Fantasia-Now or Later?

[brotherbear]

Hi.

I was wondering about your opinion about Fantasia. I am considering buying the Anthology set (when and IF I EVER find it available near me; aka: through Gamestop). I was also wondering if you guys think I should buy the set, or wait for the PE. First, I already know about the amazing bonus features included in the set, as well as that it contains BOTH Fantaisia and Fantaisia 2000 (i've never seen F2000, but I love the original, so I have high hopes for the sequel, if you will). What concerns me about the Anthology set is that first, the voice of Deems Taylor was dubbed over. So I was wondering, how is the dubbing? (I own the 1990 VHS, and I'm so used to the original guy....so it kinda saddens me that they had to redubb all of his parts.) Second, I'm questioning buying the Anthology set due to that it is still the censored version....And i'm hoping that some day, in the near or distant future, that the FULL Fantasia will be released on a home video...of some sort.

But i'm worried that if I hold back on the set until the PE does come, then it may be as loaded with bonus features as the Anthology, and it also may still be censored....and on top of it all, Fantasia isn't scheduled for a release until (potentially) 2011!!!! Which is 5 years away!


So what do you guys think I should do? (Again, even if i decide to get the Anthology, it may take a LONG while to purchase it, due to its extreme rarity!)

-BB

[disneyguy]

Why put off the purchase now for something that may never happen..
If you can find the Set go 4 it..
Never understood why people put things off for getting something they can enjoy today, just because something may happen in the future..
Just my 2 cents..
DG

[Ting Ting]

I think you should go for it, and instead of looking around for copies at game stores and such, I think you should look on eBay. If you read the seller's description and feedback, you probably won't get a bootleg if your cautious. Also, make sure you only buy from people that have pictures of the item that they took THEMSELVES...no stock photos.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

The set isn't perfect, but I'd say it's the best version of Fantasia available on home video. They could have included the remaining Deems Taylor pieces as an alternate track, though.

[thatartguy]

And have it TRULY uncensored.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

And have it TRULY uncensored.

Yes, that would be the "ultimate" - but taking into acount only the elements that were included in the home video versions, the voice of Deems Taylor could be the only important thing missing, I guess.

[HappyPug]

Get the Fantasia Anthology now for the retroness fun.

The re-narration is weird but you get used to it.

I noticed when he said "At a Soundtrack" it sounded so wrong compared to my old video.

But ah well.

Then, when its re-released on trendy Blu-Ray & So So DVD again, it'll be fresh and sassy.

Hooray for Fantasia. Woo.

[brotherbear]

First of all, I'm really sorry that I didn't get the oppertunity to reply sooner!!!! Thanks for all of your input guys!!! and....here's the good news........

I FOUND A FANTASIA ANTHOLOGY SET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! right now i'm the happiest person on Earth!!! I found one in a gamestop MANY MILES (as in, more than 200) from where I live, that had a copy, and they agreed to transfer it to my local store!!!! i'm sooo happy! (my only fear is that it might get lost in the mail ....Like my first attempt to transfer Snow White... ) But anyway, I asked the manager about the condition of the set, and she said it looks REALLY good, and that it had all three DVD's, the cardboard box/cover and the inserts. She even said she considered buying it before I called and asked her about it!!!!!

Nothing can possibly break how happy and excited I am right now!!

-BB

[Enchantress]

Haha, ace! I'm happy for you! If you find another, just send it my way!

[FantasiaMan]

That disc set was the first DVD(s) I ever bought, & it's still my favorite after 5 years. It's the most jam-packed DVD set ever. It even has more features than the Star Wars Trilogy set. Anyone who doesn't have the set should search for it & buy it on the spot, it's a must have for any Disney fan.

[PatrickvD]

I understand why they cut out the slaves.... but the film is a work of art and represents a time in history. It's not for children anyway.

Fatasia is what I consider the closest thing Disney has done to true art. It's one of their least commercial films. It should be treated as art. not be censored as if for children who wouldn't even understand anyway.

censorship just pisses me off.


oh and yeah, go for it, the anthology set should be good.

[PapiBear]

I understand why they cut out the slaves.... but the film is a work of art and represents a time in history. It's not for children anyway.

Fatasia is what I consider the closest thing Disney has done to true art. It's one of their least commercial films. It should be treated as art. not be censored as if for children who wouldn't even understand anyway.

censorship just pisses me off.


oh and yeah, go for it, the anthology set should be good.

It's not really "censorship," which implies some intermediary between artist and audience has determined that something about the piece of art is unacceptable for viewing by the audience and either made adjustments, forced the artist to make adjustments, or prevented the piece of art from being seen by the audience.

None of this has happened. Disney, of its own volition, recognized in the late 60s, after the Civil Rights Movement and during the Black Power Movement (both of which increased overall public awareness of the negative effects of racism), that its earlier "pickaninny" depiction of a female servant centaurette, although it was considered acceptable by white audiences (in general) during the Jim Crow era in which it was produced, was antiquated and considered inflammatory and offensive, so they edited the offending portions on their own to make the film more palatable to a modern audience. Does it create a mildly awkward moment artistically and cinematically? Unfortunately, yes. Should Disney make the original 1940 roadshow version available to Disney purists and collectors on DVD in as pristine and complete a condition as possible? Yes, they should, preferably as an alternate version of the film, and with a sufficient but not intrusive intro or explanatory featurette which discusses the depiction of Black characters in the film, the changing perceptions of such portrayals, and Disney's decision to change it, so that such depictions are put in the proper perspective for modern audiences, who are rarely exposed to such openly racist portrayals of Black characters.

Disney has also been sufficiently criticized for Song of the South regarding similar issues of its then-socially acceptable (to white audiences) depiction of Black characters, and that film, too, should be released on DVD, but also with a similarly respectful and educational treatment of the issue of the depiction of Black characters in films of that era.

[Fflewduur]

That disc set was the first DVD(s) I ever bought, & it's still my favorite after 5 years.

Yup. Me too. I actually bought the set <i>before</i> my first DVD player---the Anthology is what made me make the move.

It's not really "censorship," which implies some intermediary between artist and audience has determined that something about the piece of art is unacceptable for viewing by the audience and either made adjustments, forced the artist to make adjustments, or prevented the piece of art from being seen by the audience.

None of the dictionaries I have at hand explicitly define censorship as being a third-party activity, so I have to respectfully disagree with you, PapiBear---although I certainly take your point. It might better (or more accurately) be described as self-censorship, although I'm not sure that's entirely accurate either. Disney the corporate entity is not the same as Disney the man, and one was not around to participate in the decision-making process for the Anthology edition of the film. For that matter I'd be curious to know how many individuals from the era of production <i>were</i> involved in the DVD release...

It <i>feels</i> like censorship, and I think it's because it smacks of revisionist history. Unless I'm mistaken, the 60th Anniversary edition that's included in the Anthology was variously advertised as a "complete" and "uncut" version of the roadshow release, and it clearly is not. The whole thing would seem less Orwellian if they'd made some recognition of what had been altered and why, although that probably would have seemed really limp without making the excised material available.

That said, as a viewer I don't much mind the changes. Certainly I'd like to have the entire film at my disposal, but I also find the implicit racism distasteful and rather offensive. When I want to watch <i>Fantasia</i> I'm in it for the art; I don't necessarily want to deal with all the history and the social implications of what was deemed acceptable (by <i>white</i> audiences) of the time.

Which makes <i>Song of the South</i> extremely problematic.

I live in Alabama, and I went to a wedding this past weekend. For the reception they'd hired out an older, restored house; food was served, there was an open bar (for beer & wine, at least). The wedding party was white, the guests were white, the woman in charge of the reception---the ranking representative for the facility---was white; with the exception of one fellow of indeterminate Middle Eastern heritage and one white bartender, the service staff was black. And that <i>bugged</i> me. To loosely quote Utah Phillips, I can go outside and pick up a rock that's older than the oldest story you know, bring it here, and drop it on your foot: the past didn't go anywhere.

I have a poor quality copy of <i>Song of the South</i>. If I were repsonsible for producing a socially acceptable release of the film, I'd feel daunted. It's not to be simply or easily dealt with---unlike the shorts included in various Treasures releases, having Leonard Maltin do a short caveat before the film rolls just ain't gonna cut it.

I want to go on---but that's really not appropriate for this thread, is it?

[FantasiaMan]

What's done is done. Disney can complain & pretend it never happened, but they can't escape the truth. Same with Warner Bros. & MGM, too. Fantasia is art, it's a timeless masterpiece that will never seem dated even 100 years from now.

Floyd Norman, a black cartoonist who worked with Disney for nearly 50 years, actually told some of the supervisors & executives of the company a funny, yet true story. Way back then, Disney employees had the opportunity to take home 16mm copies of any of their films. Floyd borrowed SotS & showed it, at a church, to an all black audience. In the end, they all loved the film. In fact, they asked Floyd if they can borrow & show the film again. The executives didn't believe a word of Floyd's story & dismissed everything he said. You can hear it straight from the horse's mouth by listening to the podcast at o-meon.com (near the end of the podcast).

A couple years ago, I actually borrowed a copy of the film from a BLACK guy, & it's his favorite film. I asked other black people about this controversy, & they aren't offended the tiniest bit about it. I think the crows in Dumbo are more offensive than SotS or Sunflower, but audiences love them & enjoy the film because of them.

Sorry for the rant, couldn't help myself.

[Fflewduur]

I hardly think that qualifies as a rant. For one thing, it's far too interesting. I will certainly check out the podcast.

And I'm not at all surprised there are folks (of ANY color) who aren't offended by SOTS. For one thing, the animated sequences are positively charming; for another, Uncle Remus is the only adult in the film who shows a <i>lick</i> of sense. Then there's the fact James Baskett won the first Oscar ever geiven to a black American for his role in the film---although it was a "special" Oscar...

I've noticed that at least one of the companies selling bootleg versions of the movie (or region-free dupes of a purported Asia-only release, which amounts to the same thing) offer interviews with Walt & Baskett as bonus material, which I'd dearly love to see.

But there are folks who have trouble with the film. I believe I read elsewhere in this forum that Maya Angelou was approached about providing some perspective-cum-commentary for an SOTS home release, and she declined...

I dunno. My biggest problem doesn't hav much of anything to do with the main characters or the story anyway---it's all those former slaves STILL hanging around the plantation. But I'll shut up, I guess (feeeling bad for contributing to thread-hijacking). (Oops: can I say that word?)

[HappyPug]

Kids nowadays so don't appreciate Fantasia.
Either of them.
It's so annoying.

They should do Fantasia & Song Of The South "treasures" sets with collectible film stips n books n stuff.

Like the old old old old old VHS Fantasia release ive got with the glossy book and numbered lithograph and stuff.

Memories.

[brotherbear]

Ok, so now MANY weeks (I think over 3 weeks later), I finally got around to picking up the Anthology set. (The main reason being is that my parents hate the mall with a passion and so tried everything not to take me, and that happens to be where our Gamestop is.) So, anyway, I GOT IT!!!! And it's amazing!! I'm so happy! The box is a little beaten up (at least, in the corners there's a little of the white/nonglossy part of the cardboard showing), but other then that, its totally authentic! woohoo! I actually used the old thread where someone (I honestly dont remember who it was) was questioning their 60th aniversary ed., and had pics of their copy, and I used it to authenticate mine, since theirs appeared to be authentic (according to other forum members). AND on top of all that, it has all inserts (actually LITERALLY all inserts, as I felt overwhelmed with so many! ), the disks have no scratches, and the cover art's in good shape! Not to mention all 3 Disks work!!

I just thought I'd inform you guys how it went with the set and all. And I'm sorry that it took over a full day to even write this up!! It just took me soooooo long to look over all the extras in that set!!! Not to mention, I also had to look over another DVD I bought yesterday at Gamestop, Balto on DVD (which, by the way, is my all time FAVORITE non-Disney animated movie, and possibly one of my favorite movies ever!)

and Thank You SOOOO MUCH for your input!!

-BB

[Kyle]

Ive been meaning to buy the Anthology set for a while now. but its just so expensive. I paid high bucks for the ultimate toy box, but I went in knowing it was worth every penny because these two movies were my favorite ones of all time.

Ive never seen either fantasia, so Im definitely excited to see them both. I'm just more reluctant to pay that high of a price for them.
but I'm sure I'll do it. hopfully this year. if I dont buy it, I'll look into asking for someone to get it for me as a Christmas present.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Ive been meaning to buy the Anthology set for a while now. but its just so expensive. I paid high bucks for the ultimate toy box, but I went in knowing it was worth every penny because these two movies were my favorite ones of all time.

Ive never seen either fantasia, so Im definitely excited to see them both. I'm just more reluctant to pay that high of a price for them.
but I'm sure I'll do it. hopfully this year. if I dont buy it, I'll look into asking for someone to get it for me as a Christmas present.

First, you should see if your local library/video rental store and see if you can rent it, and see if you like it first. I have to say that I absolutely love these 2 Fantasia movies, and I really think that you should watch them before you buy. At least then you will know what you will be getting into. I really REALLY, really recommend it to anyone. So no matter what you do, you should end up happy if you decide to get the Anthology Set.

[Kyle]

well Ive never been too fond on renting movies. I think Ive seen enough to know Id like it. I know its hardly any dialogue. just shorts animated to classical music. sound pretty straight forward I think. I love the trailers Ive seen and just want to see all this amazing artwork come to life. these movies, (the the first one more so than the second) has a lot of history to it, and I really respect that.