Review - Fantasia (1940)

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and as part of our celebration of one hundred years of Disney, I'll be taking a look at several of my all-time favorite Disney movies from throughout the decades. And I thought I'd start with quite possibly Walt Disney's most ambitious project in his lifetime: Fantasia.

          Around the time of production on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney began noticing a decline in popularity of the character Mickey Mouse. To remedy this, Walt began development on a short film adaptation of the tale of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, featuring the orchestral piece of the same name by Paul Lukas. Walt also ended up teaming with legendary conduct Leopold Stokowski to help with the orchestra for the short. But a problem soon arose: The Sorcerer's Apprentice short was going over budget. So, to make the most out of the budget, Walt decided to make a series of shorts all with a similar concept as The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and package them together in what was originally dubbed "The Concert Feature," but was later officially named Fantasia. 

          The film featured composer and music critic Deems Taylor as the Master of Ceremonies, and he would introduce the film and each segment of the film. The music was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, and of course Leopold Stokowski would serve as Conductor. Each segment was, of course, animated by the Disney Animation team, and, in my opinion, these segments were a means to showcase that animation was more than just cartoons for children, but a genuine art form that can be enjoyed by all ages. As Walt Disney himself has said, Disney animation isn't just for children, but for the child in all of us. 

         The segments featured in Fantasia are centered on the following musical pieces: Toccata in Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky, The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky, Symphony No. 6 "The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig von Beethoven, Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli, Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky, the Ave Maria by Franz Schubert, and the aforementioned The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Now, because each one is unique, let's talk about each one of the segments one by one. 

        Starting thing off is the Toccata in Fugue . This segment doesn't really showcase a story, so much as moving images that might be in the minds of audience members at a concert listening to the music itself. Abstract images that are just simple masses of color and movement. Now, don't get me wrong, they are incredible to look at, and the motions are timed perfectly to the music, but again, they're just abstract images that are nice to look at. 

       The Nutcracker segment is a little more definite. While, again, a series of images and not a complete story, the various movements of this segment, which include a group of dancing mushrooms, two groups of dancing flowers, some dancing fish, and of course fairies, all seem to represent the changing of the seasons from Spring all the way to Winter. And the way that each dance is timed to be in tune with the music is just spot on, with my favorite dance being those of the mushrooms. 

       Of course, everyone already knows The Sorcerer's Apprentice, so I won't really be breaking new ground here. But for the uninitiated, the segment stars Mickey Mouse as the apprentice to the all-powerful sorcerer Yen Sid, who turns in for the night, leaving his hat behind. Mickey, who has been fetching water for his master, puts the hat on and tries some magic for himself, bringing a broom to life to fetch the water for him, dozing off dreaming of one day being an all-powerful sorcerer in his own right. Unfortunately, the broom doesn't stop bringing water, and the chamber is flooded. Mickey tries stopping it by hacking the broom to pieces, but those pieces turn into multiple brooms and continue on. It's only when Yen Sid returns and puts an end to Mickey's spell, reclaims the hat and sending Mickey on his way. After the segment, we see Mickey shake hands with Stokowski, both congratulating each other. 

        Rite of Spring takes a unique approach, as it focuses on the history of the Earth according to science of the time, showcasing how the Earth started off as violent filled with volcanic activity, then started teeming with microscopic lifeform, sea creatures, and eventually dinosaurs. Unfortunately, it's honestly my least favorite segment in Fantasia as it's just a bit too slow for me, and it takes a lot of screen time to get through. The animation is fine, and it's really cool getting to see dinosaurs, but it's definitely the weakest segment in Fantasia. 

        After a fifteen minute intermission, Deems Taylor introduces a figure called the Soundtrack, which showcases the types of movement and images that can be created by a simple sound from a musical instrument. After this, we get to the Pastoral Symphony segment, which is based on Greek mythology, showcasing fauns, cupids, centaurs, pegasus, and the Olympian gods Zeus, Hephaestus, and Dionysus among others. Definitely more fun and entertaining than Rite of Spring, but still not a favorite. This segment has been edited quite extensively through the years to remove certain racially insensitive depictions, but it's still a really good segment in my opinion. 

        Dance of the Hours depicts a series of dances, each one representing a time of the day and centering on a different animal. For example, the morning dance is focused on ostriches, the midday dance is focused on hippos, the afternoon dance is focused on elephants, and the nighttime dance is focused on alligators. And it's when the alligators show up that things get really energized and fun. And the expressiveness of the animals throughout the segment are what really sell it for me, and definitely puts Dance of the Hours among my favorite segments in Fantasia. 

       And finally, we get to my favorite segment in Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain. The macabre and nightmarish imagery is truly something to behold here, especially with the giant demon that the segment focuses on. Now, contrary to what Deems Taylor says in the introduction to the segment, the demon that is featured in Night on Bald Mountain is not actually Satan, but rather Chernabog, a demonic entity from Slavic folklore. And I gotta say, Chernabog is truly something out of a nightmare in this, as are all of the spirits and demons that dance around in the night under of Chernabog. The movie ends with the Ave Maria, which coming off of the bombastic nightmare that was Night on Bald Mountain, is a nice way to slow thing down. I also admire the contrast of having the two segments paired up together as the final segment of the movie. 

        Overall, Fantasia is a Disney project that can be enjoyed by children, but is probably more aimed for adults. Back when I was a kid, I thought that Fantasia was just okay, but as an adult, I find it among my favorite Disney projects. I'm giving Fantasia a rating of 5/5. If you get a chance, check it out on Disney+, it's definitely worth it. 

        Well guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next Monday when I take a look at the Square Enix video game The World Ends with You.