Walt Disney Pictures' "Fantasia 2000" made its world premiere in an exciting way, as the first animated feature to be formatted for and exhibited in IMAX theaters. It is a marriage celebration of music to animation
Review by David Bruce

"PIANO CONCERTO #2, ALLEGRO, OPUS 102"
Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich
Director: Hendel Butoy
Art Director: Michael Humphries
Piano: Yefim Bronfman
A MUSICAL FAIRY TALE

SPIRITUAL NOTE: Watch for the death and resurrection of a wounded savior in this wonderful Hans Christian Anderson tale of the Steadfast Tin Soldier.

Combining the music of Shostakovich with a classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen was a stroke of inspiration that happened quite by accident. The musical selection had long been a favorite of Roy Disney (and his wife, Patty) and he had sent it to Butoy to get his thoughts on the matter.

"It was a concerto that Patty and I both liked and we used to play it quite a bit when our children were little," says Disney. "Our third daughter, Abigail, used to get up and hang on to the shelf that the speaker was sitting on and just bounce up and down to the music. There is a very rhythmic movement with a little snare drum motif to it that had kind of a march to it that she particularly liked. I thought that this would be a piece of music kids could clearly latch on to." Butoy recalls, "As I was listening to the music, I was looking at a newly published book of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, which featured archival illustrations from the 1940s by a Disney artist. I started flipping through the book as the music played and thinking, ‘that works, that works, boy this is going to end just right.' It was almost as if the music was composed for the scenes themselves instead of the other way around. I mentioned my discovery to Roy and Tom (Schumacher). From there we went to the Studio's Animation Research Library to pull the original sketches. We photographed the images of film and set it to the music. It worked so well. It was one of those once in a lifetime things where something just seems to click right from the start. The music and the story went together so well. Everyone was amazed."

"PINES OF ROME"
Composer: Ottorino Respighi
Director: Hendel Butoy
Art Directors: Dean Gordon, William Perkins
A WHALE OF A TALE

SPIRITUAL NOTE: This is an amazing tale of transformation and flight. "We shall be changed... and meet the Lord in the air." A Whale of a Tale is an exotic rapture event.

As visualized by the "Fantasia/2000" creative team, "Pines of Rome" has nothing to do with either Rome or Pines. Instead, stunning three-dimensional computer animation is used to bring life to a herd of whales that miraculously take flight when a supernova explodes above their iceberg-laden habitat. Sequence director Hendel Butoy remembers his impressions of "Pines of Rome" in this way: "It starts off with a burst like an explosion and I had this image of immediately taking off. I pictured something having to do with flight. As we began to look for a story to go with that concept of flying, one of our artists came up with a sketch based on the shapes that children see in the clouds. One of the shapes she drew was a cloud whale and when I saw that image it struck me as something I hadn't seen before. It was worth exploring as an idea to go along with flight and this music." From there, the ideas starting flowing freely. The sequence would involve a herd of humpback whales that magically and majestically take flight. An exploding aurora or supernova triggers the extraordinary event. Within this context, a young whale is separated from its family and a series of events add to the drama.

"When you think about it, whales really do have a lighter than air quality to them," says Butoy. "They're like big blimps suspended in the sea and moving effortlessly around in the water. The idea of putting them in an environment that you've never seen them in before was appealing. The music has a structure to it. It's very lively and fun in the beginning and then it slows down a bit and gets more melancholy towards the middle. The ending has a triumphant march. The challenge was to figure out how to structure a story with these whales set to that piece of music.

"If somebody else heard ‘Pines of Rome,' they might have done something entirely different," he adds. "But I had the privilege of being the one asked ‘What comes to your mind when you listen to this piece of music?' We were able to just imagine it and have our artistic vision become a reality on screen. That's what makes it so exciting."

"CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS (LE CARNAVAL DES ANIMAUX), FINALE"
Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns
Director: Eric Goldberg
Art Director: Susan McKinsey Goldberg
FLAMINGOS WITH YO-YOS

SPIRITUAL NOTE: Here is an animated ballet about order and chaos. The classic spiritual truth retold in a funny way.

Pink flamingos are not generally known for their skills with yo-yos, but for director Eric Goldberg the music of Saint-Saëns provided a wealth of ideas for just such an improbable scenario. The original concept for the story actually involved yo-yo-playing ostriches and was suggested several years ago by Joe Grant, a Disney legend who served as story supervisor on the 1940 "Fantasia" and who continues to be one of the Studio's most imaginative and prolific contributors at age 91. After much discussion, the ostriches gave way to flamingos and the rest is history. The sequence provides the answer to the age-old question: What would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a bunch of flamingos?

With his wife Susan serving as art director, Goldberg chose to use a challenging watercolor style for the piece to add to the beauty and richness. He animated the entire 2-minute piece by himself. Goldberg had just finished co-directing the feature, "Pocahontas," and was interested in getting back to the drawing board for a while. He had already committed to supervising the character of Phil in "Hercules" when he was approached about working on "Carnival of the Animals." He indicated if they could wait for him, he was interested in doing it.

"The whole process from start to finish took about nine months," recalls Goldberg. "I started with a story reel and worked out all the timing to the music. Kent Holaday, a clean-up artist and music breakdown specialist, helped to explain the structure of the music to me. On the exposure sheet, he would give me the beats so that I could see where the notes would fall with regard to each frame of film. From there, I could see where the music repeated and I began to get ideas for the animation from that."

In Goldberg's interpretation of the whimsical Saint-Saëns' composition, a flock of flamingos ÿ affectionately referred to as the "snotty six" ÿ look down their beaks at a nonconformist in their midst. This rebel, whom the filmmakers took to calling Punkin, has a fondness for playing with yo-yos. Aware of the group's disapproval, Punkin sneaks his yo-yo playing in whenever and however he can, resulting in a hilarious and chaotic water ballet.

"THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE"
Composer: Paul Dukas
Director: James Algar
Art Directors: Tom Codrick, Charles Philippi, Zack Schwartz
MICKEY'S MAGICAL MUSICAL MILESTONE

SPIRITUAL NOTE: Mickey is Walt Disney, the conductor of creative magic that made dreams come true. Disney was faithful to his gift and surrounded himself with those who knew more than he. -Which is the lesson in this classic piece.

Mickey Mouse cast a magic spell over moviegoers with his entrancing role in "Fantasia" and rode a new wave of popularity. In this returning classic segment, the versatile mouse star finds himself in over his head when he puts on a different hat and tries to work a little magic of his own. Naturally, he lands in deep water. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was the genesis for "Fantasia' back in 1937 and served as the springboard for Walt Disney's ambitious "Concert Feature."

"When you think of ‘Fantasia,' you think of Mickey Mouse,' says Hendel Butoy. "'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' is the icon of the film, so we always knew we wanted it to continue as part of ‘Fantasia/2000.'"

Roy Disney adds, "I personally think that 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' is one of the most amazing examples of animation in its highest form that I've ever seen. We kept it in ‘Fantasia/2000' to show how good they were sixty years ago and to challenge ourselves to prove what we could do today.

"A lot of the artists that worked on this sequence imagined the sorcerer to be Walt himself," observes Disney. "In fact they gave him the name Yensid, which is Disney spelled backwards. If you look at the very last frame of film where the sorcerer swipes Mickey with the broom, he cocks his one eyebrow way up, which was a very Walt kind of gesture. Walt was a magician, but he was also Mickey. Not only did he do Mickey's voice but the character was very much an extension of Walt's personality. A kind of a timid little guy who wants to do his best. That's really who he was. There was an awful lot of Walt invested in that sorcerer's apprentice and his dream to conduct the universe."

SOME PICTUERS LINK TO FULL SIZE

"FIREBIRD SUITE -- 1919 VERSION"
Composer: Igor Stravinsky
Directors: Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi
Art Director: Carl Jones
THE ULTIMATE FINALE / A VISION OF HOPE

SPIRITUAL NOTE: This is a fantastic tale of death and rebirth. Nature points to the Greatest Story Ever Told! All creation bears the thumbprint of God.

In searching for an appropriate piece of music to conclude "Fantasia/2000," the filmmakers turned to a selection that is often considered the "ultimate finale." According to producer Don Ernst, "It has the greatest finish musically. The end of the piece is really big and works tremendously well."

With death and rebirth as its theme, this musical segment personifies nature in the form of a Sprite, who is summoned by a lone elk, the monarch of the forest. When the beauty of springtime is destroyed by the fury of the Firebird, who lives within an active volcano, it is up to the elk and Sprite to once again bring life back to the ravaged forest and triumphantly reawaken what lies beneath the ashes.

Gaëtan and Paul Brizzi, two internationally renowned filmmakers who have been associated with Disney's Paris Animation Studio for the past decade, were finishing up their assignment on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," when they were approached about directing the finale for "Fantasia/2000." Roy Disney had suggested Stravinsky's"The Firebird Suite" and the duo started from scratch to develop a concept and artistic style for the sequence. Outstanding artists in their own right, the brothers created their own elaborate storyboards to illustrate their approach. Carl Jones served as the art director for this sequence.

According to Paul Brizzi, "Tom Schumacher suggested that the piece might have something to do with nature and from there we began exploring the idea of the revival and rebirth. The music gave us all the elements we needed to tell a story with drama, excitement, joy and suspense. Images immediately came into our minds. We love the storyboarding process and it gave us a chance to communicate our vision for the piece and to work out the synch points with the music."

Gaëtan Brizzi adds, "'The Firebird' is an ideal piece for ‘Fantasia/2000' because the images lead the music and the music leads up to the images. It is a great marriage because when you hear the music you can almost see those images. Those two elements become one entity. When we listen to classical music, we let our minds wander and we have our own images of what this music means. We wanted to respect the music."

The directors came up with three symbolic representations of nature for their central characters. The Sprite, which represents Spring, comes to life each year to renew nature and spread a blanket of greenery and fantastic colors across the landscape. A noble elk is her symbiotic partner in this annual process. The third character is the mighty Firebird, a powerful force of nature portrayed as a volcanic lava birdlike creature that destroys everything within its path. In the end, nature springs eternal as the elk plays a key role in revitalizing the Sprite and renewing the life cycle of the forest.

"We wanted the Sprite to be a character that comes once a year," explains Paul. "She is the Spring and she is awakened by the elk. We wanted to explore the relationship between the two. He guides and inspires her and says its time to do her job. She has a real innocence about her and when she goes into the volcano and awakens the Firebird spirit, she doesn't know the major force of destruction she's unleashing. The Sprite represents the life of a human being. She makes mistakes and from those mistakes she matures and becomes more beautiful and has more dignity. At the end of the film, she is in full control of the situation. We thought that this was a good message for the new millennium. It's a message of hope about having trust in nature."

Gaëtan adds, "The idea of death and rebirth came from listening to the music. It seemed to us that Stravinsky himself must have thought of this theme because the music has lots of different accents with some very strong beats and some very slow passages. It suggested the mystery of life. We interpreted that by showing the ecological direction following a disastrous eruption and the return of the wildlife. We took a poetic approach to the subject and tried to give it the same strong emotional feeling that the music evoked.

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BULLETIN BOARD

FANTASIA IS AWSOME
Subject: Fantasia_2000
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2001
From: Kevin

Fantasia_2000 is an outstanding spiritual experience! I have the DVD!
(-.-) SMILE ! JESUS ! LOVES ! US ! . (-.-) . [ ALSO I LOVE JESUS.] † x ><> + <><)))))~~~~ http://community.webtv.net/KevinKunz/JESUSTHEWAY

BRAVO FOR DISNEY
Subject: Incredibly Satisfying and Moving Film Fantasia_2000
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000
From: Mike Craig

I saw Fantasia 2000 twice on IMAX, one time before I donated stem cells for a woman with cancer and in need of a marrow transplant. I must say that the film left me with a feeling of greater worth and purpose that was only surpassed by the events of the next day. The first and last "chapters" were and still are the most meaningful to me. This is not a film produced from a Chritian perspective, but it contains so many elements of Christianity that I hold so dear that I had to pinch myself at times. Bravo to Disney for finally producing a product that Uncle Walt would give a standing ovation to. A wonderful family film but be aware that the last "chapter" contains a scary monster somewhat like Yensid in "Night on the Bare Mountain" in the original Fantasia.
Mike Craig Snohomish, WA

FANTASTIC FANTASIA
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000
From: Carey

I just saw Fantasia 2000 last night and I was completely wowed by it! I know that I saw the original Fantasia when I was younger, but it was a long time ago, as well as on television... NO COMPARISON! As I watched Noah, with the help of his assistant, Donald, gather the animals, I was encouraged to imagine how the ark must have been with so many different species of animals all together. Despite the fact that it was hilarious, I had tears in my eyes when Donald and Daisy found each other. It was so powerful when their eyes met and their faces lit up with joy. The flamingos had the entire movie audience (myself included) roaring with laughter. So that's what happens when you give a flamingo a yo-yo...

The artistry and long hours of hard work were incredibly evident. The music is amazing and watching the stories unfold along with the music will stay with me for a very long time. A lot of love and expertise went into making this landmark film. I was blessed by the time I spent sitting back in my seat... watching with awe and child-like wonder. EVERYONE should see this...
Carey Voorhees Albany, NY http://www.angelfire.com/country/forJesus

PASTOR LIKES FANTASIA 2000
Subject: The images of God in Fantasia
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000
From: Darrel Manson <demanson@concentric.net>

I found it interesting the way some sort of image or concept of God made it into a few of the segments. Certainly the buck in the Firebird, breathes life into the world (through a spirit). In both the Beethoven piece (with butterflies) and the whate segment often used a motif of a beam of light that called the creatures up to life or to new levels of being.

All this in an especially well crafted movie. You're right, it is a class by itself.
--
Darrel Manson ><>Artesia Christian Church
ICQ 5624184 ><>Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Response: I love Fantasia, too! -David.

FANTASIA IS WONDERFUL
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000
From: Gillian

Saw this at the London IMAX. What a treat - and Donald Duck in Noah's Ark?
Wonderful!
Keep up the good work, this is a great site.
My response: Yes, I liked it too.

FANTASIA IS NOT IN NEW ORLEANS
Subject: No Show
Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000
From: Milo
I live in New Orleans and we are not getting Fantasia 2000 because of Disney's exclusivity clause to screen it. Just wanted to express how much that bites! Go see it again for me and all the other animation lovers in N.O.

FANTASIA IS GREAT
Subject:Saw it, loved it!
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 03:32:36 EST
From: Steve Bailey
SKAD13@aol.com

I saw a sneak preview of FANTASIA 2000 last week at the World Golf Village IMAX theater in St. Augustine, Florida, and ever since then, I've been raving about it to anyone who will listen. Please go see this delightful movie!! I've always loved the original, but I had to admit there will a couple of parts in it (the original) that kind of dragged. (Those cutesy satyrs in the "Pastoral Symphony" segment?? Yeesh!) By contrast, there's not a boring segment in the new movie. And watching it in the IMAX format just make it a double treat for the eye and ear. Don't miss this one!!

Feel free to print my E-mail address and URL.

Steve Bailey
Jacksonville Beach, FL.
SKAD13@aol.com
http://pages.hotbot.com/movies/skad13