Fantasia/F2K: 2-Movie Collection Discussion: Nov. 30, 2010

[jpanimation]

What was Musicana exactly?

Since it has a featurette on the upcoming Fantasia Blu-ray, I'd like to know. I'm told there is more about it in "The Disney That Never Was", but right now all I can find is that it was a cancelled project from the early 80s that was to combine ethnic tales with music (a sequel, of sorts, to Fantasia). Apparently Mel Shaw was working on a segment featuring "Finlandia" by Sibelius that was to show how a battle between the Sun Goddess and the Ice God had provided enough molten ice to create all of Scandinavia's lakes, Ken Anderson was creating a segment on the history of jazz with frogs (featuring a cameo by Louis Armstrong) and a piece with African animals, there was to be a telling of the classic Eastern tale of Ali Baba using birds, there was to be a segment featuring Peruvian born Yma Sumac singing while depicting a beautiful girl / bird figure from the South American Andes, a telling of the English children's book "The Little Broomstick" by Woolie Reitherman, and lastly a telling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Nightingale" which was to star Mickey Mouse and was to be directed by John Lasseter. Here's the art for those segments:

http://universodisney.mforos.com/97427/ ... /#21886634

Am I missing anything? I don't have access to that book so I really know nothing about this project. To make things even more confusing, I find this page:

http://www.speedylook.com/Musicana.html ... rch%3Fq%3D

They claim that after Disney bought PIXAR, Lasseter resurrected Fantasia 2006 but re-named it Musicana. Fantasia 2006 was to feature the segments we know about (Lorenzo, One by One, The Little Matchgirl, and Destino) along with a segment featuring Sebastian (from The Little Mermaid) and one featuring the USA that was to be directed by Mike Gabriel. Supposedly PIXAR was going to contribute once it became Musicana. Does anyone know if Fantasia 2006 was resurrected as Musicana and then cancelled again? or is this a bunch of BS?

I'm confused as hell but excited to find out what this Musicana featurette will tell us.

Sorry for repeating myself but the surge of activity put my question 4 pages back in just a couple of days and I'm not sure if the ones with the answers got a chance to see it.

[yamiiguy]

Well it's only about 9 minutes long so I wouldn't expect much.

[Wonderlicious]

Since it has a featurette on the upcoming Fantasia Blu-ray, I'd like to know. I'm told there is more about it in "The Disney That Never Was", but right now all I can find is that it was a cancelled project from the early 80s that was to combine ethnic tales with music (a sequel, of sorts, to Fantasia). Apparently Mel Shaw was working on a segment featuring "Finlandia" by Sibelius that was to show how a battle between the Sun Goddess and the Ice God had provided enough molten ice to create all of Scandinavia's lakes, Ken Anderson was creating a segment on the history of jazz with frogs (featuring a cameo by Louis Armstrong) and a piece with African animals, there was to be a telling of the classic Eastern tale of Ali Baba using birds, there was to be a segment featuring Peruvian born Yma Sumac singing while depicting a beautiful girl / bird figure from the South American Andes, a telling of the English children's book "The Little Broomstick" by Woolie Reitherman, and lastly a telling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Nightingale" which was to star Mickey Mouse and was to be directed by John Lasseter.
...
Am I missing anything? I don't have access to that book so I really know nothing about this project.

I have the book The Disney That Never Was, and what you described is pretty much what is briefly mentioned in that book, though they don't make much mention, if any at all, to some of those segments ("The Little Broomstick", "Ali Baba with birds"). The author of the book also states that it was shelved in favour of making Mickey's Christmas Carol (aka something less ambitious though cheaper, more bankable and altogether less risky). From what I understand, Fantasia 2006 was going to be like Musicana (a collection of ethnic tales set to music), but it didn't last all that long through Disney's development hell of the early 2000s, and everything that had gone so far down the pipeline (One by One, The Little Match Girl etc) ended up being released as stand-alone shorts (often as DVD bonus features). I haven't heard about it being renamed Musicana and being revived at all, though I think that it might have been discussed behind closed doors and not revealed to the general public, unlike how things were when Eisner was around.

Now onto the cover art and the whole titling issue:

1. Could it be that the "Fantasia Anthology" package (with extra bonus features) will be labelled a Diamond Edition, while the separate editions of the two films will be smaller-scaled "Special Editions"? It would make sense, considering that the title

2. I don't particularly like the cover arts. I'm glad to see that references to the other segments of Fantasia are being made, but I'd rather it be less in line with the artwork for Fantasia 2000. My ideal cover art would probably be a lot like this soundtrack cover from the early 90s (which incidentally, is the cover art to the Fantasia soundtrack that I have), or the theatrical re-release poster template used in the 80s and 90s:



Link to poster, since it won't otherwise work

[miniroll32]

I think you could be right regarding the titling! Although this would mean that the 'original' trailer would have to be discounted, because it originally said on that "The Diamond Editions", and with Editions being a plural, would have suggested that originally they were going to release the films as separate Diamond Editions. If your theory is correct, then it's possible that the trailer was changed because of this change. Personally, I think it would be a great idea and makes sense if they also included an extra disc for content.

The only problem is that Amazon have already listed two different versions; the DVD and Blu-Ray 'packagings' (just like Beauty+Beast). Therefore, along with Fantasia 2000 and this supposed 'Anthology', thats 5 different products! I just can't see that happening.

Back on to the cover-art, I still believe they're fakes. The 'Special Edition' border has been taken from the Dumbo slipcase for a start, and this year each banner has had some kind of different font/design. Plus, it would be very unusual for Disney to place 'The Original Classic' below the title, even if it did have a sequel.

Oh, and there's the biggest give away... The original 'Fantasia' cover has "Walt Disney" displayed at the top while Fantasia 2000 only has "Disney"... Poor continuity

[VagueSimplicity]

Oh, and there's the biggest give away... The original 'Fantasia' cover has "Walt Disney" displayed at the top while Fantasia 2000 only has "Disney"... Poor continuity

But don't they use "Walt Disney" for Walt Disney-era films and "Disney" for post-Walt films? This being aside from the Dumbo release. So it would make sense seeing as "Fantasia" is Walt and "Fantasia 2000" is post-Walt.

I don't like their new method of Disney logos, but it makes sense.

[miniroll32]

I haven't noticed any consistency really. Either way, the presentation of the logos doesn't look as accomplished as other releases. Unless we get mention of where the covers actually came from (which has been avoided on several occasions) I'm inclined to still think they're fan art

[avonleastories95]

When I saw that picture Wonderlicious posted, my first thought was "Fantasmic!"

[MJW]

I haven't noticed any consistency really. Either way, the presentation of the logos doesn't look as accomplished as other releases. Unless we get mention of where the covers actually came from (which has been avoided on several occasions) I'm inclined to still think they're fan art

I agree 100%, the text on the cover just doesn't look right. I'm thinking they're going to try to make the 2 titles look consistent, and the spacing and size of the "Fantasia" title text is different between the two covers. Plus, it looks like some generic font. I'm hoping this is fan art too!

[Coolmanio]

I haven't noticed any consistency really. Either way, the presentation of the logos doesn't look as accomplished as other releases. Unless we get mention of where the covers actually came from (which has been avoided on several occasions) I'm inclined to still think they're fan art

I agree 100%, the text on the cover just doesn't look right. I'm thinking they're going to try to make the 2 titles look consistent, and the spacing and size of the "Fantasia" title text is different between the two covers. Plus, it looks like some generic font. I'm hoping this is fan art too!

I'm gonna have to disagree. Due to the fact that the Fantasia cover art is entirely new, I find it hard to believe its fan art. Either the person had a lot of time on their hands, or it is the true artwork.

As for the text, this wouldn't be the first time Disney releases art and then changes it. Look at the Snow White Blu-ray cover. The text was changed from when the art was first released to what the final art looked like.

I'm gonna say that, more or less, that is the real art.

[jpanimation]

I have the book The Disney That Never Was, and what you described is pretty much what is briefly mentioned in that book, though they don't make much mention, if any at all, to some of those segments ("The Little Broomstick", "Ali Baba with birds"). The author of the book also states that it was shelved in favour of making Mickey's Christmas Carol (aka something less ambitious though cheaper, more bankable and altogether less risky). From what I understand, Fantasia 2006 was going to be like Musicana (a collection of ethnic tales set to music), but it didn't last all that long through Disney's development hell of the early 2000s, and everything that had gone so far down the pipeline (One by One, The Little Match Girl etc) ended up being released as stand-alone shorts (often as DVD bonus features). I haven't heard about it being renamed Musicana and being revived at all, though I think that it might have been discussed behind closed doors and not revealed to the general public, unlike how things were when Eisner was around.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm gonna have to disagree. Due to the fact that the Fantasia cover art is entirely new, I find it hard to believe its fan art. Either the person had a lot of time on their hands, or it is the true artwork.

I agree. I'm not really a fan of the covers but my gut says this is what we get (new logos and all).

[miniroll32]

'Disney Wikia' claims that the 4-Disc Combo pack due to be released will contain 2 x Blu-Rays and 2 x DVD's. Pretty much what I figured, though it may not have been update in a while as the dates are wrong;

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Special_Editions

On the other hand, Animatedviews.com says upon seeing the Sneak Peaks on James+Peach...

"most interestingly, the Fantasia: 2 Movie Collection, which looks to have replaced the Diamond Edition set with Fantasia World and will only feature Destino as a bonus instead of the “never before seen shorts” promised on previously seen promos."

http://animatedviews.com/2010/james-and ... l-edition/

Hmmm....

Just a final thing too, does anyone here remember this 'special' 1990 release of Fantasia?

http://www.alexross.com/DYLTD25.html

Now if only they would do that again!!

[Coolmanio]

'Disney Wikia' claims that the 4-Disc Combo pack due to be released will contain 2 x Blu-Rays and 2 x DVD's. Pretty much what I figured, though it may not have been update in a while as the dates are wrong;

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Special_Editions

It also said that it was released in March 2010. Not the most reliable source if you ask me.

[yamiiguy]

'Disney Wikia' claims that the 4-Disc Combo pack due to be released will contain 2 x Blu-Rays and 2 x DVD's. Pretty much what I figured, though it may not have been update in a while as the dates are wrong;

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Disney_Special_Editions

It also said that it was released in March 2010. Not the most reliable source if you ask me.

Much less reliable than even Wikipedia. At least Wikipedia gets a few hundred million visitors a day.

[Sotiris]

On the other hand, Animatedviews.com says upon seeing the Sneak Peaks on James+Peach...

"most interestingly, the Fantasia: 2 Movie Collection, which looks to have replaced the Diamond Edition set with Fantasia World and will only feature Destino as a bonus instead of the “never before seen shorts” promised on previously seen promos."

http://animatedviews.com/2010/james-and ... l-edition/

What?? I was so looking forward to "Fantasia World" and now they will just be releasing Destino? What about Lorenzo? Will it ever get released to the public? At least the other shorts were available as bonus on other DVDs. This sucks!

[JustOneBite87]

These titles would have been so much more ideal for last Spring. I found it hard to believe that they would actually release 3 Diamond editions within a couple of months of each other...so the downgrade to "special edition" isn't all that shocking. However, If they actually remove an entire disc worth of content in the process I will be furious since I've been holding out on buying Fantasia in hopes that this would be an upgrade over the previous set bonus-material wise.

Definitely hard to get excited about any initial DVD announcements from Disney in the past few years...half of them seems to get downgraded, re-scheduled or canceled altogether. Quite shocked (and pleased) that the Black Cauldron 25th anniversary actually came to fruition.

[miniroll32]

I know how you feel. Although they say that the 'Classic DVD extras' will be on BD Live, Disney haven't even made it available in Europe. I still believe that, as separate films they'll be 'Special Editions' but this Combo Pack will be a 'Diamond Edition', and thats how they will have got round to avoiding 3 Diamonds this year.

[JustOneBite87]

It is even confirmed that we are still getting a combo pack? I hope you are right!

[Coolmanio]

It is even confirmed that we are still getting a combo pack? I hope you are right!

There is a good chance that it will, but its not confirmed. We know basically nothing about this release. People are still unsure if even this release is going to come out when speculated. Especially since this is Disney -_-

Kinda hoping for a press release or an update on the Disney store any day now.

[miniroll32]

I know, and I would have thought that if the Combo Pack were to be available, Amazon would have the product page up too? Or maybe its coming later....

[MICKEYMOUSE]

If Amazon USA does not having anything up by the 1st week of Sept, I highly doubt this is coming state side!