EssenceStory
Well Deserved Praise
Ketrivie
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
filmtogo
It's inventive and fun, it's anarchic and the one Disney animated feature that has naked girls in it! Okay, but that's not it's main quality. The music is fantastic and the images are colorful. It's not so much about story as it is a synergy of these images and the music - a quality Disney developed with their series of shorts called Silly Symphonies. Mickey became a pop culture icon as the sorcerer's apprentice - for good reason. "His" episode in Fantasia is - hands down - the best.
themullofkintyre
Walt Disney films are always great but when I went into Fantasia I knew it would be more artsy and metaphoric then let's say Snow White or The Lion King. But this movie is much more than that, it is a spectacle and a site, the animation is gorgeous and even creepy at certain times. I had originally only seen Fantasia 2000 but after seeing the near Masterpiece that this animation is" that movie is honestly garbage and this has much more meaning and the animation is much more Gothic and artsy. It is great
sethsholtes
2017 is a year of technical marvel. Looking at movies of today, we see massive, stunning works of animation. We can now achieve computer generated images that look nearly indistinguishable from reality, and at the forefront of movie making today is Disney. Through Marvel, Disney creates multiple action packed superhero blockbusters a year. Star Wars, after it's 2015 revival, has new movies being released annually. Pixar, after creating several successful franchises, is now resting on its laurels, creating sequels like Finding Dory, Toy Story 4, Cars 3 and Incredibles 2. Even Disney's in house animation team is finding success, bringing back the Disney princess formula with movies like Frozen and Moana. However, amidst all this success, we have lost the truly human touch. Fantasia perfectly captures all that was lost in today's Disney movies. The movie has a very personal and human feel to every aspect of it. The orchestra, a very tangible presence in the movie, feels alive. They laugh, play their own little tunes during the intermission, but most importantly, they make mistakes. The animation is the same way, It's very rough at times and sometimes lacking, with some animations being reused, however every shot is filled with passion. You can tell that people worked on this, people with ambition, though they were not perfect. In modern movies, this beautiful animation that looks so real lacks the touch of individualism that Fantasia has in spades. The scene of the Sorcerer's apprentice dancing around the broom is burned into our collective memory for a reason. In all its flaws, its rough edges, it feels real to us. We can see all the raw effort and energy that the animator's put into each of Mickey's footsteps and that resonates with us. Fantasia speaks to the viewer not because it's perfect, but because it's flawed.
Joli M
I grew up with the 2000's fantasia, which I have seen many times over. Maybe that's why I was so partial to it when I would hear that the first fantasia was so much better than the one I already knew. It turns out those people had a point. Nothing feels forced as the conductor and the musicians around him actually stop to breathe in between the pieces they're playing. In addition, many of the musical bits with their animation; (which I have inevitably come across on the Internet) are really so much more impact-full in context. More time and attention seems to be given to each piece, which leads to numbers that can slowly fade in or out at the musics' pace-unhurried. There are a lot of moments throughout that will make someone familiar with the 40's and some of its ideas laugh for sure. I also feel as if the orchestra is more connected to what they are playing; rather than being swept aside by the animation. Though, the animation is stunning. When you consider that computers and just technology surrounding film, (let alone that in everyday life,) was nowhere near it is today; it's hard not to appreciate the time and skill that it really took to create an animation: let alone a Disney Animation. So glad I watched this! Though I still recommend seeing the later 200's version as well, because there are a few breathtaking numbers to be seen within; just know that the atmosphere of the two films do differ some.
