Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 Discussion

[DisneyVillains]

I recently purchased the Fantasia Anthology set and was finally able to watch the movies last week while on spring break. It was the first time I saw all of Fantasia and the first time I saw Fantasia 2000 since the theatres.

I could not get over how well these films are done, especially Fantasia. The animation is one of the best and the choice of music was truly great. Out of the two, I think I perfer the first film better due to its music selections and wonderful animation. The Nutcracker Suite is probably the most amazing piece I have seen set to music and Night on Bald Mountain is incredible (always had been my favorite). My only complaint is that the Rite of Spring tends to lag on at times, but it is still good.

I just wanted to find what the rest of the board think of these films. Which one do you prefer? What are your favorite segments from each?

Here are mine:
Preferred film: Fantasia
Fantasia Segment(s) Most Liked: Night on Bald Mountain and Nutcracker Suite
Fantasia 2000 Segment(s) most liked: Firebird Suite and Pomp and Circumstance

Anyone who has not seen these I highly recommend them!

[Luke]

I love them both for what they are. At times, they're more experimental than most other animated films, and their blending of shorts works far more effectively than the anthology features, for instance.

While the original is obviously the ground-breaking masterpiece, I do feel that the second one is more enjoyable. It's just brisker, if less monumental in every other way. The "Fantasia 2000" interstitials to introduce the segments, though, will undoubtedly feel more dated and less necessary over time.

Still, I think "Fantasia 2000" is one of the best films we've seen through this decade, now halfway done.

Favorite segments:
Fantasia - The Nutrcracker Suite and The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Fantasia 2000 - Rhapsody in Blue (and of course, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, again)

[Jack]

My thoughts are basically the same as those already expressed. Fantasia is one of my all-time favorites, and Fantasia 2000 is great too and under-rated.

Fav. sequences:

Fantasia - "The Nutcracker Suite"
Fantasia 2000 - "Rhapsody in Blue"

[Ludwig Von Drake]

I love both of them

Fantasia - Sorceror's Apprentice, Dance of the Hours, Pastoral Symphony
Fantasia 2000 - Rhapsody in Blue

[rodis]

Can you believe I have over 20 Disney videos in my collection but am missing "Fantasia"? This is very sad. Back when I was in first grade (1991), my mother and I went to buy me a present for my birthday. And being the stupid kid that I was (just kidding), I chose some cheap "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" film (don't know what made me choose it, even the cover looked horrible). Well we were just about to pay when the woman there told me there was a new Disney video out and it's "Fantasia". I still remember the cover with Mickey Mouse on it and it had a big cade 'cause it was a special edition to celebrate its 50 years anniversary. Anyway, both of them tried to convince me that Disney film is MUCH MUCH better than the crap I wanted but I wasn't going to let go.

To this day my only memory of "Fantasia" is the famous scene where Mickey stands on a rock doing magics

[PatrickvD]

preferred film: Fantasia 2000
fav sequence Fantasia: Sorcerer's apprentice
fav sequence Fantasia 2000: Rhapsody in blue (awesome piece of moviemaking)

[indianajdp]

Love 'em

And to echo the sentiments posted thus far, Rhopsody in Blue is far and away my favorite piece of F2000 and of both movies. I'm also fond of The Tin Soldier (or whatever it's titled on F2000) and TSA and Rite of Spring on Fantasia.

[2099net]

Favourite sequences:

Fantasia: A Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria
Fantasia 2000: The Steadfast Tin Solider (it fits the music so well)

[Joe Carioca]

Favorite sequences:
Fantasia: The Nutcracker Suit and Night On Bald Montain/Ave Maria
Fantasia 2000: The Firebird Suit (the Brizzi brother did a marvelous work)

[Paka]

Hmm... I think my preferred film of the two is Fantasia - it's the one I grew up on. The second has excellent sequences, but the rest of it - the hosting and the abstract "outer space" setting - are kind of... glitzy. It'd be nice if they stuck with one celebrity as a host, like Deems Taylor was for the original. Might I suggest Garrison Keillor?

Anyhoo, my fave sequences from Fantasia are The Pastoral Symphony (Candy-colored horsies and flowers! Aww! ), and the macabre Night on Bald Mountain. Figures it'd be composed by a Russian! They're quite a cheery folk, so I've heard. Hehe...

The Fantasia 2000 sequences I like best are The Carnival of the Animals (the OTHER Eric Goldberg sequence! LOL), and The Firebird Suite. Like Joe said - great work by the Brizzi brothers. They took the music's title quite literally, I guess!


And since so many people listed it as their fave - what is it about Rhapsody in Blue that you like? I love the stylized Goldberg designs, but I dunno - it just doesn't thrill me altogether. Hehe... but then again, I'm not a big fan of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, either!

[jambo*rafiki]

I love those movies. I haven't seen Fantasia 2000 since . . . well . . . 2000, but I remember it very well.
Preferred: Fantasia
Favorites -
Fantasia: The Pastoral Symphony, Rite of Spring
Fantasia 2000: Rhapsody in Blue, The Firebird Suite
Edit: how could I have forgotten those magnificant flying whales? That one's my favorite overall!

[Squirrel]

I guess I like the original Fantasia. I guess I appreciate it. But that's as far as it goes, cause I don't really love it. Fantasia 2000, however, I adore. All the animation, music, the sequences. The Pines of Rome and the whales. The Steadfast Tin Soldier, the Carnival of the Animals with the flamingos. The Donald bit. The Firebird Suite. And so forth.

Fantasia 2000 is, to me, more enjoyable. It's my 3rd favorite Disney film (after Lilo & Stitch and The Rescuers Down Under). And it just feels very elegant, very classy. I'm very attached to it, too, as it was the film that got me really interested in Disney again (as, after The Lion King, I didn't really get into any of the other films; but Fantasia 2000 hooked me, and Lilo & Stitch sealed the deal).

The shorts do flow well together. I do agree that the celebrity in-betweens will become dated, but...and I own Fantasia 2000 on DVD, but not the original Fantasia. Also, I liked the stories and shorts, and music and animation, just about everything better in Fantasia 2000. I appreciate the original for what it is and what it did. But my heart goes with the sequel.

My favorite segment from the original was the Dance of the Hours (was it called), with the hippos and the alligators/crocodiles, whatever they were. I don't know if I can pick a favorite from the other. There are three or four that I wouldn't be able to decide over.

[Jake Lipson]

Favorites:

Fantasia - The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Fantasia 2000 - The Steadfast Tin Soldier

[pinkrenata]

I've always been rather partial to the original.

As for sequences, my favorites are:

Fantasia: Pastorale Symphony
Fantasia 2000: Rhapsody in Blue and Firebird Suite

[Loomis]

To quote myself from the Animated Classics Countdown:

"Not everybody remembers the first time they saw a Disney film, and I can't say I do either. For some reason, though, Fantasia sticks in my head as my earliest Disney memory. Whether it was dancing mushrooms, marching broomsticks, or fiery mountain tops, there is something intense about Fantasia that you just can’t shake from your head. Like a good song, the images stay in your head, playing out over and over. It is that sense of familiar that will always keep people coming back to the idea of Fantasia – in 1940, 2000 or beyond…"

Fantasia is certainly one of my favourite Disney films ever, and as I said, it is largely because the images stay in your head for a long time.

The sequel never works quite as well as the original, but in some ways it doesn't have to - the Fanstaia "idea" is at the core: take a bunch of music, and set animation to it. For every individual, music is "visualized" in a different way, but there is no denying that the Disney animators have in both instances created some of the most interesting animation of the last 60 years.

So, while I like the original better, it is largely because the images have been in my head so long, that I can't help but feeling that film had a lasting impact on me for a reason. Even though I saw F2000 for the first time on an IMAX screen, I never got the same "feeling" I did watching a version on the TV/VHS of the original as a kid.

The only regret is that we do not have an unedited version of the original Fantasia availale on DVD. I can see WHY they chose to remove the offending scene, and it certainly doesn't detract from the film, it would just be nice to have it in a "complete" form.

Fantasia Segment(s) Most Liked: Night on Bald Mountain , Nutcracker Suite and I know it is naff, but Sorceror's Apprentice.
Fantasia 2000 Segment(s) most liked: Rhapsody in Blue (pure animated brilliance, IMO) and Pomp and Circumstance .

[DVDFreak]

I couldn't sit through Fantasia, because unfortunately, classical music just isn't my thing. I bought it because it is now out of print, and I wanted it for my Disney DVD collection so I was able to find it for a nice price. But I don't think I'll try watching it again for a while...unless I need to fall asleep

[Grunches]

I loved them both. I think Fantasia was a little better then Fantasia 2000 but I still like both of them.

[Yuki]

I didn't especially love the Fantasia's, but I don't see what people have against them.

I prefer the first Fantasia, but they are both equally entertaining.

[Son of the Morning]

Preferred film: Fantasia 2000
Fantasia Segment(s) Most Liked: Night on Bald Mountain, Nutcracker Suite
Fantasia 2000 Segment(s) most liked: Firebird Suite, Rhapsody in Blue

[Son of the Morning]

The only regret is that we do not have an unedited version of the original Fantasia availale on DVD. I can see WHY they chose to remove the offending scene, and it certainly doesn't detract from the film, it would just be nice to have it in a "complete" form.

Uh. Details? <_<