Disney Renaissance Month - Fantasia 2000 (2000)

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and we've reached the final day of Disney Renaissance Month. And, of course, we all know that there were ten official films in the Disney Renaissance. However, to end off Disney Renaissance Month, I'd like to talk about a movie that ushered Disney into the new millennium. A film that, while not technically a Disney Renaissance film, still feels like it would fall in line with the Renaissance Era. So, for the last review of Disney Renaissance Month, let's take a look at Fantasia 2000. 

       Released in the year 2000, this film is a sequel to the 1940 film Fantasia. Now, back in the time of Walt Disney, the idea was to annually re-release Fantasia, with new segments switching out old favorites. Unfortunately, the idea of returning to the universe of Fantasia wouldn't come up until Roy E. Disney would begin development on a sequel to Fantasia as a passion project, and the film would be the first Disney release of the year 2000, releasing exclusively in IMAX on January 1st, 2000, and eventually releasing in regular formats in June of the same year. 

        Now, the music in the film is performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and they were conducted by Maestro James Levine. The music pieces chosen are a mix of some familiar pieces and some less familiar. However, most of them are showcased with more narrative based animated segments. And as opposed to a single master of ceremonies hosting the film, as we had with Deems Taylor in the original Fantasia, celebrity guests were brought in to introduce the segments throughout the movie. Now, some of the celebrities were really good, but some of them felt like they were just congratulating the film on its success before it even got its theatrical run. Now, of the celebrities I liked in the movie, I'm going to give big props to Quincy Jones, Angela Lansbury, and James Earl Jones. Bette Miller was fine, but nothing special. Steve Martin was just bombing hard with his bit. And, I honestly have no idea why Penn & Teller were there. I think Doug Walker put it best, having Penn & Teller be a part of Fantasia 2000 was like when the Academy had Beavis and Butt-Head present at the Oscars. Something just doesn't look right. But, that being said, Penn & Teller were actually pretty funny with the bit they were doing. But, we're not here to talk about the celebrities, we're here for the segments of combining classic music with Disney animation. So, let's get into the segments that make up Fantasia 2000. 

      Alright, let's get this out of the way first. The segment The Sorcerer's Apprentice starring Mickey Mouse is the one segment from the original 1940 Fantasia that returns for Fantasia 2000. And it's literally just the original segment without any updates. Well, just one. At the end, when Mickey shakes hands with Leopold Stokowski, the voice of Mickey is replaced from the original by Walt Disney to Mickey's voice actor when the movie was made: Wayne Allwine. Other than that, the segment is the very same one from the first Fantasia. Now that that's out of the way, let's get into the new stuff. 

       Okay, so before we break down each segment, let's do a quick run down of the music choices. And they are in this order: Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig von Beethoven, Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi, Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102 by Dmitri Shostakovich, The Carnival of the Animals, Finale by Camille Saint-Saens, Pomp and Circumstance by Sir Edward Elgar, and The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky. Honestly, it's definitely an interesting mix of music selections. But, before we get into my favorites, let's get into each segment, starting with Symphony No. 5. 

       So, the Symphony No. 5 segment is the opening segment of the movie, and it focuses on colorful polygonal butterflies in a battle against dark polygonal bats. I do like the idea of using polygonal shapes to tell the story of the classic battle of light and darkness. And I do really like the multiple colors used for the butterflies to contrast them to the bats, which are predominantly black. 

      With Pines of Rome, the segment combines computer animation with hand-drawn animation to tell the story of a family of humpback whales that are given the ability to fly. Well, it's more like swimming in the air. The cause? A supernova. Anyway, the whale calf gets separated from the whale parents after being chased by a flock of seagulls, and gets trapped in ice. Guided to freedom from the ice, the calf reunites with the parents, and the rest of the pod joins in flying up into a vast skyward ocean of light. 

        Rhapsody in Blue is my favorite segment of the movie, and it's set in New York City during the Great Depression. The story focuses on four individuals: Duke, a construction worker who dreams of being a jazz drummer, Joe, an unemployed down-on-his-luck schmoe who wishes to get a job, Rachel, a little girl constantly being shuffled from place to place by her governess and dreams of spending more quality time with her parents, and John, who is a henpecked rich man who wants a simple life not catering to his spoiled wife and her pampered dog. Each of them gets their wish in the end, and everyone is happy... except for Rachel's governess and John's wife. Now, the art style is very much in the style of Al Hirschfeld, who was famous for celebrity caricatures, is a part of why I enjoyed the segment, as well as the jazzy nature of the song Rhapsody in Blue. 

       Piano Concerto No. 2's segment is based on the Hans Christian Andersen short story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which tells the story of a toy soldier with only one leg. The soldier falls in love with a ballerina, and must protect her from an evil jack-in-the-box. Now, what makes this segment so unique is the use of light, shadow, and reflections on the toy characters. But, it hasn't escaped me that the jack-in-the-box clearly resembles Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And, of course the soldier and the ballerina end up together just so that Disney can give the segment a happy ending. It's cute, but the animation is what stands out the most for this one. 

       Another personal favorite segment for me is The Carnival of the Animals. In this short segment, a flock of flamingos is going through their daily routine, but one of them wants to play with his yo-yo, much to the irritation of the other six flamingos. It ends with the playful flamingo tying up the rest and showing off his entire collection of yo-yos. It's a fun, short segment with a very playful piece of music to go along with it. Obviously, after this was The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but I've talked about it in my review of the original, so let's get into the next segment. 

      So, for Pomp and Circumstance, Disney decided to do a rendition of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, but with the added twist of including Donald and Daisy Duck. Now, the segment isn't really all that bad, as the Noah's Ark story starring Donald and Daisy Duck is a cute idea. And I found it hilarious when we saw a unicorn, a gryphon, and a dragon laughing at how two of each species of animal was being boarded onto the ark. However, the choice of music just wasn't the right fit. Pomp and Circumstance is just so recognized for it's connection to graduations that it's hard to separate it from that. So, while I do applaud Disney's intent, I do think it's the weakest segment of the movie. 

       And finally we have The Firebird Suite, where we see a Spring Sprite be awakened by her companion, an elk, to bring verdancy to the forest after a long winter. Unfortunately, the Sprite strays too far and comes across a volcano, where she awakens a malevolent fire spirit (the titular firebird), who destroys the forest and severely weakens the Sprite. With encouragement from the elk, the Sprite picks herself up and regrows the forest. The animation, the music, and the the art design of this segment all go very well together, and while it isn't my favorite, it's definitely one of the best segments of the movie. 

      Overall, Fantasia 2000 is really good. Definitely skewing a tad younger with its segments compared to the original Fantasia, and the celebrity guest appearances are very hit-and-miss. But, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Just like the original Fantasia, I'm giving Fantasia 2000 a rating of 5/5. Now, there were plans years ago for a third Fantasia film set for a release in 2006. But, unfortunately, it was cancelled, and a few segments produced for the film were released as short films. Such segments as Lorenzo and The Little Match Girl are available to watch, and are both really cute little shorts, with my favorite of the two being The Little Match Girl, also based on the works of Hans Christian Andersen.

        Anyway guys, this marks the official end of Disney Renaissance Month. Now, there's still a lot of Disney to come throughout 2023, and we'll be definitely getting into it as we go through the year, both with old favorites, new releases, and so forth. Anyway guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.