Day 3: Fantasia

Bach to the movies! A Disney adventure into classical music!

1. What movie did you watch? 

Fantasia. Originally it was released in 1940 at a limited number of theaters in 13 U.S. cities before being released worldwide.  The film was actually not very successful in its original run, which is attributed in part to the events of WWII and the loss of the European market.  The film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski.  Fun fact: Fantasia the first commercial film shown in stereophonic sound.

2. Have you seen it before/ how long has it been since you last saw it?
Maddie: Yes, but not in a very long time, and now I understand why.

Alexis: I have actually never seen the entire movie.  I recognized certain parts that I've seen by themselves, but no I had never seen the whole thing until now.  

3. What memories did it recall?
Maddie: I really just remembered sorcerer Mickey (pictured above, isn't he adorable?!?) and being scared of certain parts. Namely, he dinosaurs, and the final number and Chernabog (pictured below).

Alexis: As previously mentioned, I had never scene it before therefore I don't have any memories about the movie itself.  However one of the scenes from the Nutcracker suite number, the one where the faeries are skating on ice, reminded me of the Disney Christmas sing along movie that I used to watch, because they use that scene in one of the songs. So that was nice.

4. What did you think of it?
Maddie: I may be a bad Disney fan or animation buff for saying this, but I found it to be incredibly boring. It was beautiful:

but man, I almost fell asleep multiple times. I wish I could have enjoyed it more than I did. I still appreciate it for what it is and what it did for Disney animation, though. And you can really see influences in later movies. I also believe this was the first time that live action was incorporated with animation, so kudos for that! Mainly, it just felt overlong, I don't know how kids sat through it, I would say that I much prefer Fantasia 2000 but that might just be because it is more upbeat, and I remember it more vividly from my childhood.

Alexis: I agree with much of what Maddie said.  It may be because of my small attention span, but there were numerous times that I stopped paying attention because the songs were all super long.  The animation was great, and the premise was very cool.  Songs are usually made to fit the animation, not the other way around, which makes Fantasia a really cool concept.  I just wish that it was more exciting... 

5. Favorite moment:
Maddie: My favorite part was definitely the nutcracker suite, mainly because it comes from connotations with the ballet. It was nice to see the music with different images than we usually do.

Alexis: My favorite part was the Sorcerer's Apprentice number.  That scene is just so engrained into Disney culture now; for example, the sorcerer's hat is scene everywhere at the Disney parks.  Also, I'm a big fan of the Epic Mickey video games, and the Sorcerer and his workshop are seen and play a part in both. It was fun to see the original piece that inspired it all. 

6. Any other comments:
Maddie: Not really, i just can't get over how beautiful and ADULT this movie was. I'm glad we re watched it, even if it wasn't my favorite.

Alexis: I agree, I'm glad that I can say I have seen it at least once now.  But yeah there were some not so kid friendly scenes in there.  Such as all the dinosaurs dying of starvation in the heat, oh my that was horrifying!!  And the ending number, that was just plain scary. 

Maddie: Also, boobs. (Sorry mom and dad for that one! -Maddie)