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Despite its child-like animation, Fantasia is definitely not a children's movie. When I first saw Fantasia, I was about 9 years old, and I found it incredibly dull and boring. Rewatching it as an adult, I realized that it is a visual masterpiece. The soundtrack was brilliantly put together by Leopold Stokowski, and the visuals are fantastic, you could turn off the picture and just listen, or turn off the sound and just watch, and it would still be a great movie.
There is no continuos story during Fantasia, and the film is made up of 7 different segments. My two favorites of the 7 would be the finale, Night on Bald Mountain, and the now iconic Sorcerers Apprentice. The visuals used in the final segment was some of the greatest 2D animation I have ever scene, and it makes Fantasia probably the darkest Disney movie of all time. The Sorcerers Apprentice on the other hand, was just a great story with great music. I also very much enjoyed Meet the Soundtrack, but it was very short and not really a segment.
If there was any segment I didn't like so much, it would have to be Rite of Spring. The animation was nothing special, it dragged out for far too long, and I didn't care too much for the music. However I did appreciate that Disney did not shy away from showing some good old dinosaur carnage. Another thing I did not care for was when the narrator, Deems Taylor, would explain everything that happens in each segment before it appears on screen. He especially ruined the segment Dance of the Hours for me because not only did he describe what happened, but also what the symbolism behind the segment was. I would have much preferred if the film let the audience discover the symbolism on their own.
This film was one of the darkest, best scored, and most beautiful animated movies I have ever seen. Fantasia might not be so great for children, but if you enjoy classical music and great visuals, definitely give this one a watch.
FANTASIA
Despite its child-like animation, Fantasia is definitely not a children's movie. When I first saw Fantasia, I was about 9 years old, and I found it incredibly dull and boring. Rewatching it as an adult, I realized that it is a visual masterpiece. The soundtrack was brilliantly put together by Leopold Stokowski, and the visuals are fantastic, you could turn off the picture and just listen, or turn off the sound and just watch, and it would still be a great movie.
There is no continuos story during Fantasia, and the film is made up of 7 different segments. My two favorites of the 7 would be the finale, Night on Bald Mountain, and the now iconic Sorcerers Apprentice. The visuals used in the final segment was some of the greatest 2D animation I have ever scene, and it makes Fantasia probably the darkest Disney movie of all time. The Sorcerers Apprentice on the other hand, was just a great story with great music. I also very much enjoyed Meet the Soundtrack, but it was very short and not really a segment.
If there was any segment I didn't like so much, it would have to be Rite of Spring. The animation was nothing special, it dragged out for far too long, and I didn't care too much for the music. However I did appreciate that Disney did not shy away from showing some good old dinosaur carnage. Another thing I did not care for was when the narrator, Deems Taylor, would explain everything that happens in each segment before it appears on screen. He especially ruined the segment Dance of the Hours for me because not only did he describe what happened, but also what the symbolism behind the segment was. I would have much preferred if the film let the audience discover the symbolism on their own.
This film was one of the darkest, best scored, and most beautiful animated movies I have ever seen. Fantasia might not be so great for children, but if you enjoy classical music and great visuals, definitely give this one a watch.