Fantasia

Fantasia (1940)

Runtime: 124 minutes

Directed by: A bunch of Disney animators

Starring: The only people you see are members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, composer Leopoldo Stokowski, and host Deems Taylor

From: Disney

It was about time I rewatched this as an adult as I now fully appreciate this is a great movie, a unique experience that everyone should view at least once. See me sing its praises below: 

As happens occasionally, what I watch for a review depends on what is about to leave a streaming service. On the 5th of January (2018) this will be gone from Netflix Instant so it was the time to watch something I hadn't seen in many years.

Not even all film fans of today love this unique experiment, a strong marriage between famous classical music pieces of the Western world and beautiful animation. Only a few of the 8 segments had a story of any kind; the rest had random (but still interesting to me) things happening, and none of the segments had any characters that spoke, and only introductions from someone that everyone today will think is “a random old white dude” provide any kind of context. In other words, I understand those that feel this way. But I was fine with all that as I thought all the segments were captivating to watch. Even the introductions I was fine with, as Deems Taylor was a respected composer and music critic of the time and I had no problem with what he said matter of factly.

What I enjoyed the most is that there was a variety; the most famous bit was The Sorcerer's Apprentice-which definitely had a defined story-but there was also a segment where the changing of the seasons was shown, a mix of Greco and Roman mythologies, the first few billion years of Earth's history in what I presume is less pretentious than The Tree of Life and Voyage of Time, and a truly frightening final piece involving angels & demons, including a dude named Chernabog that I understand was in one of those Kingdom Hearts games. The music you'll likely recognize a lot of it even if you did not know it by name; to be frank, that's because it's been overused in media since I've been alive. A shame, as those tunes are great and the Philadelphia Orchestra was well conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

I say this should be seen by everyone at least once; even if you find it to be too dull or not engaging enough, at least how bold and ahead of the time the picture is should be respected. You may also think there are some absolutely stunning moments. A major entity attempting to make a work of art that the common person can appreciate... no surprise to me it's not for all tastes and it found the most acclaimed in the years after its initial release.