Disney Month III- Fantasia 2000

Fantasia 2000 (2000)
Starring: Steve Martin, James Earl Jones, Bette Midler
Directed by: Don Hahn, Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy, Eric Goldberg, James Algar, Francis Glebas, Paul Brizzi, and Gaëtan Brizzi


Plot Summary: 60 years after the success of the original 1940 masterpiece, Disney invites you to another brilliant blend of beautiful animation and classical music thanks to conductor James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In this film, you will see Disney's version of Noah's Ark starring Donald Duck, a family of humpback whales flying through the skies, a flamingo distracting his flock with his impressive yo-yo skills, abstract butterflies and so much more. The film is also a celebration of the success Fantasia has had over the decades, as many celebrities pay tribute to the classic film, while also taking the time to show the film's most important short, The Sorcerer's Apprentice starring Mickey Mouse, to a whole new generation of viewers.


It was the first day of the new millennium when Disney unveiled the first ever animated film to be released in IMAX, Fantasia 2000. In an attempt to return to a vision Walt Disney originally had following the first Fantasia, the film shows Disney animated shorts set to classical orchestra music. The film's success should be a no brainer, yet people seem to look passed this film in favor of the original masterpiece from 1940. What's the problem with it? The music is good. The animation is good. It's full of celebrity cameos...oh. In a creative decision that probably hurt the film in the long run, Fantasia 2000 decided to provide entertaining shorts for all ages, but spliced the final results with heavily scripted celebrity bits that I'm not even sure the little kids would find funny. That being said, are there some Disney shorts worth checking out in Fantasia 2000? Let's find out.

The film opens with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which tells the story of some abstract butterflies. It's a suitable opener that warms the audience up for what's to come. The next short is Pines of Rome, where a family of humpback whales are flying through the air. Trust me, it looks nicer than how it sounds. The use of CGI is also very noticeable in this film, which I'm not sure is good or bad, but it definitely hasn't aged the best over the last 15 years.

We then get to my favorite part of the film, Rhapsody in Blue, which takes the great jazzy sound of George Gershwin with the caricature animation style of Al Hirschfeld and sets it all in 1930s New York City. Then comes Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 112 to tell Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." This one's pretty good as well, telling an easy to follow love story that involves overcoming numerous obstacles and challenges in the name of love. It's done in a way that works so well, I'd say it rivals full-length animated films from Disney, and this one doesn't even need any dialogue. This is the short in the film I wish more people would talk about and is the sleeper hit of the spectacle, in my opinion.

We then get to one of my favorite segments of the film, a short but sweet clip of a flamingo and a yo-yo set to The Carnival of the Animals. It's simple, but effective on comedy. Then, they show the classic Sorcerer's Apprentice short from the first Fantasia film. It's always great to see the short and Mickey Mouse pop up in a movie like this, but I can't help but wonder what new clip could've been in its place instead. There was talk during the film of a Flight of the Valkyries segment that was scrapped. How cool would that have been to see?

We then cut to the Noah's Ark segment set to Pomp and Circumstance starring Donald Duck. While a fine enough short, I can't help but feel like most viewers would think of graduation (or some might think of Macho Man Randy Savage) when they hear the music instead of Donald Duck and Noah's Ark. We then close with a beautiful version of Firebird Suite that tells the tale of a Firebird that awakens and destroys a forest, which is later restored by a Sprite and an elk. This is a fascinating piece to close it on, and the animation is a unique choice as well, almost looking like it has an anime inspiration behind it.

The only major complaint anyone seems to have for the movie are with the celebrity cameos, usually citing it as the moment when the film was official selling out. The original film seemed like it was for all ages, almost going as far as being more for adults than kids, and Fantasia 2000 goes the root of having cheap comedic laughs, crowd pandering, and congratulating the film's success before the film is actually over. I don't mind Steve Martin, James Earl Jones, or Bette Midler, but they really don't seem like they want to be there to begin with. We have a few cameos that are actually music based like Quincy Jones, Itzhak Perlman, and James Levine, but it overall doesn't work very well. If they would've just let it be about the music and the animation, then we probably could've had something really spectacular that actually reflected the original Fantasia concept.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Fantasia 2000 is a fine enough film. It just lacks the spark that the original film had. Not many of the new shorts are as memorable and the celebrity cameos feel a very cheap and obvious ploy to get some mainstream buzz attached to the film. If you're a music lover, you'll probably enjoy seeing this film once in your life.

Fantasia 2000 and movie images are copyrighted by Walt Disney Pictures