The Movies
I'm definitely a fan of classic Disney animation, but am I the only one who thinks that Fantasia might be a tad overrated? Walt's inention is admirable enough: Great music inspiring great animation, be it a definite storyline that parallels the composition, or a free-flowing abstraction. But my problem begins from the artfully stylized opening moments of the film, as the tuxedoed members of the orchestra unhurriedly take their seats and warm up before conductor Leopold Stokowsky arrives. This initial choice of live-action over animation is a bold one, but like everything else here, it takes its sweet time.
See, animation is a remarkably efficient storytelling tool, it allows the artists to manipulate every aspect of the frame by hand, and with the best in the business toiling away under Walt Disney himself, the slight vignettes spun here don't need the several minutes allotted for each. We hold on an image longer than is necessary, or watch as a character repeats essentially the same actions, really just to pad the animation so it runs as long as the music. Even the most iconic segment by far, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring a newly restyled Mickey Mouse, tends to drag, or perhaps I'm applying my 2010 sense of pacing...? Explain that to the bored kids I saw literally running up and down the aisles during the 1990 theatrical reissue.
Flash back a mere decade to Fantasia 2000, as Disney finally made good on Walt's dream of keeping Fantasia "a perpetual work in progress," with new segments joining the old. In truth, only Sorcerer's Apprentice was kept (it would hardly be Fantasia without it), although 2000 does provide viewers with a wider variety of styles than would have been palatable, or even possible, back in 1940. Still awfully slow though, even with a 40% shorter running time.
The Picture
Fantasia is pillarboxed here with vertical black bars left and right to bridge the gap between the 4:3 frame and the 16:9 TV. Despite a bit of edge enhancement, the staggering beauty here is almost enough to make grown men weep, brushstrokes at times like a living thing on the screen, with colors and detail like I've never seen in this movie, and textures I never knew were there. At times there is such subtlety to the artwork, we have to wonder how any other medium could possibly convey the same sheer emotion of these images.
The Sound
Both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are almost entirely music, with a little bit of narration, and on Fantasia that narration is painfully stiff and doesn't even show spot-on lip-synch. The audio has always been a hot topic here, as Disney invented "Fantasound" for the occasion, widely considered to be the first-ever stereo presentation of a studio film. Today, since the music is the true "voice" of the movie, the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1-channel remix tends to underscore the action, and as hippos and alligators dance wildly around the screen, so too do the instruments seem to dance around the multichannel soundfield. This thoughtful directionality, undeniable clarity and exquisite dynamic range are a tremendous pleasure, and potentially some offbeat demo material when we're not spinning discs featuring aliens and/or World War II.
The Extras
This is a four-disc set, with platters Two and Four serving up the movies and limited extras on standard DVD. Fantasia (Disc One) contains an interactive Art Gallery for both movies with Flow View and Thumb View, an alphabetical Smart View, a personal ratings system, optional music and more. "Disney Family Museum" is a four-minute overview of The Presidio-based attraction, and "The Schultheis Notebook: A Disney Treasure" (13 minutes) focuses on the long-lost journal of special effects animation genius Herman Schultheis and its incredible revelations about the revolutionary processes developed for Fantasia and beyond. (The original is now on display at The Presidio location.)
There is a new audio commentary by Disney historian Brian Sibley, plus the original DVD commentary with interviews and story note recreations by Walt Disney, hosted by Oscar-winning animator/author/expert John Canemaker as well as the alternate DVD commentary by executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine, Canemaker again and film restoration manager Scott MacQueen.
Fantasia 2000 (Disc Three) leads off with "Musicana" (nine minutes) about the proposed, never-realized "new" version of Fantasia. "Dali & Disney: A Date with Destino" tells story behind the dream collaboration project between Walt Disney and surrealist master Salvador Dali. This documentary runs 82 minutes and is the only extra in standard definition. The weird and wonderful six-and-a-half minute Destino, begun in 1946 and completed more than half a century later, is in strong, high-bitrate HD. There are a pair of borrowed DVD commentaries here as well, one by executive producer Roy E. Disney, conductor James Levine and producer Don Ernst, the other by the directors and art directors, although some special guests pop up, too. Disc Three is also where the BD-Live action is, in the form of "Disney's Virtual Vault."
Final Thoughts
Of course, watching a Blu-ray in the home is a far different experience from sitting through the movie in a theater 70 years ago. Not only is the stellar audio/video quality now assured, viewing after viewing, but we can watch just those selections that we happen to be in the mood for. Battling dinosaurs, anyone?
Product Details
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