Fantasia 2000

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Fantasia 2000
A grand way to start the final year of the 2nd millennium.
Genre: Animation Adventure Fantasy Romance Music Drama Comedy Starring: James Levine Steve Martin Itzhak Perlman Quincy Jones Bette Midler James Earl Jones Penn & Teller Angela Lansbury Release date: December 17, 1999 (Carnegie Hall) January 1, 2000 (IMAX) June 16, 2000 (United States) Runtime: 74 minutes Country: United States Prequel: Fantastia

Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the 38th Disney animated feature film and sequel to Fantasia (1940). Like its predecessor, Fantasia 2000 consists of animated segments set to pieces of classical music. Celebrities including Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, and Angela Lansbury introduce each segment in live-action scenes directed by Don Hahn.

Program

The film begins with the sound of an orchestra tuning and Deems Taylor's introduction from Fantasia. Panels showing various segments from Fantasia fly in outer space and form the set and stage for an orchestra. Musicians take their seats and tune up and animators draw at their desks before James Levine approaches the conductor's podium and signals the beginning of the first piece.

• Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven: Abstract patterns and shapes that resemble butterflies in various colorful shades, tints, and hues explore a world of light and darkness whilst being pursued by a swarm of black bats. The world is ultimately conquered by light. Introduced by surviving archival recordings by Deems Taylor.
• Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi: A family of humpback whales are able to fly. The calf is separated from his parents, and becomes trapped in an iceberg. Eventually, he finds his way out with his mother's help. The family join a larger pod of whales, who fly and frolic through the clouds to emerge into outer space. Introduced by Steve Martin and Itzhak Perlman.
• Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin: Set in New York City in the early 1930s, and designed in the style of Al Hirschfeld's known caricatures of the time, the story follows four individuals named Duke, Joe, Rachel and John, who wish for a better life. The segment ends with all four getting their wish, though their stories interact with each other's without any of them knowing.[3] Introduced by Quincy Jones with pianist Ralph Grierson.
• Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102 by Dmitri Shostakovich: Based on the fairy tale "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" by Hans Christian Andersen, a broken toy soldier with one leg falls in love with a toy ballerina and protects her from an evil jack-in-the-box.[4] Unlike the original story, this version has a happy ending. Introduced by Bette Midler featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman.
• The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnival des Animaux), Finale by Camille Saint-Saëns: A flock of flamingoes try to force a slapstick member, who enjoys playing with a yo-yo, to engage in the flock's "dull" routines. Introduced by James Earl Jones with animator Eric Goldberg.
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas: Based on the poem "Der Zauberlehrling" by Goethe, the segment is the only one featured in both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. It tells the story of Mickey Mouse, an apprentice of sorcerer Yen Sid who attempts some of his master's magic tricks before knowing how to control them. Introduced by Penn & Teller.
• Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 by Edward Elgar: Based on the story of Noah's Ark from the Book of Genesis, Donald Duck is Noah's assistant and Daisy Duck is Donald's wife. Donald is given the task of gathering the animals to the Ark, and misses, loses, and reunites with Daisy in the process. Introduced by James Levine featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
• Firebird Suite—1919 Version by Igor Stravinsky: A Sprite is awoken by her companion, an elk, and accidentally wakes the Firebird, a fiery spirit of destruction in a nearby volcano who destroys the forest and seemingly the Sprite. The Sprite survives and the elk encourages her to restore the forest to its normal state. Introduced by Angela Lansbury.

Why It Rocks 2000 Times

1. For starters, it is the first animated film made for IMAX theaters, which is a massive achievement.
2. Like the first film, the film keeps the tradition by stimulating the audience’s imagination through classical music and picture what they’re seeing.
3. The music is very great.
4. Powerful animation that's a step-up from the first movie.
5. Good CGI Animation that looks like it’s a mix of CGI and traditional animation.
6. Several well-known celebrities at the time introduce the segments to this film.
7. The film has several funny moments such as the Rhapsody in Blue and Carnival of Animals segments.
8. The Pomp and Circumstances segment with Donald Duck and Daisy was very emotional.
9. The film brings back The Sorcerer's Apprentice from the first film.
10. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major-I. Allegro is fondly remembered because its altered ending for the Steadfast Tin Soldier story. Whereas both the Tin Soldier and the Ballerina perished at the end of Hans Christian Andersen's original tale, here the Soldier and the Ballerina survive and it's the villainous Jack-in-the-Box the one who gets killed in the fire.
11. The Firebird Suite is the highlight of this film that it can even rival Night on Bald Mountain from the first movie. In fact, depending on your view, this could be considered the grand finale of the Disney Renaissance as it ended the era on a high note.

Bad Qualities

1. Rhapsody in Blue can give the wrong message that endangering yourself is the way to make your workaholic parents focus on you, because Rachel really risked her life to retrieve her ball when she could have caused an accident. Even by that age she should know that you can't run into traffic.
2. The Firebird Suite might be too scary for younger audiences.
3. Some fans would have preferred for the film to include Destino, an unfinished short developed by Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí for the first film, in place of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, given that the latter had already been show in the first film and was already known.
   • In addition, the fact that the segment The Sorcerer's Apprentice is shown in its original Academy ratio fullscreen format unlike the rest of the film which is in widescreen makes the segment look out-of-place in this film due to the aspect ratio differences.
4. The humor from the celebrity hosts can be annoying.
5. Some people feel like the runtime has been reduced to short.

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