Fantasia-Now or Later?

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I know its hardly any dialogue. just shorts animated to classical music. sound pretty straight forward I think.

The only dialouge in the movie is during the interstitchels where Deems Taylor (well now it's someone else) tells about the piece of music and what the Disney artists thought would fit the music. Other than that, it's just what you said, animated shorts set to classical music. It's amazing.

[KubrickFan]

I'd buy it now. In fact I still want to, but it can't be found over here.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Ah, Fantasia - hardly any price could be too high - sigh...

And the extras disc... I'd have paid $100 for the "Clair de Lune" segment alone if I'd had to.

[brotherbear]

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.

Well, first off, after looking over the set, I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who has the means to purchase it!! The main reason I went out of my way to find and purchase this set is mainly because its one of my top four favorite disney films of all time!! (it's tied equally with TLK, BatB, and TJB). Anyway, I agree with Sequel that you should definately rent or find some other means to see the 2 films first before buying the Anthology. The set can be very expensive, and it would be a huge bummer if you bought the set, watched the films once and decided that you didn't like them. When I bought the set, I had never seen Fantasia 2000 before and I thought it was ok...I didn't like how they had some of the CGI stuff in there (like the short on the toy soldier). But I liked it.

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.

I thought that the re-narration was actually pretty good! I was impressed on how they timed the voice to Deem Taylor's lips!! it was so perfectly aligned! And I actually laughed when he said "At a Soundtrack"!! It sounded as if he was talking to a dog that just did a trick.

Well, now the only thing I can hope for (as far as a future release of Fantasia...possibly the PE) is to have a truely uncut version with the actual recording of Deems Taylor (I honestly think the real recording is lost somewhere in a secret storage facility....)

Oh! and I almost forgot to mention. When I picked up the Anthology set, there was a note that the manager of the Gamestop put on it which read:

"Do NOT sell me on pain of death!! The lady who is buying me had me shipped from out of state! Thank You."
That honestly cracked me up!

-BB

[Lars Vermundsberget]

The set can be very expensive, and it would be a huge bummer if you bought the set, watched the films once and decided that you didn't like them.

I guess it would be possible to sell it, though.

Well, now the only thing I can hope for (as far as a future release of Fantasia...possibly the PE) is to have a truely uncut version with the actual recording of Deems Taylor (I honestly think the real recording is lost somewhere in a secret storage facility....)

Yeah, that discovery hopefully coincides with Disney deciding to let us see the complete Beethoven segment.

[BambiFan87]

Omg I love Fantasia I have the anthology ($80) which I thought was pretty decent the only thing it didnt have was ALL the inserts it did have most of them though. and it was in very good condition. I didnt like the white keep case's though so I changed them to black but it was such a great purchase. I actually didnt think the 3rd disc special features were THAT great though..I dont know art galleries for some reason dont get me that interested. but the making of's and everything were sooo good! (lets not forget about the Ultimate Toy Box either) I love that too!

[FantasiaMan]

I thought that the re-narration was actually pretty good! I was impressed on how they timed the voice to Deem Taylor's lips!! it was so perfectly aligned!

As a matter of fact, voice actor Corey Burton did the narrations of Deems Taylor.
He also voiced:

Moliere in Atlantis ...

Prince Achmed, the camel, necklace & fish Merchants & sheep in Aladdin ...

The burnt man , end-of-the-world man, tour bus guide & the Titans in Hercules...

& is the current voice of Ludwig von Drake, Dale, Capt. Hook & Chernabog.

He also did the voice of Walt Disney in the Fantasia commentary as well as Bambi's "Inside Walt's Story Meetings" feature. He plays countless other voices (many times as a narrator) for many Disney films, shows & video games.

[Tascar]

If you can find a copy for a good price, I say go for it.

With regards to the censorship of the film, we will never be sure until we see a new DVD edition whether or not this bit will finally be uncensored.

With regards to the new narration, considering what I agree would be a jarring thing to transition in and out of Deems Taylor's narration with Corey Burton's, I don't expect the original track to be restored as anything else than perhaps bits and pieces in an alternate track.

You know, when it comes down to it, there's always a better special edition out there. Even the most comprehensive boxed set with 20+ DVDs could not capture more than a fraction of the work involved in a film. If a DVD is already jammed pack with extras and is a satisfying experience, then I say go for it. There's always going to be a better one out there. It's the skimpy ones that scream "second edition" that you want to avoid (like "Lilo and Stitch").