Fantasia 2000

Fantasia / Fantasia 2000

2-Movie DVD & Blu-Ray Collection

Part 2 - Fantasia 2000

The Film Itself

Fantasia 2000 is the sequel that almost never was. I touched on it in my last review, but forgot to fully address what Walt Disney had originally planned for the Fantasia franchise. Over time, Disney wanted to release sequels to Fantasia adding and subtracting different scenes to create a different, new, and exciting experience to the mix. This would have happened, IF the original Fantasia had gone over just a little bit better. At the time, even musical experts could not agree on whether or not animation should ever mix with classical music.

Personally, I believe that Fantasia pushed the envelope a little too far. Maybe they should have nixed the intermission piece and just done a Mary Poppins-style title card for the intermission and then continued afterwards. Hindsight is 20/20 and I am no expert, but that’s just my thoughts.

Anyway, Fantasia 2000 came about due to a bit of nostalgia (and no small amount of marketing) from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Disney Animation Studios even has the Sorcerer’s hat in front. So, instead of disappearing into Disney obscurity (like the Great Mouse Detective, Rescuers Down Under, and Robin Hood) a sequel was made that featured celebrities, mostly new features, and…a flamingo with a yo-yo?

There are a lot of things that sort of confuse me about this film. I can kind of understand James Earl Jones’ connection with Disney (voice of Mufasa from Lion King). However, Penn and Teller? Steve Martin? Bette Midler? Where did they come from and who wrote their far-less-interesting-than Deems Taylor introductory speeches? Steve Martin in particular is just not funny. I was forcing myself to laugh at his schtick just because it was Steve friggin’ Martin! How do you mess that up?

My second problem is that the shorts are great, but lack a strong theme. In the originalm Toccata and Fugue was abstract art, Nutcracker Suite showed the change of seasons, Sorcerer’s Apprentice was about the fallacy of youth, the Rite of Spring was a depiction of Earth from the beginning, the intermission should have been dodged, the Pastoral Symphony was about a small feud between Greek Gods, Dance of the Hours was a comedy showcasing the feel of different times of day, and Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria was about the very basic good vs. evil.

Now let’s take a look at F2000. It starts off abstract with Symphony #5 which becomes a good vs. evil story. Pines of Rome was about flying whales. Rhapsody in Blue was about being hopeful in hard times. Piano Concerto #2 is a retell of the Steadfast Tin Soldier with a Disney-esque happy ending. The Carnival of the Animals is the yo-yoing flamingo who I guess could be stretched into a tale about bucking tradition (kind of a stretch). The Sorcerer’s Apprentice makes a much needed return to take a break from the silliness. Then, of course, we jump right back on the silly train to watch Donald Duck slapstick his way through the story of Noah’s flood while searching for Daisy Duck (set to the tune of graduation-staple Pomp and Circumstance). Finally, the Firebird Suite, which comes out of nowhere and amazes with a story about nature and disaster.

If you couldn’t tell, there are parts I like more than others and yes, I have to compare this to the original because it tries so desperately to follow in its footsteps. Perhaps if they’d stuck with the Musicana title instead of trying to re-create magic of another, stronger variety, I would enjoy it more and forgive more of the flaws. Let me be clear and say that this is still a fairly good movie and each short is wonderful to watch (even if I have to skip the introductions).

The Menu and Features

The Blu-Ray menu, like I accidentally covered in my first post, is the same as the one for Fantasia but with scenes from Fantasia 2000. The music during the menu is the same as the flamingo with a yo-yo (Carnival of the Animals, for those keeping score of the…score). If I had to nitpick, I’d say that I really don’t like Carnival of the Animals in general and the fact that it plays during this menu does nothing to endear itself to me. Whether it’s the music itself or the fact that it will forever be associated in my mind with the goofy-looking flamingo is up for debate. Probably both. Fun tidbit, I failed to notice last time that the running time appears when Play Movie is highlighted.

 Starting with the commentaries, the special features of this part of the set really compliment the feature. Roy Disney, James Levine and Don Ernst give us their insight into this film, but the other commentary is the one I’d watch first. The directors and art designers of each segment of the film give their input on their creations. If you ever wanted to hear why they went with a flamingo with a yo-yo (yes, I’ll leave the flamingo alone now) this is your chance.

Next we move onto the documentary Musicana. I really wish I had seen this before starting this review. A sample excerpt is the fact that there was actually a book called Future Fantasias that actually had ideas for the sequel Fantasias that never were. Musicana itself started in the ‘70s with two giants of Disney animation. I won’t ruin too much more of this documentary (except John Lasseter of Pixar working on the Mickey portion based on a Hans Christian Anderson tale). It really is worth a look to see how a sequel could have been done if the Disney animators had done it in the 70’s. I kind of wish I had that film to look at as well, but Musicana was not to be. Perhaps it would have been a timeless but underappreciated in its own time movie like the original Fantasia or a complete disaster (no, Fantasia 2000 is not a complete disaster, it justs acts like one).

If you hadn’t noticed from the sticker on the front (and I didn’t until halfway through writing the last review) Destino, an Academy Award nominated animated short is also lovingly placed in with Fantasia 2000. I didn’t initially get why this Dali/Disney collaboration had been placed in with these two music movies. For one, there is an actual singer on this short. Not to mention there are some actual 3-D animated sets in this short. My best guess is that it s actually fairly dark and abstract. I don’t know how much meaning we’re supposed to take from this; this short is uncompromisingly artistic. Maybe the short documentary for Destino (also included in F2000’s bonus features) will shed a bit more light on this.

After watching this documentary, I can see why the documentary was placed higher up on the Bonus Features list. It’s obviously implied that you should watch the documentary first if you want to get more than just your own impressions of the short. I will admit my own ignorance of Salvadore Dali and his surrealist style of painting. Knowing the other half of this collaboration is very important and the documentary treats the average Disney fan boy (like me) to Dali. Destino and its documentary are a more natural fit than first meets the eye and I am fairly glad that this obscure unthinkable tag team finally was unearthed and shown.

The final special feature of this disc set is the Disney Virtual Vault. I would describe this as a gallery of video clips, like the art gallery in the Fantasia set, Again I am fairly blown away by the sheer amount of material gathered for your perusal and the ability to add clips into a queue while you watch a video streamlines the choices for you. Easily another movie in itself, this Virtual Vault is another feature that I’m going to have to praise in these Blu-Ray movies. It’s clear that a studio that has a lot of information about a movie can go above and beyond to deliver it to us in this Blu-Ray format that you just couldn’t do outside of a six disc special edition DVD collection. Just wow. I didn’t think I’d find two gems like these in this 2-Movie collection and I will be spending a lot more time with these in the future.

The Cover Art and Discs

I’m going to just save myself some trouble. You remember this section in the last review. Yeah, copy and paste. Don’t remember it/haven’t read it? GO! Read the Fantasia review! What are you doing reading these out of order?

Final Verdict on 2 Movie Collection

Now I did myself a favor and a disservice. Since this is the 2-Movie collection I’m reviewing, I have to give my final verdict on both films simultaneously and grade them together. Considering the wealth of information about these two movies, the bonus features (even with the Destino short) are a nine out of ten easily. The cover art and discs do a lot to make these two movies a pair, but in the end they are two completely different films under the same banner. I would have liked to see less comparison and more contrast (not a total disconnect, mind you) between these two movies and so I give it an eight out of ten. While I’d love to grade these two feature length experiences differently, I’m constrained by the fact that they are conjoined in this Blu-Ray/DVD release and with respect to that must give the overall film content a solid nine out of ten. There is a lot to love here and if you already love these films then be prepared to love them more. Overall, a 26 out of 30 makes this a B-Plus and must-have for any Disney film collector.

Agree with me? Don’t agree at all? Let me know in the comments below or on twitter - @madeyelouie

Fantasia

Inaugural Review

DVD Release of Fantasia/Fantasia 2000

Part One: Fantasia

Thank you and welcome to Mad-Eye’s View. I am Mad-Eye Louie and today we are looking at the DVD/Blu-Ray Review of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. Personally, I picked up this disc set because it got two movies of my wish list in one shot. I had not seen either of these movies prior to picking up this set and actually had some buyer’s remorse before sticking it into my PS3 and playing it. Why buy it? After watching a few reviews and retrospectives on Fantasia and it’s sequel, I was intrigued at having two different packs of musical short movies.

First, some housekeeping. This review will go over a few main points. The first main point is the movie itself and my take on the film, the reaction to the film, and some behind the scenes if necessary. Secondly, I will cover the DVD and/or Blu-ray menu and review the ease of use, features given, and presentation. Thirdly, I will cover the cover. Yes, taking the cover of a DVD and/or Blu-Ray and giving my critique on it, including other various cover art featured on international versions and alternate covers, if there are any to be found. Finally, I will aggregate my score and present my recommendations to you, my dear reader, whereupon no doubt you will dissect and disseminate the information presented and make your own judgment. The over-arching goal of these reviews is not to persuade you to make a purchase or to present myself as some sort of authority. I am but a humble fan making articles to inform and entertain.

The Film Itself

Fantasia is an oddity in feature length film and animation. I guess the best way to describe it is animation in concert. There are seven animated shorts that are set to match with the accompanying music selections (eight if you count the intermission piece). There is quite a bit of history associated with this bit of Disney magic. Walt Disney reportedly wanted to continue this yearly or so, adding one or two pieces two it as a sort of legacy project. This is as in-depth as I’m willing to go without spoiling the extra features, which I will get to later on.

My personal viewpoint comes from my experience with it at home and at the daycare I work at. At home, I love watching the Special Features on this disc, especially the Blu-Ray features. I love the film and the atmospheric awesomeness that rises beyond the animation and the music to become an experience. Since people view animated films as kids stuff (there will probably be a rant about that somewhere in the future), I guess I should mention the beginning scenes with the abstract orchestra and their effect on the kids at my daycare. The opening scene almost invariably led to a “call out the color on the screen” game with the younger (3-5 year old) kids. Older kids reactions varied from interested to “head-stuck-in-their-Nintendo.” Oh, and the occasional “what’s going on?” question from one kid or another. Some kids and art, pffft.

Aside from that, I would often get requests for the dinosaur scene from “The Rite of Spring.” This actually happened more often than “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” I think this could be attributed to this group of kids actually getting to be treated like adults and seeing dinosaurs fighting and dying. Rather than traumatizing them, this death scene seemed to strike a chord of curiosity and interest because it was so different from what movies for kids are usually like.

“Night on Bald Mountain” is hard to explain to kids without getting religious. I deliberately kept it vague so that I wouldn’t get parent complaints about questionable subject matter. The term monster was used, in case you were wondering. Which actually brings up the point that the narrator is usually ignored to the point of boredom by the kids. Take what you will from that, but only occasionally (like with the dinosaurs) did anything Deems Taylor said. For my part, I like Taylor’s narration as an adult and he definitely shows his knowledge and love of the music.

This sections are just the ones that stand out to me. If you have a favorite, please let me know in the comments and I’ll either address them there or release an update to this post.

The Menu and Features

The DVD version menu is similar to the menu from Fantasia 2000, with just the scenes played in the background different (naturally). The Blu-Ray menu is similar, but a touch more interactive, with the lower border shifting to lift up the selection while playing a tone that increases in pitch as you go from left to right. The screens depicting scenes from the movie rotate and disappear off-screen to the left. These screens vary in size and give a fair assortment of scenes. The music for the menu is fairly unobtrusive and to my knowledge does not stop. If there is a loop, I didn’t see it, and if you the menu on that long you’re probably asleep.

Now for the special features. Only the audio commentary and the Disney Family Museum bit are available on the DVD. The other features listed are on Blu-Ray.

The Disney Family Museum featurette is a mini documentary on the opening of said museum. If you are a Disney fan, definitely give it a look on DVD or Blu-Ray. It’s not very long and it does come off as a bit of a showcase ad for the Museum.

The audio commentary is fairly standard. One track is Disney Historian Brian Sibley who seems to know what he’s talking about. The next is hosted by John Canemaker and gives interviews and story note recreations from Disney himself. The third commentary features Roy Disney, a conductor, a historian, and a film restorer and is my favorite of the bunch. Give it a listen if you’ve watched the film a few too many times and need to do something to keep it from getting stale.

The Schultisse Notebook feature is worth a look for just the historical value in animation alone. This feature gives a look into the making of Fantasia and the Special Effects at early Disney Animation Studio from the perspective of one of the staff. Animation history experts give us a look into the man and the solutions to the special effects questions of his day. The notebook is extensive in its depth and scope, giving minute details of the inner workings of the film. A voice-over in Shultisse’s own words makes it all the more personal. Some of the solutions from the pre-digital age of animation are just stunning in ingenuity. If you ever wondered how they made this movie magic, watch this feature.

The interactive art gallery is fairly impressive. I usually skip art galleries in these collections and only went through this one to give a complete review of the product. What strikes me most is the ability to rate and favorite the photos and stills in the gallery. The music can be turned on and off (a definite plus). There are different galleries for each of the parts of Fantasia. Give it a look over even if you don’t usually take a look at these things.

The last “feature” is a tedious ad for Disney File Digital Copy. If you don’t understand the idea of having a digital copy of your movie, then either ask your grandchildren or watch this feature. It wouldn’t bother me that much if it weren’t in many of the Disney collections I buy. Harmless in its own right, but do they really have to use my favorite films to push a simple idea?

The Cover, Case and Discs

The cover for the 2-movie collection features characters from Fantasia (although I guess you could cheat and say Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey is in both films and is therefore a tie). I didn’t realize how many characters there were until I took off the embossed over case because I still have the stickers in it. I like keeping the nice over-case because it’s shiny. Yeah, I know, not very intelligent, but it is what it is. The four discs inside are color coded, in that the only discs with color are the Blu-Ray. I wasn’t paying attention and put in the Blu-Ray once when I wanted the DVD, so I had to make that mental adjustment. The steely gray DVD’s are not fun to look at and really show the preference to Blu-Ray. I still have the three ads inside (as well as the security device sticker) but I really don’t feel like giving Disney more ad-space.

Overall, this 2-movie collection is really worth the money. I didn’t think I’d enjoy the features half as much as I did. Fantasia is as good as I heard it would be and it truly has something for everybody IF they give it a chance.

Thanks for reading. See you next time.

Sincerely,

----Mad-Eye Louie.

Introduction

Thank you for coming!

Welcome to the Introductory

Mad-Eye’s View.

I am Mad-Eye Louie, a mid-core gamer, mainstream anime fan, and writer-singer-actor turned reviewer. In My View Videos and Blogs I hope to do a few things. The first thing is to show my love of DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Secondly, I want to cover book to movie translations and how some fail and some fly. Thirdly and lastly, I want to pay homage to the music composed for video games and analyze what makes good video game music.

As far as schedules go, I plan on posting at least one text review every week. Hopefully I can build up the money to start posting video reviews pretty soon and those reviews will be either weekly or twice a month.

Along the way, you’ll get to know a little bit about why I dress the way I do and the kind of world I live in. I’ll get into my history and what makes me the guy I am today. Most of the reviews I’ll do in the beginning will be about something I really care very deeply about. Keep in mind, I will handle constructive criticism with grace and trolls with good humor.

Thank you again, I hope to see you soon!

---Mad-Eye Louie

Follow Me Here and on Twitter @MadEyeLouie

PS from the Creator -

Like many review shows I love on thatguywiththeglasses.com and thespoonyexperiment.com as well as the lesser known ones on youtube, I will be portraying a character that is both based on aspects of my own personality and elements of fantasy, faiths, and fandoms that I either support or subscribe to. Aside from what I hope will be rare “shoot” style rants or editorials, I plan to build the world of my character like a good author. If you find my character annoying or distracting than I’m sorry to say you’ve found the wrong site and I wish you well on your search for entertainment. I promise if you let me have my fun I will attempt to throw something into my work that you may enjoy.

---Sincerely, Luí s Valenzuela, III