I had the opportunity recently to watch Fantasia 2000. I was at a friend’s house, and when the suggestion was made to watch a movie she produced Fantasia. I have to say I was pretty unenthusiastic about the idea.
I can remember when I was growing up my mother was a big Fantasia fan. I can remember many a miserable Saturday afternoon when Fantastia was put into the VHS and I promptly fell asleep, or found something more entertaining to do than watch the movie.
If you have never seen Fantasia, it is a cartoon set to classical music. The original movie was meant to be the first of a yearly release from Disney, but after it wasn’t received well by audiences became the only Fantasia film until Fantasia 2000 was released.
The movie features music by Beethoven, Gershwin, Dimitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, and Sir Edward Elgar. While each composer’s music is played the screen is filled with a virtual cornucopia of color and adventure. There are no words in the movie, only pictures and music.
The film is broken up into pieces, each section having a new song and representing a different part of the overall story. In between each section there is a brief intermission where someone talks to the audience. In Fantasia 2000 the intermissions are done by Steve Martin, James Earl Jones, Penn and Teller and Angela Landsbury.
Writing a review of this movie is a tough one. I absolutely loved watching it, much to my surprise. I am fairly certain that the ten year old version of me would have been bored to tears however.
For parents if you’re trying to decide whether or not to have your children watch the film, you should think about a few factors:
1. Does my child like classical music? I know I loved classical music as a child and went to symphony concerts weekly with my mother. My brother on the other hand absolutely hated it. Fantasia was probably not the best film for him, for me though it should have been a winner.
2. Does my child have a long attention span? I think this is what made me dislike Fantasia as a child. I constantly wanted to be outside with my friends, building tree houses, making mud pies, Fantasia had no words and just couldn’t grab my attention long enough to keep it.
The movie appears to be one that would be perfect for younger children (even babies) who need something to watch as they fall asleep or need to be entertained while mom and dad are trying to do other things.
If you plan on showing Fantasia to a younger child however you may want to preview it first. There are some sections of the film that may be a little too much for little people. I loved this film watching it now, but know it would have been a different situation entirely twenty years ago. Have any of you had any experiences good or bad watching Fantasia?