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rockfan's avatar

What are your thoughts on Disney’s “Fantasia”?

Asked by rockfan (14627points) August 16th, 2020
20 responses
“Great Question” (3points)

And am I crazy for thinking it’s overrated?

I watched it for the first time last week and I was really underwhelmed. I liked The Sorcerers Apprentice, Dance of the Hours, and Night on Bald Mountain, but I thought everything else was mediocre, especially The Pastoral Symphony. Honestly, it felt like I was watching an episode of My Little Pony. Also, wasn’t a fan of the introductions of each segment by Deems Taylor.

Still, I think Fantasia was worth watching to experience the wonderful music.

But what are your thoughts on Fantasia? And which is your favorite segment? And least favorite?

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Answers

ragingloli's avatar

Not much.
I think that all of the disney movies are overrated.
Maybe I just hate all the singing.

rockfan's avatar

Funny, judging by your answers on Fluther, I’d think 101 Dalmatians would be the kind of movie right up your alley.

The humor has a certain edge to it that is absent from a lot of other Disney movies

Caravanfan's avatar

Utterly fantastic and ground breaking. Ebert nailed it in this review

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fantasia-1990

mazingerz88's avatar

Genius brilliant Masterpiece of animation art and craft in its time.

rockfan's avatar

I was surprised to hear on Ebert’s televised review that he thought the Ava Marie segment was cheesy and hokey. I quite liked it.

I also remember Siskel called a few of the segments “lousy”. I wouldn’t go that far

ragingloli's avatar

Honestly, I only hazily remember the part where mickey mouse was a wizard, and that is only because that whole part was ripped off of one of Goethe’s poems.

Demosthenes's avatar

I love it, along with the underrated Fantasia 2000. I would love to see another installation. Fantasia is part of the reason I became enamored with classical music at such a young age.

jca2's avatar

Remember, when Disney’s Fantasia came out in 1940, 80 years ago, it was very advanced and sophisticated as far as graphics and sound. Lots of work and money went into its production. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_(1940_film)

stanleybmanly's avatar

@jca2 gets the point on the significance of the film and why it is indeed such a big deal and seminal landmark in the evolution of movies.

rockfan's avatar

@jca2

Honestly, I have to respectfully disagree. I thought the animation in a couple of segments were quite poor, especially Pastoral Symphony and the design of the dinosaurs in Rite of Spring. I think Snow White and Pinocchio are on a whole different level.

filmfann's avatar

People will tell you 2001 A Space Odyessy is overrated, because the special effects in Star Wars and Blade Runner are so much better, but they were made a dozen years later. You have to judge it by what cinema was like up to the point of its release.
Fantasia was a huge leap in progress for animation. It’s easy to dismiss it compared to recent animation, but at the time, it was amazing.

jca2's avatar

@rockfan: Read the Wiki link which will explain what I was referring to.

kritiper's avatar

Trippy!

Kardamom's avatar

I think it’s one of the most incredible movies I have ever seen. The artwork alone is stunning. I love all of the completely different styles of each of the vignettes. I learned to love classical music at a very early age, before I was even in Kindergarten, because of this movie, something that has been a lifelong passion.

LuckyGuy's avatar

I remember being terrified of the water hauling mops.
I’m sure that was a subliminal incentive for me to stay in school so I would not have to mop floors for a living.

JLeslie's avatar

I think I was around 11 or 12 years old when I saw it, so late 70’s early 80’s. I didn’t find it very entertaining, I’ve never been much of a fantasy type person. I only vaguely remember parts of the film.

What held my attention was the music from the Nutcracker, which I loved at the time and still do. The Chinese Dance was my favorite song from Nutcracker when I was a child, so I remember the mushrooms from Fantasia.

I didn’t realize until now it was produced in 1940! Hell yeah it was amazing for it’s time.

I wonder if I watched it now if I would like it more or be bored. When I was young I didn’t really enjoy silent movies and I liked fun and cute stories, or stories I directly related to. I also didn’t appreciate the work that went into that sort of production. Thinking back, it was very creative.

SEKA's avatar

I had heard how wonderful it was all my life. Then I finally had the chance to watch it. I was somewhat disappointed to say the least. Well, my mother sat me down and explained that it came out before she was born and that it was the most progressive thing to come down the pike at that time. Each frame was drawn by hand and it took many frames to make the characters move. So, I watched it again with a whole new appreciation for the craft and that time I listened more to the music. No, it wasn’t my preferred genre but I found it very relaxing and I did enjoy it.

stanleybmanly's avatar

I was 6 when my mom took me to see it back in the 50s. I of course didn’t realize it then, but the film was revolutionary in more ways than can be named, beginning with the idea of a feature length animated film designed primarily around its score. And about that score—the quality of its recording and fidelity exceeded by an order of magnitude the finest disc recordings of its time. I mean Stokowski conducting a cartoon? And on it goes. The movie is without question unique and to this day stands by itself.

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nicklindsey5674's avatar

My thoughts on Disney’s “Fantasia” is it has some very good music and it is very beautiful.

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