Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Fantasia 2000 presents us with a visual voyage into music that, in my opinion, excels that of the original Fantasia. Not only is the animation itself extremely fluid, colorful, and highly diverse from segment to segment, but the representation of the music is, in itself, sheer genius. As I have come to expect from Disney, at least some research has been done into the texture of the music as well as thematical studies and tonal structure. This much, I believe, is made in evidence of both blatant and subtle use of contrast on screen to highlight the contrast of the music.

In all, this film is of extremely high value and is of an excellent nature. I highly recommend seeing it on the IMAX screen for full effect of sound and light and to be ready for a sonic experience that will have you whistling tunes all week long.

Fmovies: Probably the best animation film I have ever seen. There are no dialogues and it is not really a feature film. It is an assimilation of 8 short stories. The stories are all beautiful, my favorite ones being the one on New York City, "Rhapsody in Blue", and the one on life, death and renewal, "Firebird Suite". The film is about everything beautiful in life; amazingly entertaining. Each score is given a brilliant visual concept. And the animation speaks so much more than 'real life' films or any dialogues could for that matter. Animation, though usually aimed at kids is probably much more necessary for us adults as we lose that sense of imagination, beauty and observation. Kids are so wonderfully innocent, imaginative and creative; everything that does matter to them has an animated feel to it anyway.

Released 60 years after the original Fantasia, I found that this ambitious and well-produced sequel from Disney Studios fell quite short of my preconceived expectations.

When I speak of Fantasia 2000 not living up to my satisfaction, it all comes down to comparing it, as I have, to the 1940 original.

What I found was that the original's animated segments were undoubtedly more entertaining and their stories much more well thought out, than were those of the animated segments in Fantasia 2000.

When it came to being more vibrantly colourful, and having a greater richness in style, it was the distinctiveness of the hand-drawn animation of the 1940 film that easily won out over the CGI animation effects of Fantasia 2000. As a true work of art, the former's animation techniques were (and always will be) unsurpassed.

I view the original Fantasia as a literal masterpiece of classic animation. While, on the other hand, Fantasia 2000 may indeed have had its share of spectacular moments, but, it could never be considered anything even coming close to being in the league of a masterpiece.

For the most part Fantasia 2000 did succeed well-enough as being fairly entertaining animation.

Out of the 7 new animated segments in this picture there was really only one that impressed me at all. It was the segment presented along with Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" as its musical accompaniment.

Fantasia 2000 fmovies. The first problem was that there was too much introduction between the pieces. Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones were the best, but the one with Steve Martin was unnecessary, as well as Penn and Teller. The film itself was a little short, but I enjoyed it anyway. It is beautifully animated, with good choices of music, but if anything, I wish there was more of it. I love the original, but I thoroughly recommend this as well. The animation was spot on, especially in the Pines of Rome segment. This was my personal favourite, as i thought that baby whale was so sweet. Donald Duck's version of Noah's Ark set to the music of Elgar was hilarious, as was the Carnival of the animals. The most beautifully animated was the Firebird sequence,reminding me of FernGully, telling the story of "Life, death and renewal." I am not a huge fan of Stravinsky, but the Firebird I have always considered his best work. There was also the abstract images in the Beethoven. They were ambiguous but very well done, but I didn't like the chopping of the piece itself. The section they missed out is essential to the movement's development in my opinion. The Pines of Rome sequence was outstanding I thought, I showed it to my year 4 peers 8 years ago, and they all clapped at the end of that segment but were unenthuasiastic about the rest of the film. Then Gershwin treated us with Rhapsody in Blue, telling the story of a typical day in New York. The Shostakovich was very good, but marred by the interesting but overlong introduction. Great animation and music though. The Saint Saens was funny, but the Magic Trick was pointless. Unfortunately Sorceror's Apprentice was one of the highlights in the original, but was for me the weakest segment here. The Elgar was absolutely hilarious, and the Firebird very heartfelt also I had early memories of thinking the Sprite was absolutely gorgeous. The music was very well performed by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. All in all, 8/10 Bethany Cox.

I can't stop watching it!!! Four of the seven new segments in this film are alone well worth the admission. Roy Disney Jr. sets the stage for a remarkable departure from the usual animated dreck that Disney has been bogged down by for the last half-decade (Toy Story aside). Disney have hereby restored my faith in them as leading the pack in animated cinema. I want more!!

"Pines of Rome", a marvelous piece set to the "story" of whales leaving the water and eventually the planet, is worth viewing several times for it's symbolism and exquisite look. "Rhapsody in Blue", by Gershwin, is given perfect treatment by a day in the life of New York City. The pace is quick and manages to give each character studied enough depth to make a very satisfying and touching ending. "Pomp and Circumstance", the graduation standard, is humorous and sweet. Creating a love story involving Donald and Daisy Duck into the story of Noah's Ark worked surprisingly well. "Firebird Suite"- WOW. This is the most incredible segment of the film. It's a PERFECT marriage of music and animation and MUST be played loud. Very emotional and powerful indeed.

I had to post another comment because I can't stress enough that it's a worthy successor to the original Fantasia, and Walt would be proud.

Fantasia 2000 is a treat! The animation and music are splendid--whales in the first segment--cartoons set to Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin in the second(the best)--a Noah's Arc montage with Donald and Daisy Duck --and my second favorite--Stravinsky's Rite of Spring with a wood nymph battling the death force of a volcano.

Definitely 4 stars out of Four..... Highly recommended!