FANTASIA/2000
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 2000 filmcritic.com
filmcritic.com
Little known fact: When Walt Disney released FANTASIA in 1940, it
was intended to be a permanent work in progress. Each time you saw it,
you would see something new combined with something old and familiar.
It didn't quite happen that way. The original FANTASIA became a
classic, although a static one. 60 years later, that's about to
change. With the release of FANTASIA/2000 we get eight animations set
to music: seven new pieces and one classic. Oh, and this time it's
presented on IMAX -- the first ever animated feature for the large
format.
Already the chatter of parties, people want to know, "How does it
stack up against the original?" Comparison is difficult, but on the
whole, I prefer the new version, mainly because the overall animation is
better fit to the music.
FANTASIA/2000 is good, but it isn't uniformly great. The segments
range from the abstract (Butterflies dancing to Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony) to the modern (A NYC-themed "Rhapsody in Blue") to the bizarre
("Pines of Rome" can be described in only two words: Flying whales) to
the stupid ("Carnival of the Animals" and its flamingos-with-yo-yos
animation).
Then there's something old, the classic "Sorcerer's Apprentice"
story with Mickey Mouse and the magic brooms, plus at least two new
classics: Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 playing for a recreation
of "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" fairy tale, and the grand finale, a
gorgeous Mother Earth vs. volcano story set to "The Firebird Suite."
FANTASIA/2000 also features interstitial narration from the likes
of James Earl Jones, Steve Martin, and Bette Midler. This is amusing,
but in decades of moviegoing, I can say I've never seen anything so
frightening as the image of Angela Lansbury projected to a height of 80
feet.
Like all IMAX films, FANTASIA/2000 is never short of fascinating
while making you mildly nauseous. Like the original, it's really not a
kid's film, but it is another Disney classic for the vaults.
RATING: ****
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: G
Director: James Algar, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Hendel Butoy, Francis
Glebas, Eric Goldberg, Pixote Hunt
Producer: Donald W. Ernst
http://www.fantasia2000.com/
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Christopher Null - [email protected] - http://www.filmcritic.com
Have I seen this movie: No
Will I see It: Whenever it becomes available on video
