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roskirambles · 4 months

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(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Fantasia (1940)

Originally posted: January 4th, 2022 Walter Elias Disney, a controversial man in life and legacy. A businessman at heart, selling an illusion to audiences he so called magic, and tried to hide many of his lesser traits and allegiances throughout his life. Nonetheless, if there's one thing I can actually admire about the man is that he respected animation as a medium, and this is reflected in one of his passion projects: the unprecedented masterpiece that is Fantasia.

A joint work between the Walt Disney company, professional critic Deems Taylor as the Master of Ceremonies and Leopold Stokowski in the direction of the Philadelphia Orchestra, this anthology of classical music with animation of different styles and flavors ranges from abstract and surreal imagery, to the whimsical, frightening and sublime when it comes to the more defined storytelling of other segments. Music from Bach, Tchaikovsky, Dukas, Stravinsky, Bethooven, Ponchielli and Mussorgksy is featured, each as their own dedicated short, along with a small intermission where a sound track is given characterization.

The end result is a highly varied compilation of shorts with both subtle and stark differences in art direction, and a very experimental approach to what animation is about. In many, many ways it was impressively ahead of it's time, which only makes it's dissapointing performance at the box office back in the day all the more saddening.

This isn't to say everything about it is timeless or feels contemporary. While still a remarkable achievement of animation, where just short of 80 years later it's still engrossing and impressive, instances like the now cut character of Sunflower in the Pastoral Symphony segment reflect the ugly, racist side of American culture at the time. There's other less insulting but still dated bits, like how Taylor claims nobody performs the Nutcracker ballet anymore. Yeah, right. Even so, for any animation enthusiast it's a must watch.

Honestly, this movie gives so much to talk about for an animation enthusiast. I think it warrants writing some thoughts about each segment.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor(Johann Sebastian Bach): A powerful musical piece to start, but visually speaking it's not the strongest opening. While I do appreciate(immensely I might add) that Disney did NOT go for the stereotyped scary imagery associated with this piece but instead something more sublime (given the dynamic range the toccata actually offers), the abstract imagery doesn't necessarily lend anything substantial to the music, even when it goes from dark places to the very heavens. That is, when the animation actually starts, since a not so small segment of the short is the performers shot in silhouette. Stokowski's arrangement of the piece isn't the most evocative version of this musical milestone either.

Still, on a technical level, the animation is remarkable, and given the significant shifts in the musical structure they did what they could.

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Nutcracker suite(Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky): While the narrative is less abstract, it's certainly not very defined either. The animation, however, is much more evocative and beautiful to look at, with soft movements of ballet like quality; all too fitting for the piece.

Given it is associated to a narrative that is already well defined, the animators pretty much gave themselves a challenge by pursuing a significantly different direction that, while still using imagery related to fairies, it has a focus entirely put on the beauty of nature. Giving flowers and mushrooms alike anthropomorphic qualities but also allowing them to just move at the pace of the wind, the effects animation here is as stunning as it is educational for any aspiring animator. Colorful and soft, it's just a visual delight.

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The Sorcerer's Apprentice(Paul Dukas): By far the most popular and well known segment of the film, this short based on a poem from Goethe puts Mickey Mouse in the role of said apprentice under the guide of Yen Sid(subtle reference right there). The irony of the impressionist piece being the first one to get a proper narrative aside, this short is still as charming as ever was.

While the effects animation isn't any less remarkable(in fact, my hat goes off for all those involved in the water animation of this segment), the pressence of Mickey Mouse and the broom make the character animation be the star of the show this time, and it still holds up. It goes all the way to show the power of well composed body language that you can follow the story even without Taylor's prior introduction.

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Rite of the Spring(Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky): A piece from the only composer that was still alive to see the film(who also GREATLY disliked the interpretation of his piece, calling the performance execrable) this is a valiant effort of wordless stoytelling with creatures of minimal anthropomorphic qualities.

While Taylor's introduction already hammers in the era in which this was made(he has to tiptoe around calling scientific observations "facts" to not get flak from conservative Christians), the representation of dinosaurs is anachronistic and dated as well, so is the vagueness of what destroyed them(the crater of the meteor that caused their mass extinction wasn't discovered until 1978).

Still. the segment creates genuine feelings of menace from the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the effects animation is still remarkable(special mention goes to the magma and the smoke, even though fire doesn't look quite right in some shots). It does what it sets to do in presenting the power of nature.

--- Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack: The brief jazz number by the orchestra is nice, and honestly, the Sound track is pretty adorable for a non descriptive collection of shapes. It's also impressive how they managed to give different sounds visual abstract equivalents.

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Pastoral Symphony(Ludwig van Beethoven): The only part of Disney's Movie canon to feature female nudity along with the Night on Bald Mountain segment(at least until later rereleases), it's whimsical depiction of Greek Mythology still manages to be more accurate to the source material than future endeavors of the company such as Hercules, humorously enough. The greek gods weren't nice people, and this segment has some fun with that(remember kids, Zeus is a jerk). The extremely simple love story between the centaurs is still wholesome though, and the imagery is very creative.

The animation complexity of this short lead to some small animation errors but you're not gonna notice if you're not looking for them. It also has in my opinion the most beautiful backgrounds of the film, rivalled only by some segments of the naturalistic beauty of the Nutcracker Suite.

--- Dance of the Hours(Amilcare Ponchielli): Charmingly innocent in a way that it's not seen very often anymore, it uses it's ballet roots in a fairly literal fashion by making a ballet number with different species of animals representing different hours of the day. The body language of these animals is just brilliant, they're expressive, carry a well defined movement to each one(that isn't realistic but definitely distinctive) and there's something inherently comical about how they dance, even when they do it effectively.

Honestly given the premise of the ballet this is the one short where I'd have gone abstract. I can't complain though, since the humorous gags and silly imagery just make it a sincerely funny experience, albeit not the most remarkable among the anthology(plus, female ostriches don't have the black and white plumage, but let's not get too nitpicky here).

--- Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria(Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky/ Franz Peter Schubert): Try to act surprised when I tell you the spooky segment is my favorite part of the movie. At the same time, however, I think it's warranted in this case. Horror is not something animation was known for back in the day. Even if movies like Pinocchio had some remarkably dark imagery, the medium in general was being pushed towards this kid oriented market, so this short was in many ways daring. And the end result both hits the mark with the fear and also happens to deliver one of the more complete narratives in the film. It's not just about the spooks, but the catharsis afterwards.

Chernabog(or as it is referred by Taylor, Satan himself) has such a commanding presence it's overwhelming. Even if you don't find him scary you WILL remember his face, full of wickedness and evil(Vladimir Tytla's animation of the character is one of the biggest achievements in the entire film, which is saying something). The imagery is adequately hellish as well, thanks to a masterful art direction that brings the shadows of Walpurgis night to life. The use of experimental animation techniques helped as well, with the ghosts requiring some clever use of distorted mirrors to create. And the release from the nightmare with the Ave Maria, which was the most demanding shot for the animators at the time(and not just on this project but maybe in animation as a whole at that point)? The perfect cap for a movie that made history for good reason.

So yeah, that's Fantasia. Man, that was a long one.

#roskirambles #animated films #walt disney #johan sebastian bach #pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky #paul dukas #johan wolfgang von goethe #igor stravinsky #ludwig van beethoven #amilcare ponchielli #modest mussorgsky #franz schubert #mickey mouse #chernabog #fantasia #greek mythology #leopold stokowski #deems taylor

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moviehealthcommunity · 11 months

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Fantasia (1940)

This is a Movie Health Community evaluation. It is intended to inform people of potential health hazards in movies and does not reflect the quality of the film itself. The information presented here has not been reviewed by any medical professionals.

Fantasia has extreme strobe effects during moments when magic is used in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. There are moments of brief but harsh lightning in the Rite of Spring and The Pastoral Symphony segments. Most segments of this film contain glittering specks of light.

Some images are briefly distorted in an underwater-type effect.

Flashing Lights: 8/10. Motion Sickness: 1/10.

TRIGGER WARNING: Racially-insensitive caricatures are used in multiple segments of this film.

Image ID: A promotional poster for Fantasia

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travsd · 4 months

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How Posterity Deems Deems Taylor

Nowadays, almost everyone who knows the name Deems Taylor (1885-1966) knows him from ONE place, as the Master of Ceremonies in Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940). And of course the immediate question that arises upon that first encounter is: “Who?” We get that Stokowski is the conductor, but who’s that other guy? Taylor would have been reasonably well known to audiences of his day from the radio. He…

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#Classical #commentator #composer #conductor #critic #Deems Taylor #Fantasia #music #opera

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badmovieihave · 10 months

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Bad movie I have Fantasia 1940

#Fantasia #Walt Disney #Corey Burton #Hugh Douglas #James MacDonald #Tim Matheson #Julietta Novis #Paul J. Smith #Deems Taylor #Leopold Stokowski #The Philadelphia Orchestra

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randomrichards · 11 months

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FANTASIA:

Disney’s masterpiece

Music and animation

Make movie magic

youtube

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adamwatchesmovies · 2 years

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Fantasia (1940)

Fantasia is ambitious and iconic. It’s one of my all-time favorites. A mastery of form, music, color and movement. Hosted by Deems Taylor, the individual stories are not connected, save for the last two.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach

The first segment is entirely abstract. The orchestra (led by Leopold Stokowski) fades into rolling hills, beams of light, shadows and lines. Disney was already a master of coordinating music to animation (See 1928’s Steamboat Willie) so you’d expect the opener to his third film to be a comedic tale accompanied by music, but it isn’t. It’s the opposite: a visual representation of what may go through your mind as you identify the different instruments and the piece itself as the notes flow together. It's not at all obvious and a great way to get us prepped for what's to come.

Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

This second tale is along the lines of what you would have expected going in, though it still takes things in an unexpected direction. The familiar tune is not accompanied by nutcrackers, rat kings, or little girls. Instead, beautifully rendered fairies show the changing seasons. Particularly striking is the arrival of winter as the creatures’ tiny feet create spirals of frost on every surface. It concludes with a variety of plants coming to life to Chinese Dance, Dance of the Flutes, Arabian Dance, Russian Dance and Waltz of the Flowers.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas

Probably the most recognizable of all of the segments, this is where we see a familiar face: Mickey Mouse as the titular character. To avoid his chores, he enchants a broomstick and has it do his work. I don’t think I needed to tell you even that much. So memorable and iconic is this short tale that anybody who hears the piece by Paul Dukas automatically imagines Mickey Mouse in his pointed blue hat. Combined with the previous numbers, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" shows us an impressive escalation of action and music choreography. First, Fantasia showed us abstract shapes. If a hill needs to roll at a certain speed, it’s no problem. Next, characters move to the music, but without a story, actions can take as long as they need to, and characters can be on-screen for as long as required. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is a story with characters, a beginning, middle and an end.

Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky

The next segment brings us away from the fantastic to a (mostly) scientifically accurate depiction of the evolution of life on Earth, starting with single-celled organisms and ending with the reign of the dinosaurs. As a kid, this was always my favorite. Like many of the other numbers, it’s the sound-to-visual choreography that stands out in this segment. Do you remember the introduction of the Tyrannosaurus Rex? The way the drums synch up perfectly to each of its thunderous footsteps? It's wonderful how each note perfectly embodies what happens on-screen, and vice versa.

Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack

Just when you thought the only abstract segment would be Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, here comes the intermission, followed by some light comedy and a bit of musical education. The sight of the soundtrack as it stretches, bends and reacts to different types of percussions/notes is a beauty.

The Pastoral Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Light, cheerful and comedic with touches of romance throughout, The Pastoral Symphony segment of Fantasia is the cutest entry in the program. There are some minor conflicts but for the most part, it’s a peaceful walk through the woods accompanied by various Greco-Roman creatures of myth: centaurs and centaurettes, cupids, fauns, Bacchus, the god of wine, and several other deities who go about their day. This is one to just sit back and enjoy.

Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli.

Without a doubt the funniest story, Dance of the Hours has a unique take on the ballet: it substitutes the dancers with anthropomorphized animals. In doing so, it showcases the power of animation. Characters jump through the air, spin, twirl, pick each other up and move with a grace no real human could ever match.

Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky and Ave Maria by Franz Schubert

Finally, we come to Night on Bald Mountain. We see Satan (he’s been christened Chernabog since, but it’s clear this was intended to be the devil) awaken and summon evil spirits to play with. It’s the film's crowning achievement; the segment with the most realistic human figures, the most striking visuals (barring perhaps the abstracts beforehand) and the most special effects. Combined with the music, it’s hard not to feel chills as skeletons, witches and countless misshapen creatures from the depths of hell arise to dance for their master. The action is then interrupted by Franz Schubert's Ave Maria. Evil is vanquished and robed monks walking with lighted torches signify Satan’s retreat back from where he came.

This second half of the final portion of the program is one to think about. On the one hand, it’s the least visually stimulating. The few movements we see aren’t choreographed to the action, making it almost feels like an afterthought… until you consider that this is the conclusion of Fantasia. The film has no end credits. We’ve seen the history of the world, dancing plants, anthropomorphic animals and finally, the embodiment of pure evil on-screen. As a return to reality, it perfectly fulfills its duty. It’s a reminder that everything we just saw was a show. Now, we can return to the real world. It isn’t flashy and it isn’t meant to be.

Fantasia is more than a collection of music videos. It’s a film that sparks the imagination. The way it utilizes music with abstract, realistic and cartoonish images will stick with you. It fosters a love for animation and music in the young and old. There’s never been anything else quite like it, not even the sequel. (On Blu-ray, December 8, 2017)

#Fantasia #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Disney movies #disney films #Leopold Stokowski #Deems Taylor #1940 movies #1940 films

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lorenlily · 1 year

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the kinds of stories taylor has been gravitating towards showing are the transition from teenager to adult the transition from girlhood to womanhood and these kinds of coming of age stories for adults i think are very lacking so the idea of her potentially making a feature film is so appealing because she's hitting these stories that are quite often ignored since coming of age has always seemed like a teenage thing but it's not you can come of age in any stage of your life sometimes you're thrust into it and sometimes it's delayed so to have these stories in later life are so important for me

#even just the journery of society deeming you a woman when you should've been given the care of a child is so needed #and shes definitely touched upon that many times #im just so excited for the journey of director taylor #taylor swift #dais speak not*

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altarwaiting · 12 days

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taylor loves to add one lyric that is just awful into her songs that are otherwise great so people who hate her can post it out of context and be like "you guys enjoy THIS 🤔" ...it's her favorite hobby

#personal #taylor posting #this post will be deemed to hater-ish by swifties and too nice by people who hate her

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bybdolan · 7 months

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speaking my truth in a way that hopefully does not sound like i am diminishing Taylor's accomplishments... I really do not jive with Swifties using the financial success of the Eras Tour movie vs. the Renaissance Tour movie (that is still hugely successful!) as a sign that Taylor is per se a better artist. It is simply a stupid conclusion because financial success =/= quality, but I want to specifically point out the fact that Taylor simply has set her career and her art up in a way that caters to a very broad audience in a way that Beyonce has not. Obviously Taylor still takes risks and such, but she is not a very sexual artist, her activism (though good!) is not an inherent and visible part of her art the way it is in Beyonce's case, and she is white.

#the whole activism being visible thing is actually something that i think is very importnat #yes taylor does A LOT of good yes she makes her allyship clear within the show with yntcd and slight drag elements #but these things happen in a way that are relatively easy to overlook if you are a bigot #whereas a homophobe can't watch the renaissance tour without constantly being exposed to people #who exist and dress and MOVE in ways that he deems wrong #it's all over the whole show.

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upsidedowngrass · 1 year

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yknow i wonder HOW airy found out about bryce having thalassophobia. cus the existence of the database implies that, with the computer, airy had SOME sort of access to information about the contestants, and with a record of charlotte having been briefly jailed and the fact that hes able to make a site, id imagine it probably has to do with some sort of access to earths internet. even with the more confusing things that he found, like where people lived, they can be explained as the computer simply saying a persons location, maybe? and the pictures i simply imagine are whatever record anywhere he could find of them. still though, its mildly confusing. but bryces thalassophobia is the MOST confusing thing for him to know about any of the contestants, especially since airy seems to not read other peoples fears well, so even if he couldve somehow seen the contestants in their lives somehow before he brought them, theres no way he wouldve picked up on bryce not only having a fear, but i dont think airy would pick up on it being a phobia more specifically. but then how would he have found out about it? did bryce post about it somewhere? mention it somewhere? how much DOES the computer have access to things? i dont have answers to these questions but i sure think about it a lot

#hfjone #smth thats also intrigued me is that airy notes taylors separated parents but not bryces dead sister #which i feel like points to what he considers important details. but im not exactly sure what that actually is #like when ppl make custom pages i notice they often include additional notes a LOT but airy actually seems to scarely make those notes #but i couldnt say what it is that he deems important enough to add #idk!!! i just think the plane database is SUPER interesting and its implications confound me #(then again maybe he didnt note bryces sister being dead because he didnt know?#but id imagine that would be a lot easier to find information on than bryce being thalassophobic #since i think you can find public records for those sorts of things)#but like.. why DOES airy deem it important enough to include #bc its not like he takes it into account . given ep 6

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