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Fantasia (Special 60th Anniversary Edition)
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Groundbreaking on several counts, not the least of which was an innovative use of animation and stereophonic sound, this ambitious Disney feature has lost nothing to time since its release in 1940. Classical music was interpreted by Disney animators, resulting in surreal fantasy and playful escapism. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra provided the music for eight segments by the composers Tchaikovsky, Moussorgsky, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Ponchielli, Bach, Dukas, and Schubert. Not all the sequences were created equally, but a few are simply glorious, such as "Night on Bald Mountain," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "The Nutcracker Suite." The animation ranges from subtly delicate to fiercely bold. The screen bursts with color and action as creatures transmute and convention is thrust aside. The painstaking detail and saturated hues are unique to this film, unmatched even by more advanced technology. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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| Product Details |
| Actors: | Leopold Stokowski, Bela Lugosi, Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, Walt Disney, Deems Taylor |
| Director: | James Algar |
| Format: | Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC |
| Language: | English |
| Number of Discs: | 1 |
| Studio: | Walt Disney Video |
| Run Time: | 125 minutes |
| DVD Release Date: | November 14, 2000 |
| Average Customer Rating: |  based on 203 reviews |
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| Customer Reviews |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 good movie...bad copy May 12, 2008
Love the movie but I belive the copy I got is not origional. The bonus stuff was not on the DVD, the case did not include any of the documentation. The last two pieces were not viewable due to defects in the DVD. I guess when they release it again I'll have to buy another, but then I'm going to the source, not through Amazon.
 Wow! The First Music Videos and For Classical Music Too! Mar 15, 2008
This movie was clearly way ahead of its time when it was released in the early 1940s and I'm not surprised that it was a box-office flop at that time as it struck me while watching this that this must be the "Sgt. Pepper's" of animation at that time. Another major reason for the lack of success was that the logistics of the times were not up to scratch as few theatres were equiped with stereophonic sound and probably fewer audiences still were able to stand what amounts to more than 2 hours of a collection of music videos and yet it's unmistakeable that this is simply a work of art and this movie alone convinced me that Walt Disney was a genius.
Some of the scenes were like Mickey on an acid trip and this movie was clearly targeted at an adult audience more so than say a "Snow White" was clearly targeted at kids. I thoroughly enjoyed these classical music MTVs except for Bach's "Toccata and Fugue In D Minor" which was arranged for orchestra by Stokowski instead of in the original solo pipe organ arrangement which would have been better and the "Meet the Soundtrack" segment both of which should have been left off and would not have been missed.
The rest of the videos though were excellent and I found myself better appreciating the original compositions when listened together with the brilliant animation that although is almost 70 years old now still looks very impressive to me although I'm sure the brilliant digital restoration had a large part to play in it as well. My favourite was the Beethoven 6th Symphony video with Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" coming in a close second. Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" video was charming too and Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" was just hilarious! The "Night On Bald Mountain" video was chilling and would give any death metal video ala the band Death a good run for its money in terms of scare value too.
What I really liked the best about this DVD though is the brilliant sound quality with Dolby Digital, DTS Surround Sound in 5.0 channels with THX quality which makes it better for me to listen to the classical music tracks off the DVD than off my cds on my high end stereo! The picture quality has been restored very well too and so the minor imperfections were few and far between and you really had to look real hard to find them.
The special features were a real treat too with the featurette "The Making of Fantasia" the standout item there. Great picture and sound quality and brilliant content make this my best and favourite music video DVD and to think this was decades before MTV and much, much better too.
Highly recommended!
 In the Beginning... Jan 31, 2008
This animated classic, a "concert feature," is the foundation of my film career. It is the basis for my love of animation, of classical music, of mythology and of dinosaurs. I must have been six or seven, maybe younger, when I saw it in the theatre. I screamed during the Night on Bare Mountain sequence; I remember trying to keep it together, trying not to scream, then one of the harpies (I know which one to this day) flew at the camera and I let out a high-pitched yelp, much like the YAP doled out by the small Who that saves the Whos in "Horton Hears a Who." Every head in the audience turned towards me in the dark. I've not screamed since.
I've seen the deleted, racist, scenes on YouTube, those awful stains on the otherwise lovely Pastorale sequence. I do think they should be restored so people can see what Disney was all about. I hate the idea of watching this movie in a happy dream without some reminder of the harsh social climates of the time. It is tantamount to the ignorance that included it in the film in the first place.
I'm sorry Deems Taylor had to be revoiced. And I seriously wish the Claire de Lune would have been included as a deleted scene on this disc. One can only get it by buying the other Fantasia discs and there is nothing worth anything on those. Fantasia 2000 runs like a series of CalArts student projects. Why not continue what Walt had planned? Ride of the Valkyries would have been a jaw-dropping short to open it with. The Swan of Tuonela, from the storyboards, would have been a haunting masterpiece.
Well, one can only hope for a proper, better disc. Until then, I will watch this edited, sanitized version - and try not to scream when the Harpy flies off the screen.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Brilliant Jan 29, 2008
I have never seen the original version, so my point of view will probably differ.
It is a glorious combination of spectacular animation and music. The was flowers and water lilies dance and the underwater scenes with beautiful sometimes translucent fish tales is gorgeous.
I found it very entertaining and also very relaxing.
Not perfect, but greatness nonetheless Jan 27, 2008
The other reviewers are right. The silly (and at this point futile) cropping of the "offensive" scene in "pastoral" is sill there, and Deems Taylor may as well be nonexistent without that sonorous voice (which you may recall if you watched the VHS of this film, or saw one of it's rereleases).
That being said, the audio and video remastering is quite good- though if Disney thought there was any money in it, they could do better. And the extras are actually interesting- unlike most of the tripe they package into Disney special editions. The "extended" (or roadshow cut) is also very intersting, but since I grew up with the shorter-running-time VHS version, this one seems a little on the long side. But I'm not going to complain about more of this spectacular film.
At it's heart this is a triumph of film and particularly of animation. It is a valuable addition to any collection.
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