Today’s quick review: Fantasia 2000. In the Arctic, a family of whales frolics under the starlight. In New York, a construction worker, an unemployed man, and a little girl go about their daily lives. In a child’s toy room, a tin soldier falls in love with a music box ballerina. As the rains begin, Donald Duck helps Noah round up the animals for his ark. And in the wilderness, a nature spirit breathes new life into the forest.
Fantasia 2000 is an animated fantasy anthology from Disney. The movie follows the same format as the original Fantasia: a collection of animated shorts set to a selection of orchestral music. Like its predecessor, Fantasia 2000 excels at artistic visuals and creative interpretations of iconic music. Its polished visuals and creativity make it a successful take on the soundtrack, but the nature of the movie means it will not appeal to everyone.
Fantasia 2000’s segments cover a wide variety of styles, both in terms of art and music. The art ranges from snatches of light and color to realistic, richly painted scenes to more stylized, cartoonish pieces. The stories run the gamut from abstract to concrete, and they include both lofty themes and simple comedy. Highlights include a jazzy city piece set to “Rhapsody in Blue” and a funny yet touching Donald Duck short set to “Pomp and Circumstance”.
The anthology format of Fantasia 2000 is also its main weakness. The variety of artistic styles, the limited amount of time allotted for each story, the lack of dialogue, and the disconnected nature of the shorts means that it can be difficult to invest in the movie as a whole. While the shorts are strong enough to win over most viewers, there are bound to be a few that don’t line up with any given viewer’s tastes.
Fantasia 2000 is not a movie for every occasion. It is missing the usual scaffolds of animated stories, such as in-character dialogue and a consistent narrative thread. But for audiences who are willing to bask in its rich animation and iconic song choices, Fantasia 2000 is a welcome experience. Give it a try when you are in the mood to explore the medium of animation. Skip it if you’re looking for something with a cohesive story.
For a more iconic take on the same premise, try the original Fantasia.
[7.2 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120910/). I give it a 7.0 for fine artistry.