2. Fantasia

I used to love this movie as a kid.

Looking back at this, I think I probably loved two or three scenes out of the entire movie which I would fast forward to and skip everything else. I think a lot of people forget that "Fantasia" includes more than just the Mickey Mouse/mop scene, although it is Fantasia's most iconic.

Sitting down to watch this as an adult after years of pretty much forgetting that it even exists, I'm cautiously excited. Will it be boring? Will I enjoy it now that I've had my own musical experience and can "properly appreciate"the skill and art? Or will it be like the time I went to see a local orchestra play and thought "okay, I admire their skill, but this would be so much more interesting if I was actually playing it"?

For the record, let me also state that I love how you can find just about anything free online. "Fantasia" has long ago been locked into the basement for safe keeping (or, to borrow a phrase from Disney, it's been locked in the vault), and it's not available streaming on Netflix. Enter the marvelous YouTube.

I LOVE the opening titles in old movies. Something just seems so much more authentic about them than the new stuff.

Being apprehensive about this film already... I'm a bit disturbed to see that this film is two hours long. Snow White was about an hour and twenty minutes. In fact, anywhere between 71 and 82 (these are approximate) minutes seems to be about on par for early Disney films. With this in mind, I also question the decision made to watch the band file in. And the attempt made to keep the audience interested by running dialogue about the different kinds of music... oy. Maybe I'm annoyed because I've got something of a musical background.

(maybe I'm annoyed because the version I've found online is in a foreign language and I have to read the subtitles... I take back what I said about YouTube being marvelous)

I think that the lighting is a bit overdramatic. I understand wanting to take away from the individuality of each band member by casting them all in shadow so that the audience can concentrate on the music... but I find the shadow silhouettes distracting. A black screen might be a better choice.

Okay, something I didn't understand as a child but have an appreciation for now... the animated bows and bridges from the stringed instruments moving in time to the music across the animated cloud backdrop. Note: the screen fades to near black after this and I find I have a better time concentrating on the music in this scene. I'd be interested to see what the idea behind Fantasia was: emphasis on music or on animation? Because it seems to me that the producers start off with the idea of emphasizing the music, but then let it take a backseat to the animation.

Anyone else see Mufasa in this cloud? No? Just me? Okay, carry on.

The first animated sequence that actually has a storyline and not just floating images is one of my favorites. This sequence is the fairies flying around and interacting with different parts of nature. And then, the dancing mushrooms! Any one else think they look Asian?

The dancing flower petals on the water is the reason why as a girl I used to love getting dressed up in big poofy dresses for special occasions like Easter and Christmas. I would twirl myself in circles so that my skirt would go up around me. That's probably one of the reasons why mom enrolled me in ballet.

The first twenty minutes of this film has reminded me of Christmas. And now I'm very upset that it's 103 degrees outside and not snowy.

The Mickey/Wizard/Mop scenes is 26 minutes in. I thought I remembered it being further in.

The wizard always scared me. Its something about the grey beard.

I like that the wizard's power is in his hat. Every modern wizard knows the magic is in the wand (Maybe I should do Harry Potter next)

Mickey is very relatable here. And it's also a nice sneaky Disney lesson about what trouble taking the easy way out sometimes leads to.

Moses wizard

The next song, where the conductor tells us to "imagine that we are several billion years ago, looking back on Earth" always freaked me out as a kid. It was the same concept as with the opening scene for The Jetsons when you flash through space. I used to be afraid of the concept of forever, and whenever someone would talk about space they would describe it as going on forever. Thus, space=forever in my mind. It doesn't make perfect sense, but until I was about 14 I couldn't watch the beginning of the Jetsons.

For anyone who wants to FF>> to the interesting parts of this movie... the dinosaurs start at 45minutes in. This was another of my favorites growing up. My brother and I were HUGE "Land Before Time" fans and that carried over into everything else.

Me: HIT HIM YOU'VE GOT SPIKES ON YOUR TAIL! Get him in the jugular! The jugular! (said in Timon's voice of course).

In retrospect, this was probably a very traumatic scene for a kid. What was my mother thinking?

54 minutes in, the dinosaurs are dying and so am I.

The part where the conductor has a conversation with the "soundtrack" is very enlightening. Pretty sure this is where I learned it was okay to talk to inanimate objects.

One hour, two minutes into the movie: my ABSOLUTE favorite part. Mount Olympus =) I'm a sucker for the unicorns and pegasus(s? es? Spell check is failing me right now)

Me: How does one white pegasus and one black pegasus create multicolored pegasi?
T: They're magical creatures. They do what they want.

Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry flavored Pegasuses. (still not sure this is correct, my spell check is having a field day with these mythical creatures)

Also, not going to lie... the scenes where the little cupids make over the female centaurs for the male centaurs made me want to run outside and make my own natural headpieces.

For some reason, I don't think I'd be able to get two doves to sit on my head quite as well.

This is a cupid whose butt turns into a heart. This reminded me of the Big Bang Theory, when Amy Farrah Fowler explains to Penny that hearts were shaped after the female bottom and Penny says "So I spent all of middle school dotting my eyes with girl butts? Cool." (or something along those lines)

I call BS on the rainbow that continues under the water. Where does that ever happen??

The dancing ostriches... also one of the reasons why I was so interested in taking Toe when I became a ballerina. But unfortunately, the ostriches in this movie are a lot better at it than I ever was.

Remember the tick and flea preventative commercial (for Frontline, I think) that had the puppy singing "Hello mother, hello father..." the ostriches/hippos are dancing to that song and that adorable puppy is all I can think of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alk26XzDYF4

I linked the commercial above. So much more entertaining than "Fantasia."

Bashful hippo makes me smile. Also, as improbable as this may seem, I think she's more graceful than I am.

I might have blanked out... is the alligator (croc?) trying to EAT the hippo as they dance around?

Okay, the conductor who has to explain everything is kind of annoying me. Technically I could turn the subtitles off and just listen to him talk in Italian, but that would probably get to me too.

I can honestly say I don't remember this last sequence at all. T was very excited waiting for it earlier and I had no idea what he was talking about. Makes me wonder... could I never get through the movie to this part? Did I always turn it off after the dancing hippo?

This reminds me of "Hercules:" all the scenes in the Underworld with Hades and his little sniveling ghouls. It's not too far fetched since this scene is supposed to be about Lucifer.

OMG THIS TOTALLY LOOKS LIKE JAFAR FROM "ALADDIN!" (It's Lucifer from Bald Mountain)

One hour, forty-six minutes into the film. I'm so relieved I only have ten minutes left.

Interesting contrast... the opening of the film opens with dark scenes, the film closes with the sun rising.

All in all, I'm still not sure what to make of "Fantasia."I definitely admire what they were trying to do, but I found myself caught somewhere between boredom and feeling bad that I was falling asleep through the cartoons.

So, things we learned today:
Don't watch "Fantasia" when you're already tired.
The Dinosaur scenes start 45 minutes into the film.
Listening to the conductor in Italian is not anymore entertaining than listening to him in English.
Lucifer= Jafar.

I promise to stay awake better through my next post.

Until next time!