Fantasia 2000 film review

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FANTASIA 2000

Disney's ambitious 1940 experiment in sight and sound, Fantasia, was always intended to be a living, breathing work of art, with new animated segments addedevery year. Unfortunately, lukewarm interest at the box office persuaded Walt Disney and his creative team to abandon their grand ambitions. Ten years ago, Roy Disney - Walt's nephew - decided to revive his uncle's dream and commissioned a Fantasia for the new millennium. The result is Fantasia/2000, ananimated epic which retains just one of the original segments - Mickey in The Sorceror's Apprentice - and showcases seven new pieces.

The film opens with anextremely disorienting example of abstract animation, set to Beethoven's Symphony No 5: swirling butterfly-like shapes and neither hide nor hair of narrative or plot. This overture feels like a hallucinogenic trip and, with its strobe-like flashing, could possibly give one or two viewers an instant headache. But persevere, because the remainder of the film relies on more traditional animation.

Alongside Mickey and his watery escapades, we now have Donald Duck pretending to be Noah gathering up the animals to the strident chords of Elgar's Pomp And Circumstance - Marches 1, 2, 3 And 4; a group of flamingos demonstrating their dexterity with a yo-yo to Saint-Saens's Carnival Of The Animals; and a family of whales literally taking flight to Respighi's Pines Of Rome.

The highlight, without question, is the segment devoted to Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue which pays homage to animator Al Hirschfield, replicating his distinctive linear style. Every line and movement in this section has been expertly choreographed to the music, and draped around the simple tale of a group of New Yorkers who - by chance - happen to brighten up each other's lives. Glorious.

The film does have its flaws. The opening, as I've already mentioned, is extremely off-putting and the celebrity appearances which precede each segment (featuring the likes of Steve Martin, Quincy Jones and Bette Midler, and a script which could well have been written a decade ago) are superfluous. And as much as I love The Sorceror's Apprentice with its army of marching broomsticks and poor Mickey falling victim to his own impetuous spellcasting, it looks rather dated next to some of the other segments, evenmore so when projected onto such a gargantuan canvas.