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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
273 .......................... 325
__________________________
November 22th
—— 1999 ——
F A N T A S I A
2000
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.38
Here comes a follow-up feature to the classic and creative Disney film called 'Fantasia',
now with a sequel arriving sixty years later...
Normally this wouldn’t work that well, since times have changed a whole lot since the first film, but when it comes to the crazy concept of these films, I would say it is pretty much timeless. I would honestly say that a follow-up is both fascinating and almost essential for the animation studio, especially considering the fun and free-handed style of it, which allows the animators to run wild with it and create a colossal contrast to the past, present and future of animation. As an audience we get to see the broad changes that has happened on the animation board since the beginning of cinematic brushstrokes, but the question is whether or not the creators can paint a picture as vivid and wonderful as sixty years before – or are they all living a little too much in their own little Fantasia world?
First off I want to say, that I definitely respect and admire the 1940 classic 'Fantasia', but in all honesty, even considering the creativity and uniqueness of it, I can't quite call it a true brushstroke of brilliance. I think it was more of an interesting concept than a successful execution, but I certainly see sights of excellence throughout. 'Fantasia 2000' feels a little less magical and majestic than predecessor, but I see some changes that actually benefits the concept and overall animation, while the movie as a whole suffers from the same issues as the original – sometimes even in a worse degree. When combining animated shorts with classical symphonies, you are probably going to see both hits and misses, especially because the animators had so much freedom to do whatever they wanted. What I liked a lot about the original 'Fantasia' was the sheer simplicity of it and the triumph of touching and traditional animation, which went hand in hand with equally traditional compositions. Unfortunately, though, Disney seems to have had a greater interest in showcasing new technology than traditional formality.
As a short compilation, the quality is naturally not going to be consistent all the way through, but thanks to some dazzling opening and closing shorts, this feature succeeds in creating a fairly sturdy impression on me; despite the ups and downs throughout. When compared to the original ‘Fantasia’, this updated version isn’t nearly as natural or fluent in its animated advancements. ‘Fantasia 2000’ is almost half the length of the original and it shows. I may have thought the original felt a tad too long, but in return, the switching between the animated short segments felt both smooth and looked beautiful as well. It moved naturally from abstract shapes and sizes into recognizable fables and figures into nature and beautiful beings and finally into people and progressing stories. ‘Fantasia 2000’ started out as it should, but then it just went into a messy and modern mash-up of all and new animation. There was no structure or balance to it, which might not be the biggest of faults, but the film does fumble a bit with its magical touch because of this.
Symphony No. 5 – The opening short segment is a beautiful visual feast for the eyes, which is moderately updated to modern animation, while staying true to the spirit of the studio and its original vision. It feels like classic Disney to see minimal shapes and sizes come to life with the help of some brilliant brains behind this. It also reminds me the most of the original ‘Fantasia’ out of all the new shorts in the movie, mainly because of its simple yet effective style and approach. It has a free form to it that I really like, while loosely following a simple story that we can all connect to and understand. The animation is stunning and the use of colors is mesmerizing, especially when combined with the clever and extremely accurate use of the classic Beethoven composition. This segment is a beautiful blend of the art of music and animation, full of playfulness and pitch perfect imagery. This is possibly my second favorite segment in the animated anthology, that is ‘Fantasia 2000’.
Pines of Rome – The second segment introduces a whale family who are able to fly because of a supernova. While the concept sounds imaginative and extremely interesting the execution is only mildly satisfying. It often looks quite beautiful, but unfortunately the computer effects aren't elegant enough and ultimately the short ends up feeling as clumsy as a whale - despite of a story showing the opposite. It also drags on for too long and misses a proper structure. Looks the same goes on for too long
Rhapsody in Blue – Then we get a broad and busy view into New York City, which is a sudden change of pace compared to the more elegant and naturally evolving pacing of the original. The style reminds me of Wolfgang Reiterman with a more colorful and elegant touch, though still maintaining the roughness of it and the busy look which goes well with the basic story. I didn't particulary like this short, but there were a few highlights here and there.
Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102 – Then we arrive at what is possibly the worst short and an insult to the original story by Hans Christian Andersen of which this tin soldier torture piece is based upon. The computer effects feels weird, the story is totally unimaginative and boring and there is no structure to it.
The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnival des Animaux), Finale – What follows is a beautifully looking tale of flamingos, which in return has a simple story that can stay in the background all the while the actual animated backgrounds get to shine. A beautiful and amusing little short without too much fuss, which is certainly better than those that tries too hard.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice – Then Disney has reinserted the classic short from the original, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which sees Mickey Mouse as the little helper of a powerful wizard. I don't know how I feel about this; I know the short is famous and instantly recognizable in connection to the original 'Fantasia', but even if they do it out of respect I feel like it is a waste of space for what could have been another new short and it kind of shows the low level of confidence in what they are doing here. Either they should have left the new version more or less seperated from the original, or if they had the balls they could have tried to make a sequel or successor to the original Mickey Mouse segment.
Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 – Next we arrive at a beautiful but ultimately bland short about Noah's ark and how it came to be with the help of Donald Duck. This short did nothing to me, really.
Firebird Suite—1919 Version – And at last, we arrive to an amazing conclusive masterpiece from Disney, which calls back memories from the original, while also feeling new and refreshing in style and story. It is almost like a blend of the beautiful first act of the 1940 classic, where we see the nature coming to life in creative ways, then combined with the last act on The Evil Mountain, which sees darkness controlling everything. 'Firebird Suite', as it is titled, sees an elk walk through the colorless and empty forest, to awake what could be seen as Mother Nature in person. She is responsible for bringing the forest back to life after the cold and dead winter. She flies around trees and bushes and makes everything grow and light up on her way. But when she reaches a dark and daunting mountain, she has trouble giving life to it. She realizes it is evil in person who then awakens to kill Mother Nature and everything good she did; turning everything back to black and boring blandness. This short is clever as well as beautifully realized through visuals that will impress anyone. The amount of detail is stunning and the creative construction of a simple plot is both magical and extremely powerful - a brilliant way to end an uneven trip down a Disney-fied memory lane, which brings back memories that are both foul and fantastic.
You could say, that this feature film full of shorts, opens and closes perfectly, while everything in between feels confused and a bit messy. There is actually a break between shorts where they present ideas which was never used; most of which seems way more original and interesting than some of those that actually ended up in the final film. I did enjoy some of the middle pieces or pausing segments, whatever you may want to call them, which used some clever animated backgrounds, projected behind the orchestra. That said, I didn't like the confusing celebrity introductions. Once again, this ‘Fantasia’ is more of a failure than a success, but nevertheless an admirable and impressive experiment that dared to do something a bit different and let the animators go wild…
-
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... viewing day count
273 .......................... 325
__________________________
November 22th
—— 1999 ——
F A N T A S I A
2000
—— animation ——
DISNEY CLASSIC no.38
Here comes a follow-up feature to the classic and creative Disney film called 'Fantasia',
now with a sequel arriving sixty years later...
Normally this wouldn’t work that well, since times have changed a whole lot since the first film, but when it comes to the crazy concept of these films, I would say it is pretty much timeless. I would honestly say that a follow-up is both fascinating and almost essential for the animation studio, especially considering the fun and free-handed style of it, which allows the animators to run wild with it and create a colossal contrast to the past, present and future of animation. As an audience we get to see the broad changes that has happened on the animation board since the beginning of cinematic brushstrokes, but the question is whether or not the creators can paint a picture as vivid and wonderful as sixty years before – or are they all living a little too much in their own little Fantasia world?
First off I want to say, that I definitely respect and admire the 1940 classic 'Fantasia', but in all honesty, even considering the creativity and uniqueness of it, I can't quite call it a true brushstroke of brilliance. I think it was more of an interesting concept than a successful execution, but I certainly see sights of excellence throughout. 'Fantasia 2000' feels a little less magical and majestic than predecessor, but I see some changes that actually benefits the concept and overall animation, while the movie as a whole suffers from the same issues as the original – sometimes even in a worse degree. When combining animated shorts with classical symphonies, you are probably going to see both hits and misses, especially because the animators had so much freedom to do whatever they wanted. What I liked a lot about the original 'Fantasia' was the sheer simplicity of it and the triumph of touching and traditional animation, which went hand in hand with equally traditional compositions. Unfortunately, though, Disney seems to have had a greater interest in showcasing new technology than traditional formality.
As a short compilation, the quality is naturally not going to be consistent all the way through, but thanks to some dazzling opening and closing shorts, this feature succeeds in creating a fairly sturdy impression on me; despite the ups and downs throughout. When compared to the original ‘Fantasia’, this updated version isn’t nearly as natural or fluent in its animated advancements. ‘Fantasia 2000’ is almost half the length of the original and it shows. I may have thought the original felt a tad too long, but in return, the switching between the animated short segments felt both smooth and looked beautiful as well. It moved naturally from abstract shapes and sizes into recognizable fables and figures into nature and beautiful beings and finally into people and progressing stories. ‘Fantasia 2000’ started out as it should, but then it just went into a messy and modern mash-up of all and new animation. There was no structure or balance to it, which might not be the biggest of faults, but the film does fumble a bit with its magical touch because of this.
Symphony No. 5 – The opening short segment is a beautiful visual feast for the eyes, which is moderately updated to modern animation, while staying true to the spirit of the studio and its original vision. It feels like classic Disney to see minimal shapes and sizes come to life with the help of some brilliant brains behind this. It also reminds me the most of the original ‘Fantasia’ out of all the new shorts in the movie, mainly because of its simple yet effective style and approach. It has a free form to it that I really like, while loosely following a simple story that we can all connect to and understand. The animation is stunning and the use of colors is mesmerizing, especially when combined with the clever and extremely accurate use of the classic Beethoven composition. This segment is a beautiful blend of the art of music and animation, full of playfulness and pitch perfect imagery. This is possibly my second favorite segment in the animated anthology, that is ‘Fantasia 2000’.
Pines of Rome – The second segment introduces a whale family who are able to fly because of a supernova. While the concept sounds imaginative and extremely interesting the execution is only mildly satisfying. It often looks quite beautiful, but unfortunately the computer effects aren't elegant enough and ultimately the short ends up feeling as clumsy as a whale - despite of a story showing the opposite. It also drags on for too long and misses a proper structure. Looks the same goes on for too long
Rhapsody in Blue – Then we get a broad and busy view into New York City, which is a sudden change of pace compared to the more elegant and naturally evolving pacing of the original. The style reminds me of Wolfgang Reiterman with a more colorful and elegant touch, though still maintaining the roughness of it and the busy look which goes well with the basic story. I didn't particulary like this short, but there were a few highlights here and there.
Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102 – Then we arrive at what is possibly the worst short and an insult to the original story by Hans Christian Andersen of which this tin soldier torture piece is based upon. The computer effects feels weird, the story is totally unimaginative and boring and there is no structure to it.
The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnival des Animaux), Finale – What follows is a beautifully looking tale of flamingos, which in return has a simple story that can stay in the background all the while the actual animated backgrounds get to shine. A beautiful and amusing little short without too much fuss, which is certainly better than those that tries too hard.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice – Then Disney has reinserted the classic short from the original, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which sees Mickey Mouse as the little helper of a powerful wizard. I don't know how I feel about this; I know the short is famous and instantly recognizable in connection to the original 'Fantasia', but even if they do it out of respect I feel like it is a waste of space for what could have been another new short and it kind of shows the low level of confidence in what they are doing here. Either they should have left the new version more or less seperated from the original, or if they had the balls they could have tried to make a sequel or successor to the original Mickey Mouse segment.
Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 – Next we arrive at a beautiful but ultimately bland short about Noah's ark and how it came to be with the help of Donald Duck. This short did nothing to me, really.
Firebird Suite—1919 Version – And at last, we arrive to an amazing conclusive masterpiece from Disney, which calls back memories from the original, while also feeling new and refreshing in style and story. It is almost like a blend of the beautiful first act of the 1940 classic, where we see the nature coming to life in creative ways, then combined with the last act on The Evil Mountain, which sees darkness controlling everything. 'Firebird Suite', as it is titled, sees an elk walk through the colorless and empty forest, to awake what could be seen as Mother Nature in person. She is responsible for bringing the forest back to life after the cold and dead winter. She flies around trees and bushes and makes everything grow and light up on her way. But when she reaches a dark and daunting mountain, she has trouble giving life to it. She realizes it is evil in person who then awakens to kill Mother Nature and everything good she did; turning everything back to black and boring blandness. This short is clever as well as beautifully realized through visuals that will impress anyone. The amount of detail is stunning and the creative construction of a simple plot is both magical and extremely powerful - a brilliant way to end an uneven trip down a Disney-fied memory lane, which brings back memories that are both foul and fantastic.
You could say, that this feature film full of shorts, opens and closes perfectly, while everything in between feels confused and a bit messy. There is actually a break between shorts where they present ideas which was never used; most of which seems way more original and interesting than some of those that actually ended up in the final film. I did enjoy some of the middle pieces or pausing segments, whatever you may want to call them, which used some clever animated backgrounds, projected behind the orchestra. That said, I didn't like the confusing celebrity introductions. Once again, this ‘Fantasia’ is more of a failure than a success, but nevertheless an admirable and impressive experiment that dared to do something a bit different and let the animators go wild…
-
__________________________