Fantasia (film series)

Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are two musical films that together make the Fantasia film series. However both films have a long time in between each other's releases as Fantasia was released in November 13, 1940 while Fantasia 2000 was released in December 17, 1999, both films where first released in the United States and later worldwide.

Both films where released under the Disney banner and both are included as Walt Disney Animated Classics, Fantasia is the 3rd classic while Fantasia 2000 is the thirty-eighth animated feature classic. Fantasia was originally intended to be a masterpiece that would continue and continue, it was also intended to give Mickey Mouse a higher popularity as Donald Duck was tacking over. However the first film was considered as one of Disney's biggest failures as it's received a high number of Rotten Tomatoes. So Walt Disney abandoned the project. However when the film was a success the idea was recreating and Fantasia 2000 was created, but with some computer animated scenes blended with the traditional drawing cell drawing. The DVD pack of Fantasia series was released with both films and an extra DVD, but the DVD pack went out of print in late 2004, in 2010 the pack is going to be released again with both films and an extra DVD known as Fantasia world.

The series is made up of different segments, where the only sound is a classical music, however Fantasia 2000 included the sound of raining before the music begun in Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major-I. Allegro letting the music tell the story of Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy tale the The Steadfast Tin Soldier, also in Rhapsody in Blue it's a Jazz music more than a classical one.

Touqata and Fuga in D. Minor
In this segment, the image doesn't make any sense and it's only there to match the sound of the music, this segment is half liveaction and half cartoon. The show shows what a person mike come to mind while listening to a concert. This segment was directed by Samuel Armstrong.

The Nutcracker
In this segment, the music tells how some fairies change the nature according to which season there was, according to Deems Taylor no Nutcracker appears in that segment, but dancing mushrooms, flowers, seeds and snowflakes can be seen. This segment is directed by the same person who directed the previous segment.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
This segment is based on the story The Sorcerer's Apprentice, in this segment Mickey Mouse is busy dragging water to a fountain in a castle when he sees his master Yen Sid doing magic. Mickey is admired by this and when Yen Sid goes to sleep, Mickey steals his hat and uses it to bring a broomstick to life. The broomstick does Mickey's chores while Mickey dreams of being a powerful wizard who can control the universe. However when the broomstick floods the house Mickey smashes it to pieces to stop it, but every piece becomes a new broomstick, together the broomsticks overflood the castle and Mickey nearly drowns. This segment is directed by James Algar.

The Rite of Spring
This segment tells in a short way how scientists believe the earth was born. The segment starts with the creation of the solar system to the end of the dinosaurs. This segment features a Tyrannosaurus Rex who is viewed as a hungry dinosaur eater, who attacks a Stegosaurus without mercy. In this segment there are some mistakes as the T Rex had two fingers while in the film it has three. Also the segment mixes up dinosaurs from the Triassic Age and Jurassic Age. This segment is directed by Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield.

Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack
This is not really a segment but just the intermission of the concert, however after it's over Deems Taylor presents to the audience a string like character that according to Deems Taylor is Fantasia's soundtrack. Deems Taylor asks the soundtrack to do any noise and the soundtrack makes a strange burping noise, so Taylor tells it to do the noise of different instruments like the basoon, the trumpet, violin, the Triangle etch... This segment is directed by Ben Sharpsteen and David D. Hand.

The Pastoral Symphony
This segment tells the story of greek mythological creatures like little angels, unicorns, centaurs and winged horses. The story starts when the angels try to make centaurs couples, after that the creatures prepare a feast for Bacchus the god of wine. However the feast waked up Zeus the king of the gods who throws thunderbolts at Bacchus, but after a while Zeus gets tired and goes back to sleep. The creatures celebrate while watching a rainbow get created, then when night comes they all go to sleep. This segment is known for using Beethoven's 6th symphony. This segment is directed by Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, and Ford Beebe

Dance of the Hours
This segment tells how certain animals dance according to a day's 4 states morning, mid day, afternoon and night. In the morning Madame Upanova and her Ostriches dance, but then in a fight of who gets a grape, but it falls into the water and the ostriches get scared of Hyacinth Hippo. Hyacinth Hippo and her hippos dance at mid day but then Hyacinth Hippo gets tired and the Hippos get her a bed and she falls asleep while the rest of the hippos leave her alone. That afternoon Elephanchine and her elephants come and do a bubble dance in the afternoon. Then the wind comes and drags the elephants away. At night the alligators come and spot Hyacinth and surround her. But then the prince of the alligators Ben Ali Gator chases them away to see Hyacinth Hippo for himself. When Hyacinth wakes up she gets scared by Ben Ali Gator. After a bit of time she and Ben dance together until he falls into a fountain. Hyacinth then runs away while the hippos have her cover, Ben and the alligators then chase them and the hippos hide along with the elephants and the ostriches. But the alligators come and force them to dance with them. Ben finds Hyacinth and at the end all of them dance together so much that the theatre is destroyed. This segment is directed by T. Hee and Norm Ferguson.

Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria
This segment combines two totally different pieces into one segment. It starts with Chernabog a fierce demon who raises spirits and fire from hell and forces them to dance to death, then the church bells ring and Chernabog and the ghosts are forced to return to hell. After that the people of the town go to church singing Ave Maria. This segment was criticized as one of the most terrifying scenes in Disney history.

Symphony No. 5 in C minor-I. Allegro con brio
This segment shows butterflies and bats fly in a world half light and darkness. The bats brake an orange butterflie's wing and chase the rest of them. But then the world is finally conquered by light causing the bats to go back to sleep. This segment is directed by Pixote Hunt.

Pines of Rome
This segment is about a hunchback whale calf that flies with his parents and pack due to a supernova to another version of the sea in the sky. At one point the whale calf gets seperated from his parents but finds them again thanks to his mother. This segment is directed by Hendel Butoy.

Rhapsody in Blue
This segment is made up of a modern jazz music. It tells a story of different people in New York city. It tells the story of different people that wish for a better life. A Biulder wishes to be a Jazz band member. A little girl wishes to be more times with her parents, a red haired man wishes to be free from his wife who treats him as a servant while a poor man wishes to have mor money. These wishes are seen through the person imagining to be skating. At the end all of them get their dream come true. This segment is directed by Eric Goldberg.

Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102
This segment starts with the brief sound of rain before the music starts. The segment is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Steadfast Tin Soldier. It basically showsthe same thing as the fairy tale only that in the end the tin soldier and the ballerina don't fall into the fire but in a battle with the Jack in the Box, it's him that falls into the flames. This segment is directed by the same director of Pines of Rome.

Carnival of the Animals, Finale
This segment tells about a flamingo who plays with a Yo-Yo but the other flamingos try to take it away from him. In the end the manage to take it away but then the flamingo comes back with other Yo-Yos. This segment includes Yo-Yo tricks by children. This segment is directed by the same director of Rhapsody in Blue.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Fantasia 2000 includes the same segment of the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Pomp and Circumstance - Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4
This segment is based on the mythological story of Noah's Ark, however this story includes Donald Duck and Daisy Duck. The story starts when Noah calls for the animal couples to enter the ark, but since he doesn't manage to keep them in control he summons Donald Duck to help him. Donald manages to bring the animals in the ark but then notices that his girlfriend Daisy Duck is not entering the ark, so he comes out looking for her but doesn't see her come inside the ark and still think she's at home, but before he could reach the house a huge wave comes and Donald is forced to enter the ark. However Daisy saw him running from the wave and closes her eyes and misses Donald enter the ark. Both Donald and Daisy think that their mates died in the flood. Donald and Daisy explore the ark but always come to one place right after the other one has left it. Only at the end they finally meet each other and come out of the ark together. This segment is directed by Francis Glebas

Firebird Suite - 1919 version
This segment is about life, death and rebirth. A spring sprout that comes to life thanks to the breathe of an Elk. The spring sprout starts to bring spring in the forest until she goes up a volcano that nothing can grow on it. She starts to explore until she wakes up a fire bird that starts an eruption to destroy the spring sprout. The firebird finally succeeds in his task but not before destroying the entire forest. After it's all over the elk finds the spot where the spring sprout was destroyed and brings her back to life. Braver than before the spring sprout starts the spring again more beautiful than before and grass grows even on the volcano.

Music
Fantasia and Fantasia 2000's music consists of only classical and a bit modern pieces. None of the music was written by any person working on any of both films but by composers that didn't know that the pieces would turn into the pieces in the Fantasia film series. The following composers are Johann Sebastian Bach who composed Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Nutcracker Suite, Paul Dukas in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Igor Stravinsky in The Rite of Spring and The Firebird, Ludvig van Beethoven in Symphony No. 6 and Symphony No. 5, Amilcare Ponchielli in La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours, Modest Mussorgsky in Night on Bald Mountain, Franz Schubert in Ave Maria, Ottorino Respighi in Pines of Rome, George Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue, Dmitri Shostakovich in Piano Concerto No. 2, Camille Saint-Saëns in The Carnival of the Animals and Edward Elgar in Pomp and Circumstance Marches. The music in Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 is to match it with the images the film produces. Fantasia's main purpose was to introduce classical music to modern audiences.