthy of having a high rating.
Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli: 6/10 🦛🐊🦛🐊🦛🐊
One of the main things I like about Dance of the Hours is that it takes on a more comedic tone compared to the other segments in Fantasia. The participants taking part in this dance are numerous animals including, ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators. Each of these species section off to perform a dance corresponding to a certain part of the day with the ostriches performing in the dawn, the hippos around noon, the elephants in the early evening, and the alligators during the dark hours of the night. I really liked the variety of animals that were used in this segment and how the animators made each of the animals’ movements unique to the physicality of their species. Some examples of these distinct movements are when the ostriches used their tail feathers to assist in launching their lead dancer into the air or when the elephants used their trucks to make bubbles so they could add an air of creativity and innovation to their routine. Another element in this segment that I enjoyed is the relatively humorous scene where one of the alligators is infatuated with one of the hippos and the hippo decides to playfully reciprocate the alligator’s affections. Unfortunately, I was not particularly fond of the segment’s ending. I did not like how Dance of the Hours concludes with the alligators chasing after the other animals and the palace they were dancing in ends up getting destroyed. For some reason those two things make me feel uncomfortable. Also, while I found this segment to be entertaining, I found the more aesthetic segments like The Nutcracker Suite and The Pastoral Symphony to be slightly more enjoyable to watch so I am giving Dance of the Hours a lower rating for this reason.
Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and Ave Maria by Franz Schubert: 8/10 😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈
The Night on Bald Mountain segment has a drastically different mood and setting compared to the other sections in the movie. The artistry displayed in the segment is very impressive and engaging, even though it has haunting imagery instead of the usual bright, cheery atmosphere that is found in most of the segments in Fantasia. One of the most disturbing qualities in Night on Bald Mountain is Chernabog, the giant devil who resides on top of a mountain and summons dead spirits from their graves and demonic creatures so he can toy with them. It was both intriguing and horrifying to see the souls of the dead emerge from their resting places with some of them coming out of their graves while the rest of them came from other places associated with death such as the gallows or bodies of water. I also found it interesting that each of the dead souls had a unique appearance. Each of them is skeletal but they also have their own set of special features such as having horns protruding from their heads, beak-like mouths, or they wear long flowing cloaks. When the souls reach the mountain, Chernabog begins to gather a large number of evil creatures so he can play with them for his own amusement. Chernabog does not care if he causes any pain to the creatures so he throws them into a fire and morphs their physical appearances, showing he does not care about the well-being of others as long as he can have fun. As Chernabog continues to tinker with his followers, he is suddenly interrupted by the sound of a bell tolling, prompting the devil and his minions to retreat to their resting places. The segment then transitions to a procession of monks holding candles as Ave Maria plays in the background. Choosing to have the segment begin with a menacing devil and other sinful souls performing immoral actions and end it with a group of monks walking through a forest holding sources of light, allows the segment to conclude with a feeling of hopefulness. This sentiment is emphasized when the last scene in the segment is a beautiful landscape and the sun rising over a set of hills, showing beauty can be found in the world, not just hideousness. Altogether, this segment is a great ending to the film and it has some of the most memorable imagery. Definitely one of the segments I will recommend for other people to watch.
Now that I have covered each of the segments individually, let’s get to the final ranking of Fantasia.
Ranking
This movie is worthy of its reputation of being Walt Disney’s timeless masterpiece. It contains several noteworthy segments that have lovely scenes and thought-provoking narratives. Unfortunately, despite these elements, I did not find the format of Fantasia to be very engaging. I could not watch this movie in one sitting. It was hard for me to pay attention after watching a few segments no matter how beautiful the imagery was on screen. Due to the boredom I experienced while watching this movie I sadly feel the need to put it on the bottom of the ranking list for now. Stay tuned next time when I share my thoughts on Dumbo! Hopefully, they will be slightly more positive. 😅
- Pinocchio
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Fantasia