This Cartoon Made Me Cry: Fantasia 2000

For those of you who have lived under rock and I doubt you have been if you are reading this review, Fantasia 2000 is the continuation of Walt Disney's vision. The working title for the original Fantasia was the Concert Feature and it was his plan that the music and the animated pieces would change periodically, just as one hears different pieces of music when one visits the symphony. Unfortunately, due a number of factors, he was unable to see this happen during his lifetime.

If you like animation or music or both, then I highly recommend you see this piece. There are some that say that it doesn't meet up to high standards of the original, but I disagree. Granted the length of the movie is shorter and the number of pieces is fewer, all were very good and in fact a couple of them tugged at my heartstrings. I would like to share these two special pieces with you.

Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin)

A line on a blue screen stretches across the screen as a single note plays. The two work together to create the stories of the inhabitants of New York City, each somewhat displeased (blue, perhaps?) with their place in life. We meet the construction worker who yearns to play the drums, the hen pecked husband, the unemployed man, and the little girl whose parents are too busy to spend time with her. Her nanny rushes her from one private class to another, including piano lessons, swimming, ballet, but the little girl is not happy.

At first each story is distinct and it seems no one will be happy, but as the music picks up the tempo, the characters cross each other's path. Finally, as we reach the climax, all the characters find their bliss. It seems that one's man's trash is another's treasure. The construction worker leaves his job to jam at the nightclub; the unemployed man takes the construction worker's job, and the henpecked husband gets a short reprieve from his worries.

But you may ask "What of the little girl?" She runs after her bouncing ball into the street! Her nanny is too slow to catch up with her and all seems lost when suddenly her parents appear out of nowhere, raising her to safety in the middle of a traffic jam. That's usually where I lose it, because just when we lose hope, we are shown that the parents have loved her all along and everything will be all right. It is a very satisfying and happy ending, and the story works very well with the music.

Pomp and Circumstance -- Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Sir Edward Elgar)

Who doesn't like Donald Duck? He's the feisty foil to our favorite mouse. However, in this piece we see the more human side of Donald, if an animated duck could have such a side. As Noah's right hand man, he has the menial job of gathering up the animals for the ark before the floods come. As you might guess, the two ducks are to be himself and Daisy Duck. Unfortunately, he doesn't see her board and is under the impression that she is lost forever. The ark must be pretty large because they keep missing each other for forty days and forty nights.

At any rate, you can see how Donald matures over the voyage, resigning himself to the fact that he will never see his love again. Then when he least expects it, while he is cleaning up the ark after all the animals have disembarked, whom should he see but Daisy? That's where I start to sniffle, because I've been there before. You think you will never see someone ever again and then you run into that person in the most unlikely of places.

In Summary

The other pieces in Fantasia 2000, while they didn't touch me in that special place, are still very well done. There are flying whales, dancing animals, Mickey as the sorcerer's apprentice, etc. etc. Perhaps they will touch other people in other ways. I should say that I found the introductions from the various stars between the pieces a little condescending or even canned, but perhaps they will get better with time. People fifty years from now will look at our humor and aesthetics and wonder what sort of people we were to leave this as a legacy for them to enjoy and perhaps to continue.

This review is part of the "This Cartoon Made Me Cry" Write-Off, organized by jaderabbit. Please view the works of the following members: systemdwn, yuffie, donnie013, daystorm and of course, jaderabbit!