VINCE'S MOVIE REVIEWS |
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Animated Musical Walt Disney said Fantasia would be work in progress and now it has become just that. |
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Let me get this out of the way before I go farther. Do not take the children because you think it is something they will enjoy. When I went, the children had their heads down and snoozing. They woke up during the second half a bit more because Mickey and Donald were on screen. Fantasia was and probably always will be an animated film for adults. Come on do you really think the average child knows or cares about classical music such as "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1", "La Gioconda" or Fifth Symphony in C Minor, Opus 67". Not likely. They of course will like Mickey and Donald. So do yourself a favour and unless you are seeing this at a drive-in someday leave the kids at home. Right now the film is in IMAX format only, so go and enjoy it without the children. Now if you have children that are into classical music, for goodness sake, take them. The opening sequence was rather plain and I'm not going to waste space on it. All the segments are introduced by different actors or musicians and they were all entertaining. Using Steve Martin to start sets us up to realize that we are to take this film as a light entertainment. The opening musical number is Ottorino Respighi's "Pines of Rome," which is accompanied by a story of a pod of whales that follow shimmering lights from the ocean into the sky. This is easily the most entertaining piece in the first half of the film. I liked the sequence but I did not really enjoy the animation. It was all done in CGI animation. The whales unfortunately came off looking plastic and I found that very distracting. The aerial ballet of the whales was good but the ending sequence was the only real wonderful part as the pod of whales burst through the clouds and ended up in an ocean. "Rhapsody In Blue" was accompanied by art styled after Hirschfield. This Gershwin tune accompanied the style of art that was used in most late fifties early sixties cartoons. They were bland and flat and so is this sequence. I absolutely hated the parts where a drummer is hitting the drums and you hear piano keys instead. No way Renee. The segment set to Hans Christan Anderson's 'The Steadfast Solider' has nice art but it put me to sleep. Not literally, it really put me to sleep. My wife had to nudge me to wake up. The computer graphics were good but it did not cut it for me. The story of the one legged tin soldier trying to save a toy ballerina from a wicked jack-in-the-box might have fared much, much, better if it had been done in traditional animation style. Once 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' segment came on I finally became excited. It was great to see it again. Yes it is grainy compared to the new art, but it had heart and class. Donald Duck as Noah's assistant on the Ark, to the tune of Elgar's 'Pomp and Circumstance' was clearly superiour to any of the new ones for humour and traditional art style. You will recognize the music for this sequence because it is the music you always hear at commencement and graduation ceremonies. This is a beautiful piece of music that actually fit with the art and story unlike most of the others. The segment with the flamingoes was filler and I really can't remember much of it...shows you how memoriable it was right? The "Firebird Suite" segment by Igor Stravinsky, which features a fire in a timberland and the regrowth of it was absolutely spectacular. It walked away with the film. The animation is a combination of traditional animation and computer animation that will knock your socks off. It is simply amazing. You can tell I like it by now, I hope. A massive elk watches as a water nymph arises and brings life to the trees and the ground until she reaches the base of a volcano. She makes the mistake of wandering inside the volcano where she spies a strange rock which suddenly explodes into a giant fiery phoenix-like demon. She runs as the firebird follows her causing rampant destruction of the forest. A massive lava tidal wave follows the nymph trying to destroy her...this very dramatic sequence ends as she looks at her forest destroyed and desolate. The elk helps the terrified nymph but she is afraid, until, her tears sprout life back into the ground. Then she takes flight, regenerating her beautiful, lush forest. This is quite adult and quite wonderful to behold. This segment is worth the money you pay to see Fantasia 2000. Overall it was a smart move for Disney to release this film on Imax first because it will give it a greater grandeur than a release in 35mm in regular theatres. It will also help it generate a larger income by releasing it in this format first. It will be up to you if you feel it was worth the trip to the Imax screens to see it. The rest will be able to decide in Aprill 2000 when it goes into general release. |
  
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Starring Hosts: Penn Jillette, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, Angela Lansbury, James Levine, Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman & Teller Directed by James Algar (segment "The Sorceror's Apprentice") Gaetan Brizzi (segment "Firebird Suite") Paul Brizzi (segment "Firebird Suite") Hendel Butoy (segments "Pines of Rome", "Steadfast Tin Soldier, The") Francis Glebas (segment "Pomp and Circumstance, Marches #1, 2, 3 and 4") Eric Goldberg (I) (segments "Rhapsody in Blue", "Carnival of the Animals") Don Hahn (segment "Host Sequences") Pixote Hunt (segment "Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Allegro con Brio") Written by Hans Christian Andersen, Don Hahn, Irene Mecchi & David Reynolds Produced by Lisa C. Cook, Roy Edward Disney Distributed by Buena Vista Rating USA... Family Rating Canada... Family Read Another Review Of This Film Read Still Another Review Of This Film |
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vjm@metrocity.com
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