#38 Fantasia 2000

Title: Fantasia 2000

Release Date: December 31st, 1999

Cast (if you call it a cast): Steve Martin, Penn and Teller, Bette Midler, Angela Lansbury, Quincy Jones

Plot (if you call it a plot): Fantasia 2000 is a "sequel" to the early Disney film Fantasia that follows the same concept: several (eight) segments of classical music set to animated pieces.

Review: I guess you wouldn't think it to be ironic that the night I posted my last entry (the regrets), my computer crashed and everything was wiped clean. It took till about Wednesday to get everything back the way I wanted, even though it's still far from the way it was before. That event, combined with two big assignments this week and my birthday, made it difficult to find room for Fantasia 2000: the last film of the project. But I did.

It sure brings back memories of the early days of this project, but that's nothing I want to bore you with. Although, I do want to say that I just took a look at the Fantasia review, and I realized how long it was, so I'm going to condense this a bit. It works, though-- my feelings were generally the same throughout the whole film.

The film is very, very artsy, just like its predecessor. But yes, it's extremely, extremely boring. While the producers tried to deliver segments worthy of commendation equal to the first, they went overboard on the artsiness. There's a fine balance: avant-garde beauty on one side, entertainment on the other. I'd say seven out of eight segments fell to that first side. The one that didn't: "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from the original Fantasia. That still remains a classic as ever.

Don't get me wrong: the animation is stellar, of course. It's the late 90s, and Disney has come a long way in 60 years. But that's nothing new; the last several films produced by Disney had fantastic animation of the same calibre. So while I praise this film for wonderous art, I can't help but feel it can only be beyond great in anything other than IMAX.

I guess if any segment had to follow "The Sorceror's Apprentice" in the muddled heirarchy of quality, it'd be either "Rhapsody in Blue" or "Pomp and Circumstance"-- the first because of a jazzy, innovative song choice and the second because of Donald Duck. That's probably as close as Disney got to being entertaining. In other places, they wasted time showing me yo-yo tricks and flying whales. No, thanks.

It's a shame I had to give this last film such a rating, but I have no choice. As both a standalone film and a sequel, I think I am being generous in giving it a...

Bare Necessities

Please stay tuned; there will be a conclusion in the future!