Fantasia III Discussion Thread

[Hatter]

I've heard that the next incarnation of Fantasia will be more ethnically diverse, focusing on world music in general.

Not that I think that's the best direction to go in, but it's what I've heard.

[quasi72]

i don't care about the name of it. I just want another Fantasia, as good at least as the 2 first. Oh, and about FANTASIA RESURRECTION, I think that is an unapropiate name. Fantasia was never dead to resurrect.

[ArtOfDisney]

I agree, it was never dead. As for the concept of the next fantasia. I think whatever direction they go will be good. I like the idea of new footage with resurrecting the old clips with it as they did with Fantasia 2000.

[hokeyboy]

Fantasia Versus The Mole Men

[wizzer]

this is great news for me. fantasia 3000 is my fav so far hence my avitar. i too would like to see the hippos and gators make their way back into the next one

[pinkrenata]

Do I dare say Fantasia: Revolutions, or is that way too un-called for?

Personally, I would love to see them bring back the mythology sequences as the classic cartoon (a la Sorceror's Apprentice). And, speaking of that, RoyalNatalie had mentioned something to me about the original segements featuring the centaurs. Does anybody have any information on the whole deal involving the african-american centaur servants? Just curious ...

[wizzer]

click herethis is a thread where i posted about this on another forum i visit. the links to the missing footage are half way down the page. i posted on another thread here asking if the laserdiscs were of the un-edited version

[DVDisney]

Fantasia Christmas sounds great!!



Actually, anything buy "Fantasia 2006" works for me....

[wizzer]

i think that fantasia 2006 is a fitting title as i hope they stick with the idea of a work in progress and titles like fantasia christmas would eliminate any ideas to release another future fantasia sequal at christmas time. and if they called the next one fantasia 3000, what are they going to call the fantasia installment that actually gets released in year 3000? you could go with titles like fantasia:dreamscapes, or fantasia:fantasticy or fantasia:across the world

[disneyfella]

i am also a big fan of the fantasia movies, because it seems like the only outlet for experimentation at the disney studios any more. without short cartoons before films, these short subjects are all the animators have to test things out with. i have also heard of the title "Fantasia 2006" and i've also heard the title "fantasia continued". either title would be fine.......if you look at the bonus materials of fantasia anthology there is some artwork which calls the film fantasia continued......and i know that was what walt was going to call his sequels whenever they were released. perhaps they only changed the title to fantasia 2000 because they weren't sure if they were going to make another one and "2000" seemed more of a definitive sequel name than other ones.

also, in the fantasia 2000, the nutcracker suite (the whole thing) was going to be the retunring segment. as it turned out, with the whole segement in it ran too long and so the sorcerer's apprentice was put in alone without another returning segment. my hopes would be to get to see the nutcracker segment on the big screen....please oh please let this one come back.

i read somewhere that this one will be a themed fantasia. it will feature classical music from around the world and each song will bring with it a different type of animation and sound. there are a few completed segments of the film, one of which is an african song (i think lebo M was involved......the guy from the lion king music) in which a bunch of kids find a kite and play with it. i've also heard about a sebastian segment, but heard that it was dropped because it just wasn't working. (maybe it'll be in the supplements on the dvd.......look at me ...i'm already planning the dvd). and i have heard of the little match girl segment too......wasn't glen keane working on it?

anyway, i'm all for getting hyped up for the film...i love the fantasia movies and part of the fun is getting excited.

that's like saying you don't want to decorate or get in the christmas spirit because you don't want to be let down on christmas day. the whole fun of christmas isn't just the one day.....it's the whole season!

speaking of christmas....disney should really REALLY release more christmas specials and stuff. i would LOVE a christmas fantasia, but would settle for a wonderful world of disney christmas special with a compilation of classic christmas shorts. like the walt disney christmas special. happy holidays everyone!

[Jake Lipson]

When the original Lion King soundtrack was such a big success, Disney ushered out the first of many spinoffs to their king franchise in the form of the Rythm of the Pride Lands CD, featuring African music by Lebo M. This later served as the basis for several of the new songs in the Broadway show. One of the songs is "One By One" (heard directly after the intermission in the stage show, I think.)

For a while, we've known that this song was to be adapted by WDFA for use in Fantasia III. (I know a lot of people are refering to it as Fantasia 2006, but I prefer to stick with III until we have a definative release year to attach.) But the recent mini-announcement of the Simba's Pride SE brought this bit of suprise news:

This limited-time release features the unique short film “One by One” from the creators of The Lion King.

Me personally? I love the song and am excited to see the short being included on Simba's Pride as a bonus feature, if only because this means we can see it earlier than we would if it was included in the third Fantasia. But it begs the question, what's up with that project? Was One By One cut from it? If so, why? Or has Fantasia III been canned entirely? Again, if so, why?

Logic says that the cancellation is very possible for any number of reasons, not the least of which is tied to Roy E. Disney. He was very heavily involved, perhaps even instriumental, in getting F2000 in production and his guidance was felt through the entire process of its making. He also executive produced. So maybe without Roy's presence, the plug was pulled on FIII. Or Eisner could have pulled it recently just to spite Roy.

I've also heard that Disney has several projects in various stages of production right now -- Chicken Little, An American Dog, A Day With Wilbur Robinson, and Rapunzel Unbraided are just a few -- but I haven't heard any news about another Fantasia lately. Could this be because it was canned or put on the back burner? Or -- horror of horrors -- do you think it may have been shipped out to the DisneyToon Studios division for completion and release directly to the video market as so many cheapquels have been in the last decade? (Not that I want to give anyone at Disney ideas, it's just that I wouldn't put it past them to do it.)

Of course, there's also the very strong possibility (I hope) that someone decided One By One just wasn't working in FIII for whatever reason and decided to port it over to the Simba's Pride DVD? (For example, I heard a lot of rumors a while back that would seem to indicate that all, or most of, FIII is being done in CGI. And some people working on the movie, or Disney execs, might've thought that, creatively, One By One stood out too much from the rest and broke the flow because it is a traditionally animated piece.)

Or, since we all know so well how current management seems to think a DVD has to contain some sort of new movie footage to get the public to upgrade from the VHS, was there a possible management mandate that the sequence be ported to the DVD instead of being included in FIII?

Or, even bleaker the possibility, but it still bears mention: Does Disney think that this perticular animated short is elligible for consideration for Best Animated Short during next year's awards season (thus the choice to release it independantly as a short rather than as a segment of a longer film?) Of course, this would require that it play theatrically for a week (in LA at least) prior to its release on video as part of the Simba's Pride DVD in August. But I think it's entirely possible that they could be harboring this idea in the corner of their minds. And it would also be possible for them to put the short in front of some movie opening between now and August 31, either exclusively in LA or nationwide (Home on the Range maybe?), thus making it elligible for Best Animated Short consideration next year. (And seeing as it was produced by Feature Animation and based on an exellent song in a hugely popular Broadway musical, I think it's got a very good chance of winning awards, provided that it meets the submission requirements and is submitted by Disney for consideration.)

In any case, I really wonder what's up.

Thoughts? Insights? Reaction? Anything?

[chrisrose]

Your theories make a lot of sense to me. You're right, it's odd that Disney hasn't mentioned Fantasia 3 in any of their recent "check-out-all-the-movies-we're-working-on!" announcements.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Eisner isn't interested in pursuing Fantasia 3 - he wasn't really supportive of Fantasia 2000, was he? Now that Roy's gone, (along with most of the animators!), it might never see the light of day.

To be honest I haven't been interested in seeing it anyway... ever since I read that the animators working on Fantasia 3 were upset that their hand-drawn sequences were being CGI-ed, regardless of how much better the animators felt the hand-drawn version was. Pissed me off. I refuse to support Eisner's CGI obsession.

[Jack]

I've been considering whats up with Fantasia 3 recently, myself. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was canned because of Roy. But another possibility is that its being saved for 2010, as I remember some report a while back about Eisner wanting it to have an even number or a decade number for the year on the title.

I'm a big Fantasia fan, and was really enthusiastic that Disney was deciding to pick up Walt's idea of continuing it. If they decide to drop it, I'll be very dissapointed.

[MickeyMousePal]

Not another Fantasia I really didn't like Fantasia 2000 and now this.
Fantasia 3 will do horrible like the first two.
Why Does Disney just make sequels can't they make up a new story or do a fairy tale.

Oh well I guess I will get Fantasia 3 when it comes out on DVD.

[DisneyVillains]

I think you came up with some really great ideas as to its status. Personally, I think that it was either shelved or cancelled all together. I just can't see it doing well if it came out directly to DVD. Also, if it were to come out, which would be a cool idea to me, I would rather have animated rather in CGI format. It would just seem out of place to have the first two animated and the third computerized.

Just out of curiosity, how well did Fantasia 2000 do in the theatres? Did it do well enough to warrent another one? In my opinion, although I love the films I just can't see parents taking their kids to see a Fantasia movie nowadays.

[Joe Carioca]

"Fantasia 2000" did around $60 million in theaters. No, it didn't set the world on fire, but it broke IMAX records. It did well on its own.

[Jack]

Just out of curiosity, how well did Fantasia 2000 do in the theatres? Did it do well enough to warrent another one?

IMAX RELEASE: $52,260,454
35mm RELEASE: $8,394,966
TOTAL: $60,655,420

It did considerably well for an IMAX feature, compared to other releases in that format. It's normal theater release is very low, due to its not being released with a high theater count and emphasis being put on the IMAX release.

I feel it would have done about $10-$20 million better if it has been widely released in IMAX & 35mm theaters - close to a 3,000 theater count. But I doubt it ever would have made $100 million.

So, it wasn't an extremely profitable venture. I'm sure they made profit after the DVD release, but its not the type of project a studio would be anxious to follow-up.

[chrisrose]

I loved Fantasia 2000...I walked out of that IMAX theatre all starry-eyed and glad to be alive (corny, but true).

It's an indescribable feeling of being uplifted by a Disney movie, which used to happen all the time, but which I haven't really felt since I saw The Little Mermaid and Beauty & The Beast in theatres. (Aladdin, Hercules and Mulan came close though).

Anyway, after watching Fantasia 2000 I turned to my best friend and said, "Disney, the REAL Disney, is BACK!" Too bad it didn't last.

Come back Roy....

[Joe Carioca]

"Fantasia 2000" wasn't produced with box-office returns in mind. It was more of a contribution to the art.
Kudos to Roy Disney! Such a wonderful movie they made!

[Disney Guru]

Thanks for the news on this release. I can't wait for this movie to come out on DVD. I really loved the other 2 Fantasia's.