Watch Every Disney Movie Ever Made: Fantasia
Mood
Impressed
Next up on the Disney roster was Fantasia a movie that I never actually sat all the way through before when I was younger. I know I've seen The Sorcerer's Apprentice, but everything else was completely new to me.
The music wasn't, obviously and it was nice to hear a lot of the pieces I remember dancing too when I took ballet, but everything else I can tell I just didn't have the attention span for, and it's just as well.
Even as an adult I had to watch the thing in two sittings! Ironically enough I stopped right at the intermission even though I wasn't expecting one and then continued from there.
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
The first piece was a bit like a modern day music video, and I thought that was kind of interesting how they said it was the first of it's kind. Apparently they also were the first of it's kind to control which side of the theater sound came through for this piece. Then it moved into being a bit like a visualizations plugin for a media player. New concepts for the time and it's interesting to see Disney pioneering in this field.
Nutcracker Suite
I thought it was amusing when the announcer said this was a really old ballet that isn't preformed any more. It is nowadays in theaters all across the country every Christmas! I was a little surprised to see the (undefined) nudity in the fairies, but I guess because there was no definition it was considered okay.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The most famous part of Fantasia: The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It was the only part that I ever paid attention to as a child and I remember hand writing out the book I owned that told the story of The Sorcerer's Apprentice when I was younger. I never before had realized how many words were in that book. My hand was killing me by the end.
I did think it was a little shocking how Mickey went about destroying the broom. Pretty graphic for a Disney movie.
The Rite of Spring
This was an interesting look at how science used to think the earth was formed, the dinosaurs came about and how they subsequently became extinct. Again a little violent and graphic, but not too bad. A lot of the animation of how they did the dinosaurs were done in ways that have since been dis-proven. For example, the brachiosaurus could not have held his head as low as he did throughout the short, he probably would have fainted or given himself a stroke.
I also loved that parts of it looked like it was straight out of Spore (or perhaps the other way around, eh?) that was a lot of fun to see.
Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack
An amusing bit, interesting to see the soundtrack perform. A bit like an equalizer, only far more creative!
The Pastoral Symphony
I could see a lot of the inspiration for the movie Hercules in this short. And, again with the nudity. Pretty defined breasts this time, but they got on some clothes eventually. Obviously the style of the hats they wore were things popular in the '40's and not today! I did notice that the african zebra centaurs were considered servants or attendants in one part and was surprised that made it past any sort of review board.
The unicorns were freaking adorable why did I not watch this part when I was little? I loved unicorns!
Dance of the Hours
A ballet piece that I recognized from dance class, this piece was very entertaining to watch. I loved how all the creatures that portrayed ballerinas were animals you would not think in the least graceful enough to play the part (ostriches, hippos, elephants, alligators). It almost seemed for a moment that I was watching a Warner Brothers cartoon though and not a Disney one.
Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria
Pretty scary stuff here. Not to mention full on upper body frontal female nudity, complete with erect nipples. Yikes. I could see some of the inspiration for the evil genie Jafar from Aladdin in this one as well. I definitely got the religious ending to it as well, no matter that Disney toned it down some. It was just as well. You need some deliverance after that nightmare!
I can't wait to watch Fantasia 2000. Supposedly it has parts that couldn't make it into Fantasia that Disney storyboarded out but never finished. Definitely looking forward to it.
Posted by Bitsy at 02:06 AM Comments
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