| Fantasia 2000 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tim Suhrstedt |
| Edited by |
|
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 74 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States[1] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80–85 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $90.9 million[2] |
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animatedmusicalanthology film produced byWalt Disney Feature Animation. It is thesequel toFantasia (1940), and like its predecessor, the film consists of animated segments set to pieces of classical music. Segments are introduced bySteve Martin,Itzhak Perlman,Quincy Jones,Bette Midler,James Earl Jones,Penn & Teller,James Levine, andAngela Lansbury in live action scenes directed byDon Hahn, while the animated sequences are directed byPixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy,Eric Goldberg,James Algar,Francis Glebas andPaul and Gaëtan Brizzi.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts to develop aFantasia sequel,The Walt Disney Company revived the idea shortly afterMichael Eisner became chief executive officer in 1984. Development paused until the commercial success of the 1991 home video release ofFantasia convinced Eisner that there was enough public interest and funds for a sequel, to which he assigned Disney as executive producer. The music for six of the film's eight segments is performed by theChicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine. The film includesThe Sorcerer's Apprentice from the 1940 original. Each new segment was produced by combiningtraditional animation withcomputer-generated imagery.Fantasia 2000 is part of theDisney Renaissance, and also commemoratesWalt Disney's third animated feature film.[4][5]
Fantasia 2000 premiered on December 17, 1999, atCarnegie Hall inNew York City as part of a concert tour that also visited London, Paris, Tokyo, and Pasadena, California. The film was then released in 75IMAX theaters worldwide from January 1 to April 30, 2000, marking the first major Hollywood motion picture to be released in IMAX and also the first feature-length animated film to be released in the format. Its general release in regular theaters followed on June 16, 2000. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised several of its sequences, while also deeming its overall quality uneven in comparison to its predecessor. Budgeted at about $80–$85 million, the film only grossed $90.9 million worldwide, making it abox-office bomb.[6]
The film begins with the sound of an orchestra tuning andDeems Taylor's introduction fromFantasia. Panels showing various segments fromFantasia fly in outer space and form the set and stage for an orchestra. Musicians take their seats and tune up as animators and artists draw at their desks beforeJames Levine approaches the conductor's podium and signals the beginning of the first piece.
Fantasia is timeless. It may run 10, 20 or 30 years. It may run after I'm gone.Fantasia is an idea in itself. I can never build anotherFantasia. I can improve. I can elaborate. That's all.
In 1940, Walt Disney releasedFantasia, his third animated feature film, consisting of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music. Initially he planned to have the film on continual release with new segments replacing older ones so audiences would never see the same film twice. The idea was dropped following the film's initial low box office receipts and a mixed response from critics. Following preliminary work on new segments, the idea was shelved by 1942 and was not revisited for the remainder of Disney's life.
In 1980, animatorsWolfgang Reitherman andMel Shaw started preliminary work onMusicana, a feature film "mixing jazz, classical music, myths, modern art ... following the oldFantasia format" that was to present "ethnic tales from around the world with the music of the various countries".[10] The project was cancelled in favor ofMickey's Christmas Carol (1983).[11]
The idea of aFantasiasequel was revived shortly afterMichael Eisner became chief executive officer ofThe Walt Disney Company in 1984, when Walt's nephew, vice chairmanRoy E. Disney, suggested it to him at a lunch.[12] The idea had first entered Disney's mind ten years earlier,[13] and he recalled Eisner's reaction: "It was as if a big light bulb went on over his head. The idea was enticing, but we didn't have the resources to carry it out".[14] However,Walt Disney Studios chairmanJeffrey Katzenberg showed a lack of interest in the film.[15] He had once askedAndré Previn to work on aFantasia film but Previn declined after he learned it was to feature songs bythe Beatles rather than classical music.[16] Eisner approachedLeonard Bernstein with the same idea, but while he seemed enthusiastic, Bernstein died before production began.[17] It took a further seven years before the film was reconsidered, after the 1990 reissue ofFantasia grossed $25 million domestically[18] and the announcement of its limited availability onhome video in 1991 prompted 9.25 million pre-orders.[19] Disney saw its commercial success as a sign that there was enough public interest in theFantasia franchise to make a sequel. Eisner finally gave thegreen-light to the film in 1991, and had Disney serve as executive producer on the basis that its production was funded by the proceeds from the video sales.[15][20] Disney assignedDonald W. Ernst as producer and Hendel Butoy as supervisory director, having liked his work onThe Rescuers Down Under (1990).[20][21]
During the search for a suitable conductor, Disney andWalt Disney Feature Animation presidentThomas Schumacher invitedMetropolitan Opera conductorJames Levine and managerPeter Gelb to a meeting in September 1991.[22] Disney recalled: "I asked James what his thought was on a three minute version of Beethoven's fifth symphony. He paused and went 'I think the right three minutes would be beautiful'".[23] In November 1992, Disney, Schumacher, Levine, Gelb, and Butoy met in Vienna to discuss a collection of story reels developed, one of them beingPines of Rome, which Levine took an immediate liking to. Butoy described Levine's enthusiasm toward the film as "like a kid in a candy store".[23] Because Katzenberg continued to express some hostility towards the film, Disney held development meetings without him and reported directly to Eisner instead, something that authorJames B. Stewart wrote "would have been unthinkable on any other future animation project."[15]
Production began under theworking title ofFantasia Continued with a release in 1997.[12] The title was changed toFantasia 1999, followed byFantasia 2000 to coincide with its theatrical release in 2000. Disney formed its initial running order with half of theFantasia program and only "three or four new numbers"[24] with the aim of releasing a "semi-new movie".[25] Realizing the idea would not work, he kept threeFantasia segments—The Sorcerer's Apprentice,The Nutcracker Suite, andDance of the Hours—in the program for "quite a while".[26]Night on Bald Mountain was the most difficult segment for him to remove from his original running order because it was one of his favorites. He had placed it in the middle of the film withoutAve Maria, but felt it did not work and scrapped the idea.[27] Later on,Dance of the Hours was dropped andThe Nutcracker Suite was replaced byRhapsody in Blue during the last few months of production following the response from numeroustest screenings.[28] Disney keptThe Sorcerer's Apprentice in the final program as a homage toFantasia.[29] The segment underwent digital restoration byCinesite in Los Angeles.[30] Disney considered usingClair de Lune, a piece originally made forFantasia that followed twogreat white herons flying through theEverglades at night, but thought it was "pretty boring".[28] An idea to have "a nightmare and a dream struggling for a sleeping child's soul" toRhapsody on a Theme of Paganini bySergei Rachmaninoff was fully storyboarded, but fell through.[3]
Symphony No. 5 is anabstract segment created byPixote Hunt with story development by Kelvin Yasuda. In December 1997, after rejectingpitches from four other animators, Disney and Ernst asked Hunt for his ideas.[31] Hunt first thought of the story on a morning walk in Pasadena, California, one depicting a battle of "good" against "evil" and how the conflict resolves itself.[32] It took Hunt approximately two years, from start to finish, to complete the segment. Disney and Ernst decided to go with Hunt's idea; Hunt avoided producing an entirely abstract work because "you can get something abstract on every computer screen" with ease.[33] Hunt divided the segment into 31 mini-scenes, noting down points in which he would employ vivid color when the music was bright and fluid, and then switch to darker hues when the music felt darker and denser.[34] To gain inspiration in how the shapes would move, Hunt and his associates visitedSan Diego Zoo, a butterfly farm, and observed slow motion footage of bats.[35] The segment combines hand drawn backgrounds using pastels and paint that were scanned into theComputer Animation Production System (CAPS), andcomputer-generated imagery (CGI) of abstract shapes and effects, which were layered on top.[36] Hunt explained that scanning each drawing "was a one-shot deal" as theplaten that pressed onto it would alter the pastel once it had been scanned.[37] At one point during production, Hunt and Yasuda completed 68 pastel drawings in eight days.[34] The segment was produced usingHoudini animation software.[30]
Pines of Rome was the first piece Disney suggested for the film, as well as the first to be animated; designs appeared in the studio'sdailies as early as October 1993.[38] Butoy served as director with James Fujii handling the story.[21] The opening to the piece gave Disney the idea of "something flying".[39] Butoy sketched the sequence on yellowPost-it notes.[40] The story originally involved the whales flying around from the perspective of a group of penguins, but the idea was scrapped to make the baby whale a central character. The whales were also set to return to Earth but Butoy said it "never felt quite right", leading to the decision to have them break through a cloud ceiling and enter a different world by the supernova.[41] Butoy created a "musical intensity chart" for the animators to follow which "tracked the ups and downs of the music ... as the music brightens so does the color", and vice versa.[42] He explained that because CGI was in its infancy during development, the first third of the segment was hand drawn using pencil to get a feel of how the whales would move. When the drawings were scanned into the CAPS system, Butoy found the whales were either moving too fast or had less weight to them. The drawings were altered to make the whales slow down and "more believable".[43] The eyes of the whales were drawn by hand, as the desired looks and glances were not fully achievable using CGI.[44] Butoy recalled the challenge of having the water appear and move as naturally as possible; the team decided to write computer code from scratch as traditional animation would have been too time-consuming and would have produced undesired results.[45] The code handling the pod of whales was written so the whales would move away if they were to collide and not bump into, overlap, or go through each other. The same technique was used for the stampede scene inThe Lion King (1994), which was produced at the same time.[46]
Rhapsody in Blue is the firstFantasia segment with music from an American composer. It originated in 1995 when director and animatorEric Goldberg approachedAl Hirschfeld about the idea of an animated short set to Gershwin's composition in the style of Hirschfeld's illustrations. In December 1998, Goldberg pitchedRhapsody in Blue toThomas Schumacher and received the green-light to produce it, and Hirschfeld agreed to serve as artistic consultant and allowed the animators to adapt his works.[47] Duke is named after jazz musicianDuke Ellington.[48] The bottom of his toothpaste tube reads "NINA", anEaster egg referencing Hirschfeld's daughter Nina, whose name Hirschfeld inscribed in several of his drawings since her birth in 1945. Another easter egg references artist Emily Jiuliano, whose name is shown as "E. Jiuliano".[49] Rachel was designed after the Goldbergs' daughter;[50] John, or "Flying John", is based on animation historian and author John Culhane and Hirschfeld's caricature ofAlexander Woollcott.[50][51][52] Goldberg took Hirschfeld's original illustration of Gershwin and animated it to make him play part of the "rhapsody" on the piano.[50] The most difficult part of this particular scene to animate was the turning of Gershwin's head, as the original drawing depicted one angle of his head. The illustration also featuredIra Gershwin alongside his brother George, but Ira is not shown in the scene nor anywhere else in the film. Featured in the crowd emerging from the hotel are depictions ofBrooks Atkinson and Hirschfeld, along with his wifeDolly Haas.[53][50]
Piano Concerto No. 2 was directed by Butoy with art director Michael Humphries. It originated in the 1930s when Walt Disney wished to adapt a collection ofHans Christian Andersen fairy tales into an animated film. The artists completed a series of preliminary designs based on the stories, including ones for "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" from 1938 byBianca Majolie that were stored in the studio's animation research library and used for a 1991 Disney book that retold the story accompanied with the storyboard sketches.[54] When Disney suggested using the Shostakovich piece, Butoy flipped through the book and found the story's structure fit to the music.[55] When Humphries saw the sketches he designed the segment with works byCaravaggio andRembrandt in mind to give the segment a "timeless" feel, while keeping the colors "as romantic as possible" during the scenes when the soldier and ballerina are first getting acquainted.[56][57] Live-action footage of a ballerina was used as a guide for the toy ballerina's movements.[58] Butoy found the Jack-in-a-box a difficult character to design and animate with its spring base and how he moved with the box. His appearance went through numerous changes, partly due to the lack of reference material available to the team.[59]
The segment marked the first time the Disney studio created a film's main characters entirely from CGI;[30] only backgrounds, secondary, or tertiary characters had been produced using CGI beforehand.[60] Initially Butoy askedPixar Animation Studios to handle the computer graphics, but CGI artist Steve Goldberg convinced him to let Disney's own team produce it.[30] The backgrounds were completed by hand. Originally the drain sequence included friendly rats who performed comical gags, but the team found it did not fit the mood of the rest of the segment. The drains became a more scary environment, something that Butoy said was "what the music was telling us to do".[61] Rain animation fromBambi (1942) was scanned into the CAPS system and digitally altered to fit into the segment.[30] The ending was to feature the original ending with the soldier and ballerina melting in the fire, but the music was too upbeat to animate it and was changed.[62] An excerpt of the segment was shown at the 1998SIGGRAPH conference.[30]
The Carnival of the Animals, Finale was directed and animated by Goldberg; his wife Susan was its art director. The idea originated from animatorJoe Grant, one of the two story directors onFantasia who loved the ostriches inDance of the Hours. When development forFantasia 2000 began, Grant suggested the idea of having one of the ostriches play with a yo-yo to the last movement ofThe Carnival of the Animals. The ostriches were later changed to flamingos as Disney wished to avoid reintroducing characters from the original film and thought flamingos would look more colorful on the screen.[63] Goldberg was partly inspired by co-directorMike Gabriel, who would play with a yo-yo as he took a break from working onPocahontas (1995); Gabriel is given a credit for "yo-yo tricks" in the end credits.[64] The segment was produced with CGI and 6,000watercolor paintings on heavy bond paper.[65] Susan chose a distinct colour palette for the segment which she compared to the style of a Hawaiian shirt. The Goldbergs and their team visited the zoo in Los Angeles and San Diego to study the anatomy and movement of flamingos.[66]
Mostly known as Britain's most loved patriotic song (thanks its choral counterpartLand of Hope and Glory)[67] the original march was created for royal and solemn events, but Eisner suggested his use as a stand-alone piece after he attended a graduation and thought its familiarity would be suitable for aFantasia segment.[68] His idea involved a selection ofDisney princesses and heroes in a wedding procession carrying their future children who would then be presented in a ceremony.[69] The animators' preliminary designs depicted aGreco-Roman setting; one of the staff members described the artwork as "an appalling abuse" of the characters. Eisner agreed to drop the story, but insisted that the music be used.[70] After numerous ideas were scrapped due to the difficulty in writing a clear plot,[71] animator and directorFrancis Glebas came up with the Noah's Ark idea that he titledDonald's Last Roundup!,[72] later retitled asNoah's Duck,[27] and pitched it thinking it was "laden with comic possibilities".[73]
To close the film, Disney wanted a piece that was "emotionally equivalent" to theNight on Bald Mountain andAve Maria segments that closedFantasia.[74] Disney choseThe Firebird as the piece to use after "half a dozen" others were scrapped, includingSymphony No. 9 byBeethoven and the "Hallelujah Chorus" fromMessiah byHandel.[25] Disney thought of the idea of the Earth's destruction and renewal after passingMount St. Helens following itseruption in 1980.[75] French twinsPaul and Gaëtan Brizzi from Disney's Paris studio were hired to direct the segment.[30] The Sprite is aDryad-like creature fromGreek mythology.[76] Her form changes six times; she is introduced as a Water Sprite who plants flowers as a Flower Sprite. She becomes a Neutral Sprite where her growth trail stops and an Ash Sprite when the forest has been destroyed. The segment ends with her as a Rain-Wave Sprite, followed by the Grass Sprite. The segment originally ended with the Sprite in the form of a flowing river that rises up into the sky and transforms into a Sun Sprite, but this was abandoned.[77] The elk's antlers were produced by CGI and placed on top of its body that was drawn traditionally. The segment was produced using Houdini animation software.[30]
The music toThe Sorcerer's Apprentice was already recorded on January 9, 1938, for the first film atCulver Studios, California withLeopold Stokowski conducting a group of session musicians. The recording ofRhapsody in Blue used in the film is an edited version ofFerde Grofé's orchestration of the piece performed by thePhilharmonia Orchestra with conductorBruce Broughton. The shortened version was made by cutting 125bars of piano solo in three different places.[78] A recording of James Levine conducting both pieces with the Philharmonia appears on thefilm's soundtrack.[79]
The remaining six pieces were recorded at theMedinah Temple in Chicago, performed by theChicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Levine.[80]Pines of Rome was re-arranged in 1993 byBruce Coughlin, who reduced the four-movement piece by cutting the second movement and trimming sections of the third and fourth movements. The piece was recorded on March 28, 1994.[81] The second recording involvedSymphony No. 5,Carnival of the Animals, andPomp and Circumstance, on April 25, 1994.[81]Carnival of the Animals, Finale uses two pianos played by Gail Niwa and Philip Sabransky.Pomp and Circumstance was arranged byPeter Schickele[82] and features theChicago Symphony Chorus and soprano soloistKathleen Battle. The next recording took place on April 24, 1995, forPiano Concerto No. 2 with pianistYefim Bronfman.[81] On September 28, 1996,The Firebird was the final piece to be recorded; its session lasted for three hours.[81] The piece was arranged using four sections from Stravinsky's1919 revision of the score.
Disney felt the need to keepinterstitials (bridges) as used inFantasia to give audiences a chance to "cleanse their emotional palate" from the previous segment while also providing some information about the next one.[83]Don Hahn directed the live action scenes which were designed byPixote Hunt.[84] Hahn came up with the set and backgrounds while eating lunch; he proceeded to sketch a rough idea of what he imagined on a napkin. He "wanted to show images on shapes like big sails of a clipper ship. They fly in on the wind and form a sort ofStonehenge concert hall in the middle of a vast, empty, imaginary plain".[85]
Hahn recalled some difficulty in finding someone to host the film, so the studio decided to use a group of artists and musicians from various fields of entertainment.[86] The interstitials were filmed in various locations; the orchestra, Jones, Lansbury, and Bronfman[87] were shot in Los Angeles, Perlman and Midler in New York City, and others in Boston, Massachusetts.[88] Each scene was filmed in front of agreen screen to allow shots of the orchestra or the set to be placed behind them.[89] The shots of Levine, the artists, and the orchestra were filmed on October 31, 1998.[90] The piano Grierson plays in his scene with Jones is the same one on which he playedRhapsody in Blue for the soundtrack.[91]
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Fantasia 2000 was officially announced on February 9, 1999, during a Disney presentation at theNew Amsterdam Theater in New York City which featured a screening ofThe Carnival of the Animals.[92][93] The film premiered atCarnegie Hall inNew York City on December 17, 1999, for three nights as part of a five-city concert tour.[94] The animation was presented on a screen above the stage while Levine conducted thePhilharmonia Orchestra[95] with a video auto-cue to time the music to the images.[96] Performances followed at theRoyal Albert Hall in London on December 21; theThéâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on December 22; theOrchard Hall in Tokyo on December 27; and thePasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on December 31,[97] where Derrick Inouye conducted as part of a black tie $2,000-per-head New Year's Eve event.[98] Each of the seven performances cost over $1 million.[99]
Fantasia 2000 was first released on VHS and DVD on November 14, 2000,[100][101] with both featuring a specially made introduction in which Roy gives a history of key innovations brought by various Disney productions (specificallySteamboat Willie,Flowers and Trees,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,Fantasia,The Great Mouse Detective,Beauty and the Beast,Toy Story 2 andDinosaur). While it was available as a single-disc DVD, a three-disc set titledThe Fantasia Anthology was released, including a digital copy of the film, a restored print ofFantasia to commemorate its 60th anniversary, and a third disc containing bonus features.[102] The DVD releases of both films were alsoTHX certified on this set.[103]
On November 30, 2010, the film was issued for DVD and Blu-ray in a single and two-disc set withFantasia and a four-disc DVD and Blu-ray combo pack. The Blu-ray transfer presents the film in1080phigh-definition video withDTS-HD Master Audio7.1 surround sound.[104] The film was withdrawn from release after its return to the "Disney Vault"moratorium on April 30, 2011.[105]
The film, along withFantasia and the 2018 compilationCelebrating Mickey (containing 13 Mickey Mouse shorts fromSteamboat Willie toGet a Horse!), was reissued in 2021 as part of the U.S. Disney Movie Club exclusiveThe Best of Mickey Collection (Blu-ray/DVD/Digital).[106] Both films were also broadly released for the first time in 2021 on multiple U.S. purchased streaming platforms, includingMovies Anywhere and its retailers.[107][108]
Walt Disney Records released 60,000 copies of a limited edition of the film's soundtrack on November 30, 1999, in the United States and internationally under theSony Classical label.[109] With a running time of 60 minutes, the album features Levine conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra onRhapsody in Blue andThe Sorcerer's Apprentice atAIR Studios in London, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the remaining six tracks using the recordings from the Medinah Temple.[79] The soundtrack went on to reach the number one spot on theBillboard Top Classical Albums chart in July 2000.[110] AFantasia 2000 Deluxe Read-Along cassette and CD followed which contains two tracks telling the stories ofPomp and Circumstance andThe Sorcerer's Apprentice, with narration byPat Carroll. Included in the set is a 44-page book containing some of the film's artwork.[111]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Symphony No. 5" | 2:51 |
| 2. | "Pines of Rome" | 10:18 |
| 3. | "Rhapsody in Blue" | 12:32 |
| 4. | "Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102" | 7:22 |
| 5. | "Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des Animaux), Finale" | 1:54 |
| 6. | "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" | 9:33 |
| 7. | "Pomp and Circumstance, Marches #1, 2, 3, & 4" | 6:18 |
| 8. | "Firebird Suite—1919 Version" | 9:11 |
Fantasia 2000 first opened in IMAX theaters for a four-month run from January 1 to April 30, 2000, becoming the first animated feature-length film shown in the format.[94][112] The idea to release it in IMAX first originated fromDick Cook during meetings the studio had about the best way to create "a sense of event" for the film. Roy Disney believed its uniqueness from typical feature films gave it a psychological advantage.[113][114] A temporary 622-seat theatre costing almost$4 million was built in four weeks for its Los Angeles run as Disney was unable to reach an agreement to only have the film shown during the four months at the city's sole IMAX theater at the time at theCalifornia Science Center.[65][115] Disney enforced the exclusive screening rule on the other IMAX cinemas that showed the film which limited its release.[116] Each theater was decorated with a museum-like exhibit with educational material and large displays.[117]
After opening at 75 theaters worldwide, the film grossed over$2.2 million in 54 cinemas in North America in its opening weekend, averaging $41,481 per theater,[118] and $842,000 from 21 screens in 14 markets.[119] It set new records for the highest gross for any IMAX engagement and surpassed the highest weekly total for any previously released IMAX film.[120] Its three-day worldwide gross surpassed$3.8 million, setting further records at 18 venues worldwide.[121]Fantasia 2000 grossed a worldwide total of$21.1 million in 30 days,[122] and$64.5 million at the end of its IMAX run.[123]
Following its release in 1,313 regular theaters in the United States on June 16, 2000, the film grossed an additional$2.8 million in its opening weekend that ranked eleventh at the box office. This followed nearly half a year of release in the IMAX format, possibly blunting the amount earned in the weekends of wide release.[124]Fantasia 2000 has earned a total worldwide gross of over$90.8 million since its release, with $60.7 million of that total from the U.S. market, and the rest through foreign box office sales.[2] The film had cost around $90 million and was viewed by Eisner as Roy Disney's "folly".[99]
OnRotten Tomatoes,Fantasia 2000 holds anapproval rating of 80% based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. Its consensus reads: "It provides an entertaining experience for adults and children alike."[125] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[126]
Entertainment Weekly gave a "B−" rating; its reviewer, Bruce Fretts, calledSymphony No. 5 "maddeningly abstract",Piano Concerto No. 2 "charmingly traditional" and thoughtRhapsody in Blue fit well to the music, butPomp and Circumstance "inexplicably inspires biblicalkitsch". The review ends with a criticism of the inadequate quality ofThe Sorcerer's Apprentice on the IMAX screen.[127]Todd McCarthy ofVariety pointed out that while the originalFantasia felt too long and formal, its "enjoyable follow-up is, at 75 minutes, simply too breezy and lightweight". He summarized the film "like a light buffet of tasty morsels rather than a full and satisfying meal".[128]
In his December 1999 review for theChicago Sun-Times,Roger Ebert gave the film a rating of three stars out of four. He described some of the animation (such asFirebird Suite, his favorite segment) as "powerful", though he thought others, like the dance of the abstract triangles inSymphony No. 5, to be "a little pedestrian". He admiredRhapsody in Blue and its interlocking stories, pointing out its style was reminiscent of theMadeline picture books byLudwig Bemelmans. He thoughtPines of Rome presented itself well in the IMAX format and found thePiano Concerto No. 2 played "wonderfully as a self-contained film", while he foundThe Sorcerer's Apprentice to be "not as visually sharp as the rest of the film". He nonetheless described the film overall as "splendid entertainment",[8] and Ebert and fellow film criticHarry Knowles gave the film two thumbs up on the showAt the Movies. Film criticStephen Holden ofThe New York Times wrote that the film "often has the feel of a giant corporate promotion whose stars are there simply to hawk the company's wares" while noting the film "is not especially innovative in its look or subject matter."[99]Firebird Suite was his favorite segment which left "a lasting impression of the beauty, terror, and unpredictability of the natural world". He foundThe Sorcerer's Apprentice fit well with the rest of the film and the battle inSymphony No. 5 too abbreviated to amount to much.[7] He found the segment with the whales failed in that the images "quickly become redundant".[7] He foundRhapsody in Blue to be the second-best in the film with its witty, hyper-kinetic evocation of the melting pot with sharply defined characters. He found the segment with the flamingos cute and the one with the tin soldier to be romantic.[7]James Berardinelli found the film to be of uneven quality. He feltSymphony No. 5 was "dull and uninspired", the yo-yoing flamingos "wasteful", and the New York City-based story of Rhapsody in Blue interesting but out of place in this particular movie. He found the story of the tin soldier to successfully mix its music with "top-notch animation" and "an emotionally rewarding story". He felt the Firebird section was "visually ingenious", andPomp and Circumstance the most light-hearted episode and the one with the most appeal to children, in an otherwise adult-oriented film. To himThe Sorcerer's Apprentice was an enduring classic.[76]
David Parkinson of British film magazineEmpire rates the film three stars out of five, calling it a "curate's egg, with moments of hilarity and beauty alternating with the pompous and the banal". Moments ofSymphony No. 5 andThe Firebird he thought lacked the "abstract grace" fromToccata and Fugue from the original, andPines of Rome was "even less successful" due to the computer imagery which affected its quality. He claimsRhapsody in Blue is "guilty of some dubious racial and sexual caricaturing", but hailed the film's IMAX presentation as "a breathtaking spectacle". He summarized the film as "slightly more successful" than the originalFantasia, more child-friendly and a "mixed bag of delights".[129]Richard Corliss ofTime magazine wrote a positive review of the film, citingPines of Rome as "a superb, uplifting flight of the spirit" andPiano Concerto No. 2 "a gorgeous blend of traditional and computer animation". He drew a comparison toThe Firebird with the 1997 Japanese animated filmPrincess Mononoke.[3]Brian Sibley wrote a mostly negative review inSight & Sound, a monthly magazine published by theBritish Film Institute, in June 2000. He pointed out that though the film includes moments of comedy and pastoral, "the themes running through the old 'Fantasia' – the struggle between light and dark, the war between chaos and order, the ultimate triumph of goodness – find only a pale equivalent in this new version". He compared the film's orchestra set to scenes fromA Matter of Life and Death (1946) and thought the CGI inSymphony No. 5 lacked the technical qualities ofToy Story. Sibley argued the film lacked an even quality, highlightingPines of Rome with its "breathtaking" opening before "its magic has been overtaken by chronic boredom" when the baby whale reunites with his parents.Pomp and Circumstance, he thought, contained "shamefully sloppy animation" but is saved by Donald's comical gags, but pointed outRhapsody in Blue, with its "strong lines and vivid, flat colours that are fashionably retro", and the "classic Disneyesque ... exquisite beauty and raw natural violence" inFirebird Suite, as the film's most successful segments as they "ironically, hark back to older times".[130]
| Award | Category | Name | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28th Annie Awards[131] | Outstanding Achievement in An Animated Theatrical Feature | Walt Disney Pictures | Nominated |
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Character Animation | Eric Goldberg | Won | |
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design In an Animated Feature Production | Susan McKinsey Goldberg | Won | |
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design In an Animated Feature Production | Paul Brizzi,Gaetan Brizzi and Carl Jones | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation | Ted C. Kierscey | Won | |
| 43rd Grammy Awards[132] | Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or other Visual Media | James Levine and theChicago Symphony Orchestra | Nominated |
| 12th PGA Golden Laurel Awards[citation needed] | Vision Award for Theatrical Motion Pictures | Won | |
| 1st Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards[133] | Best Animated Film | Nominated | |
| Best Family Film | Nominated |
Note: All segments performed by theChicago Symphony Orchestra with conductorJames Levine, except where noted.
| Segment | Personnel |
|---|---|
| Live-action scenes |
|
| Symphony No. 5 in C minor, I. Allegro con brio |
|
| Pines of Rome |
|
| Rhapsody in Blue |
|
| Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Allegro, Op. 102 |
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| The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnival des Animaux), Finale |
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| The Sorcerer's Apprentice |
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| Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 |
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| Firebird Suite – 1919 Version |
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Development on a third film began in 2002 under theworking titleFantasia 2006. Plans were made to includeOne by One byPixote Hunt andThe Little Matchgirl byRoger Allers in the film before the project was cancelled in 2004 for unknown reasons, with the proposed segments instead being released as standalone short films.
Destino is an animated short film released in 2003 by The Walt Disney Company.Destino is unique in that its production began in 1945, 58 years before its eventual completion. The project was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Spanish surrealist painterSalvador Dalí, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Domínguez and performed by Dora Luz. In 1999, Walt Disney's nephew, Roy E. Disney, while working onFantasia 2000, unearthed the dormant project and decided to bring it back to life. It was later released as a bonus short on the special edition DVD and Blu-ray ofFantasia 2000.
Lorenzo is a 2004 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation about a cat named Lorenzo who is "dismayed to discover that his tail has developed a personality of its own". The short was directed byMike Gabriel and produced by Baker Bloodworth. It premiered at theFlorida Film Festival on March 6, 2004, and later appeared as a feature before the filmRaising Helen; however, it did not appear on the DVD release of the film. Work on the film began in 1943, but was shelved. It was later found along withDestino.
One by One is a traditionally animated short film directed by Pixote Hunt and released by Walt Disney Pictures on August 31, 2004, as an extra feature on the DVD release ofThe Lion King II: Simba's Pride Special Edition.
The Little Matchgirl is a 2006 animated short film directed by Roger Allers and produced byDon Hahn. It is based on an original story byHans Christian Andersen entitledThe Little Girl with the Matches orThe Little Match Girl, published in 1845.[134]
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