Obviously, the original "Fantasia" was the state of the art when it was released in 1940. In fact, it remained there for many years. From an animation standpoint, I think Disney finally topped it when they released "Sleeping Beauty" in 1959. Still, as an accomplishment, I believe that "Fantasia" was Walt Disney's finest achievement.
He certainly wanted the idea of "Fantasia" to continue, but as time went on, it seemed that it would never happen. Our tastes in animation became more and more sophisticated along with the greater advancements we have seen in animation in the last decade. When Disney released the original "Fantasia" on video in 1991, many who had seen it criticized the film as being too arty, with long segments that would not appeal to children.
Perhaps many people thought that the word "Disney" always should be associated with kids. That is unfair, for Walt would have wanted all ages of people to enjoy his films.
When Roy Disney announced a few years ago that Disney was making a new "Fantasia", I was surprised and excited. In the time that movies like "The Lion King", "Aladdin", "Toy Story", and "A Bug's Life" were taking in huge sums of cash, it seemed that Disney was willing to take the risk again and make the film anyway.
What a treat it is! Most of the segments of the film stayed in my memory for days, as did the music. There is true genius in "Fantasia 2000" in the connections of imagery to music. For example, the combination of Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" the Al Hirschfeld-style caricatures was so perfect that the music seemed written for that type of visual presentation.
"Fantasia 2000" left me breathless and practically speechless. I even enjoyed the celebrity introductions throughout the picture.
Using my preferred four-star rating system, I would give "Fantasia 2000" this:
****-
The minus is there for the only criticism I have of it: Too short! The original "Fantasia" was a two-hour event, while "Fantasia 2000" was only 74 minutes. That is the same length as most other Disney animated features. Was 74 minutes determined by: a. Expense of the budget, or b. The expected length of children's attention spans?
From the depth of my heart, I recommend "Fantasia 2000". It left me wanting more. George
