Fantasy (1940)

Directed by: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norman Fergusan, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen | 125 minutes | music, animation, family, fantasy | Original voice cast: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, Hugh Douglas, Julietta Novis, Walt Disney, James MacDonald, Paul J. Smith

Walt Disney’s ambitious project ‘Fantasia’ (1940) can rightly be called a classic. The compositions on which the animations are based have long since proven their timeless quality, and the animations themselves still turn out to be wonderfully beautiful. The fact that the film was not a success at the time is easy to explain: most cinemas did not have the equipment to run the film. In addition, in the 1940s, with the threat of world war and an economy slowly recovering, the American public had little need for dancing hippos, clumsy wizard apprentices or the pagan pounding of Stravinsky’s Le sacre du printemps. Very unfortunate, because ‘Fantasia’ is without a doubt a high point in the history of animation film.

Within the Disney oeuvre ‘Fantasia’ has always remained an outsider. Even in later years, the public never really fell for the classical sounds and original animations. In part this will have to do with the elitist image that classical music still struggles with. For another part, not everyone will benefit from a marriage between higher and lower culture. The main reason, however, is Disney’s completely uncompromising approach. The film does not start with a narrative sequence set to lovely music, but with an abstract color bombardment on the stern tones of Bach’s Toccata and fugue in D minor. Beautiful, but also enough to drive half the audience out of the room.

The sequences that follow don’t really deserve the title story. We see a fairytale ballet to the graceful notes of the Nutcracker suite, an Arcadian landscape graced by Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and a drawn theory of evolution to the sounds of Le sacre du printemps. The only narrative part is the well-known The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, in which Mickey Mouse becomes hopelessly entangled in his own magic. Although this part is the most popular, it’s also the part where, due to Mickey’s infectious fumbling, you are quickly inclined to let the music pass you by. A shame, because Dukas’ symphonic poem is just a bit too beautiful for that.

Although the original intention was to have ‘Fantasia’ regularly followed by sequels, it wasn’t until 1999 before a sequel was actually made: ‘Fantasia 2000’. This one was considerably shorter than the first ‘Fantasia’ and was brightened by comments from well-known Americans. With music by Elgar, Gershwin, Saint-Saens, Strawinsky, as well as a reprise of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, this film was enthusiastically received by the press and the public. A justified reception, but we will never experience it as unique as the first ‘Fantasia’. An inimitable treat for eye and ear.