In hindsight, I guess I've got very little experience with animated movies. I have seen a large percentage of the Disney repertoire, but after that, I'll admit that I'm a novice. Only a scarce amount of animé, few of the computer-age efforts (Shrek, Monsters Inc., Titan A.E. are still on my to-view list)... heck, I haven't even seen more than one or two Looney Toons in my life.
But I'd like to think I know good animation when I see it, and I would submit that genuine creativity is seldom attainable in film. Walt Disney's Fantasia can boast both of those elements, and it remains my favourite animated movie of all time.
Fantasia is enchanting because it is able to depict so many diverse concepts. The creation of the universe, ancient mythologies, the four seasons, anthropomorphology, and even heaven and hell are all represented. The film opens with a brief introduction to the musicians themselves. The groundwork for listening to Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" is laid out by the narrator, Deems Taylor. He is a figure in shadow who explains that, often, the experience of listening to classical music in concert begins with watching and listening to the musicians themselves, then how other thoughts and images soon begin to filter into the mind. The piece is an inviting and appropriate introduction to the film, as the rest of the numbers are inspired from the animators having listened to the music and bringing their own thoughts and images to the table.
Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite", using six movements re-arranged for continuity purposes, depicts the arrival of spring and concludes with the majesty of winter. Woodland pixies, dancing mushrooms, twirling lilies, sensual fishes, kicking thistles, floating leaves, and falling snowflakes all jump to life as they decorate nature in all their splendour. One of the more popular segments comes next, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas. Mickey Mouse is a procrastinating trainee who decides to steal one of his master's spells to avoid having to fetch water from the nearby well. Any connotations of cuteness dissolve when Mickey gets greedy with his newfound power, as he daydreams of controlling the very waves on the ocean -- the resulting lesson is one which kids and adults will find hard to miss. The creation of the cosmos, including life on our planet up to the end of the dinosaur period, is chronicled in Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". Then the musicians play a little impromptu jazz number, and Taylor has a conversation with "the Soundtrack", which is an amusing visualization of the sounds made by different musical instruments. "The Pastoral Symphony" by Beethoven kicks off the second act. Centaurs, unicorns and pegasuses romp across a rainbowed countryside in the movie's most colourful segment. Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" (a.k.a. Allan Sherman's "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah") is a gleefully silly ballet number with crocodiles, hippoes, ostriches and elephants all doing the bestiality mambo. The program concludes with Mussorgsky's dark "Night on Bald Mountain" and Schubert's divine "Ave Maria". The first shows wailing spirits and deformed demons; the second depicts a lantern-carrying procession of figures, evolving into a long passage through a corridor, continuing upwards to the heavens above.
So many scenes in the movie are meticulously crafted. Some use filters, some implement a three-dimensional effect. Given that colourized films had only existed for a short time prior to its inception, Fantasia capitalizes remarkably on every hue and shade imaginable. The result is a rewarding refresher on classical music, and an imagination trip like no other.
