Fantasia (1940)

The last time that I watched Fantasia I was probably eight years old, give or take. My memory of it was foggy; there were recollections of the dancing flowers, the dinosaurs dying of thirst, Mickey Mouse on his perch, Pegasus and his family on Mt. Olympus, Satan. Though the memories were few they were incredibly vivid, but watching it anew was like experiencing it for the first time.

The film is a celebration of timeless classical music combined with vivid imagery that creates a truly unique movie-going experience, and one of the best Disney films made. In it are seven vignettes set to eight pieces of music from Bach, Beethoven, Dukas, Moussorgsky, Ponchielli, Schubert, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky from some of their best works ranging Toccata and Fugue to The Pastoral Symphony. Describing each piece would be tedious to write and to read, but each is wondrous to behold.

The scope of the film is ambitious. There is a narrator who comes out with The Philadelphia Philharmonic and introduces us to the concept of the film. He explains that Walt Disney Productions intended to blend sight and sound in a way never before attempted in a feature length film. He subsequently tells the audience a bit about the musical numbers and the thoughts behind each of their creative designs. There are pieces ranging from the creation of life on Earth to an illustrated version of The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Not everything in this movie works. How could it possibly? Each piece tells its own story with its own mood, and aesthetic. There are bound to be segments more interesting and better designed than others--that is simply the nature of the film. I did not agree with all of the artistic choices, just as I musically I did not agree with some of the choices that the conductor made. Those mistakes, however, were sacrifices made to try something entirely different. I would imagine that Fantasia is the most influential of all animated films after Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It set the stage for how movie musicals--especially animated ones--would be interpreted in the future (I think specifically of Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and I believe that it is one of the most visionary films ever made.

4/4