Fantasia 1940

Fantasia (1940)

The same year as Pinocchio, Disney released Fantasia, their most ambitious film; the idea of pairing music to animation was something Disney had tried before, but never on this scale – the result is one of the most creative and breathtaking pieces of animation ever made. There really isn’t that much to say about Fantasia, there isn’t one singular narrative to speak of, all the segments are different and self-contained and, as people much more knowledgeable and insightful than me have said in far more eloquent ways, trying to discuss the merit and meaning of music, particularly such classical pieces, is ultimately pretty pointless. Still, I’ll try my best to just share how I feel about each of the individual segments of the film. One thing I will say before I start, is that the one thing I don’t really like about the film is the introductions by Deems Taylor – he’s charismatic enough and it’s nice to be told the name of the piece and get a little history about it, I suppose the intent was to try and educate kids on classical music, but it just seems unnecessary. If it was just the name of the piece that would be fine, but he tells you the entire narrative of the short you’re about to see, what is the point of that? Why not just let me watch it and see for myself? They could’ve at least flashed SPOILERS before he told me all the dinosaurs were gonna die, jeez, I hadn’t finished The Flintstones yet. On top of that they have an intermission half-way through and then a little jam session; I get that this is supposed to break up what is, for Disney at least, quite a long movie, but did we really need this? If anything it just makes the movie even longer and this, along with the introductions, really slows the movie down; I understand that just transitioning from segment to segment could be a little jarring, considering how different some of them are in style and tone, but every time this dude’s face came on screen it kinda killed my enthusiasm a bit. Not too big a deal and it doesn’t really hurt the movie, but I dunno, not really needed.

‘So yeah, basically, what happens is that Luke goes and trains with this guy called Yoda and then he goes to Cloud City to rescue Han and Leia – cos Han and Leia got kidnapped earlier by Darth Vader – and then he fights Vader and Vader tells him he’s his Dad and Luke’s all like ‘Nooo’ and then he gets his hand cut off and stuff and then it ends. Anyway, please enjoy The Empire Strikes Back’

Anyway, the film starts off with “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Bach, transitioning from the live action orchestra into an attempt at animating what might be going through your head when you listen to the piece. This serves as a good link from the live action introduction of the film into the world of colour and animation before us, as we slowly transition from the real into the imaginary; this is one of the most interesting and imaginative parts of the movie, the abstract shapes and images on the screen are quite a joy to behold and the way they play with the perspective and the background is, for want of a better phrase, pretty damn trippy. The way the shapes and patterns build and move alongside the building rhythm of the song is very impressive; this perhaps best captures the abstract images, colours and ideas one might subconsciously associate with classical music. The colours are phenomenal throughout the film and they are never more prominent or important than here, they are vibrant, striking and powerful – the use of colour holds this whole segment together and does so wonderfully, my personal favourite moment being when sparkles of colourful light fall down the screen like snow fakes, it’s just a wonder to behold.

Sure it looks beautiful and imaginative but the guy who drew it was probably just staring at the sun with his eyes closed.

Next is the “Nutcracker Suite” by Tchaikovsky, this is one I don’t really have much to say about, perhaps because it moves through different pieces of music and animation so quickly it’s kind of hard to get a grasp on it; that’s not to say it’s bad, I’m just not sure what I can add. The underwater segments are pretty interesting, as we follow a group of uh, strangely seductive fish (Beginning to think Walt Disney might be a little too into fish) and it’s quite captivating. The “Russian Dance” portion, where what appear to be thistles dance to the music, is very impressive; there is a lot of movement here, at some points it is synchronised, but at others, multiple different images are moving in different ways and a lot is going on at once on the screen; you have to respect the animators for this level of detail and control and the amount of time it must have taken to get this right. This part is lively and exciting and fits the rhythm of the music well, though the rest of the segment is a little slower and more atmospheric, though again, this suits the music, so it is appropriate, just a little less exciting, I suppose.

‘Walt Disney? You said he was dead.’

‘No, what I said is that he sleeps with the fishes.’

Next up is the most famous part of the movie, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Dukas and starring Mickey Mouse himself; this was pretty much the only reason I - and I imagine many others - watched the movie when I was a kid, which is obviously a disservice to the rest of the film, but to my surprise, I was just as enthralled with this now as I was then. Cliché as it is to say, this is probably my favourite part of the film; though most of the other sections are animated and designed in a more abstract way and deal a lot with nature, life and movement, this is pretty much just like watching a standard Disney cartoon set to classical music and thus, it is designed in the traditional Disney way. They continue to the top themselves however, as the animation here is nothing short of incredible, it’s just so lively and fun, the colours are great, the backgrounds are great, everything is great, it’s great. This segment expertly tells a narrative simply through music and animation, the lack of dialogue doesn’t make it hard to follow at all and even without Deems Taylor’s rather extensive description of the story prior to the short, you still understand everything that is going on and get a full and complete story in less than 10 minutes. It’s also fun to see Mickey be a little mischievous and have to deal with a mess he made, as opposed to the happy go lucky, squeaky clean figure he’s usually depicted as. The attention to detail is fantastic, the way Mickey moves his hands to command the broomstick and later, the stars and sea, is like that of a conductor, as if he is conducting the world itself in time with the music. This obviously ties in to the nature of the film and supports its theme of putting movement to music and suggesting that it has the power to create thoughts and images in our head – by showing Mickey as a conductor able to control the world around him, it suggests that music itself has the power to create and control worlds, conducting movement, shape and life through rhythm, pitch and volume. I think I could watch this 1000 times and never get bored, it’s just that good – the image of Sorcerer Mickey is one of the most prominently associated with the Disney franchise and after watching this, you can definitely see why.

‘Oh boy, I am the Alpha and the Omega, ha-ha!’

Next is “Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky, the longest and most ambitious segment of the film, which chronicles the beginning of life on Earth to the end of the reign of the dinosaurs. The narrative of this piece follows the music to a tee, it transitions from slow and quiet to fast and loud repeatedly, going up and down like a roller coaster, as we follow each of the different ages of prehistoric Earth from their slow rise to their inevitable crashing fall. The depiction of the birth of life is mesmerising and quite haunting, as life grows, it depicts the endless cycle of death and birth and the often cruel side of nature as animals fight and die to survive. Animals die suddenly and without warning, one minute gliding along peacefully with the music, before a sudden noise signals their demise at the hands of a predator. Their deaths are rarely spectacular or theatrical (The main exception being the death of the stegosaurus at the hands of the T-Rex) but are instead uneventful, highlighting the fact that this happens every day and is simply a part of life. The dinosaurs display this callous disinterest to life and death as they waddle along slowly, nudging one another aside to get to food and water, or sadly giving up when others do so and looking elsewhere, as if they’re not even bothered enough to put up a fight; it really makes life and the struggle for survival look quite pathetic and sad. The animals here are mostly designed and animated in a more reserved and less cartoon-y manner than Disney is accustomed to; they are not cute cartoon critters, but real, thoughtless creatures, surviving on instinct alone. They are mostly dead eyed, slow moving and somewhat lifeless. This adds to the creepy and unsettling atmosphere of the segment and, along with the music, builds a foreboding sense of dread, especially since the audience knows what awaits the dinosaurs. The one change to this is the arrival of the T-Rex, who brings a singular moment of fear and frantic movement – the rhythm hastens and the music becomes loud and bombastic as the T-Rex chases the other dinosaurs and kills a stegosaurus in a large and theatrical battle. The scene is morbid and genuinely quite horrifying, as is the following scene of the dinosaurs wandering through the desert, trying to find food and water as the planet dries up; again, they are not desperate or animated in their struggle, they are slow, lifeless and almost seem to accept their death as one-by-one, they fall to the ground, even the once mighty T-Rex. The segment goes out on one last bang as the planet shifts and changes due to earthquakes and the remains of the dinosaurs fall out of sight, forgotten; this whole segment is chilling, contemplative and incredibly immersive. Artistically, it is one of the best segments of the film and is truly a remarkable piece of animation.

Circle of life, bitch.

“The Pastoral Symphony” by Beethoven follows and is perhaps a little too light and fluffy for the most part, but it is a welcome breather after the rather dark and crushing atmosphere of the previous segment. The beginning is colourful and well-animated, but a little dull, it’s basically just a bunch of girls getting ready for a date with their boyfriends, which is nice I suppose? It’s kind of hard to follow “The Rite of Spring”, so I guess it’s understandable that this isn’t too interesting in comparison. The arrival of Bacchus, who is delightfully hammered, is welcome – his exaggerated, drunken movements are enjoyable to watch and the way the animators use his full cup of wine as a comedic prop is inventive and fun. Suddenly, Zeus starts throwing thunderbolts at people... I’m not really sure why, Deems Taylor says he’s ‘playing darts’ but I don’t really get what he means by that. It kind of seems like he’s just trying to murder everyone. I dunno it’s pretty fun and it looks cool. Not much to say about this one.

‘Hey, Hercules isn’t till 1997 so I thought I’d just throw thunderbolts at you guys a bit til then, is that cool?’

Next is the similarly comical “Dance of the Hours” by Ponchielli, wherein an alligator dances with a hippo. Huh. The animation continues to be expressive and lively and some of the stuff is so ridiculous you kind of have to laugh; it’s definitely silly, but in a good-natured way you can appreciate. Again, I don’t have much to say here and this is probably the least interesting or creative segment of the film, in my opinion; not bad, just kind of safe. Very, very strange, but safe. The movements of the animals, the choreography and the fantastic backgrounds are nice to watch, but it’s nothing to write home about.

A hippo dancing with a crocodile is a peculiar spectacle.

Finally, we end on another of the film’s best and darkest segments, “Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky. This is just awesome, plain and simple, the music is awesome and the animation is awesome, it just kicks ass. The demon Chernabog (Or Satan, or the Devil, or whatever you want to call him) has such a cool and diabolical design, with a wonderfully wicked smile and callous and careless movements which match the music and demonstrate his thoughtless attitude towards his servants. Like Mickey, he moves like a conductor as he orders his demonic hordes, acting as a dark contrast to the bright and heroic Mickey and showing that music can crush and terrify us just as much as it can uplift and inspire us. The designs of all the demons are dark and surreal without being too grotesque, the flying ghosts in particular look like wall paintings that have come to life, it all suits the tone and style of the music perfectly. The final transition into “Ave Maria” by Schubert is perfect; as the dark colours of “Night on Bald Mountain” are replaced by light and Chernabog and his minions slink away, the bright and hopeful choir of this final song ring in the last piece of the film. Light, good and hope vanquish the dark night and all its callous evil, another representation of the values Disney constantly tries to push in its stories and a perfect way to end one of their greatest films. The scene is simply a group of people heading to church, identified in the hazy dawn by their bright torches; it is not showy or extravagant, but subtle, slow and calm, just like the music, appropriately peaceful after the loud and bombastic “Night on Bald Mountain” and a soothing and cathartic end to the film.

I don’t even have a bad joke or barely relevant reference this is just cool.

Fantasia is so creative, grandiose and original you cannot help but respect and admire it. Though it is not one of my personal favourites, I have to accept that, artistically, this is truly Disney’s masterpiece. It is ambitious, it experiments with style and narrative and tries something very different and very risky; thankfully, Disney managed to create a beautiful film that perfectly ties together sight and sound, music and animation. Fantasia is a landmark in animation and one of the most ambitious and impressive films ever made.

Other Thoughts

Is this still okay? 

I think it is...?

OH GOD THE VULTURES ARE BACK

GO BACK TO HELL WHERE YOU CAME FROM

8/10