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DVD The Fantasia Anthology (3-Disc Collector's Edition)
Along with Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, the anthology set contains a third disc that examines a segment of both movies in detail. Each segment has an introduction that has experts (including Leonard Maltin), producer Roy E. Disney, or the animators setting up the piece's history. Notes on the music and dozens of design photos are included on all the segments, although others offer more intriguing features. Abandoned animation is shown on many segments, as are a few behind-the-scenes shorts; the most intriguing are experts from Walt Disney's hosted documentaries on how his company made movies. As for the photos, they are awkwardly catalogued and only the most patient of viewers would want to look at all of them. In some segments, though, these images are entertainingly produced as a "story reel," presenting these images--rough animation, sketches, pastel paintings--with the musical accompaniment. For those looking for a more well-rounded view of the films, the two one-hour documentaries on each film's disc lay the groundwork, but none of the anthology looks at how the first film was seen through the years or gives time to anyone who wasn't gung-ho about every element of the films. There is hardly a mention of embarrassing stereotypes that were matted (and still are) out of the "Pastoral" segment, or the intriguing aspect of the film as a '60s icon for the ultimate head-trip. Disney does let their guard down to show sequences that were being readied in 1940 for future editions (including a recently restored short scored to "Clair de Lune"). Most tantalizing is a look at how the special effects were done in the original film. The guide is a scrapbook that one of the technicians kept and was discovered only in 1990. Fans can only hope a reproduction will be made available someday. --Doug Thomas
Review(s): DVD The Fantasia Anthology (3-Disc Collector's Edition)
Almost indescribable
Fantasia, in a nutshell, is possibly the best animated movie ever made. The animation is slick, the music stunning, the color bold and flawless. It proves that animation isn't just comedic; it CAN be art.
The film looks fantastic (no pun intended) on DVD, with almost no grain or signs of age anywhere (except in the censorship of the black centaurette in Pastoral Symphony). The film also sounds great, considering this is the original conducted music by Leopold Stokowski from 1940, NOT the digitally-recorded track from 1982. It certainly shows off its limited fidelity, but it's great to have the original Fantasound track. Works best if you have a 5.1 system.
I am aware the DVD is censored (didn't I just mention that?), but it was the only chance I'd have at seeing the movie before its re-release. I was able to spot precisely where the black centaurettes were removed (just look for a really grainy extreme close-up), even digitally (the red carpet rolling out). Just proves I'm a big film buff.
If you can't wait till its re-release (probably a year or two from now), this DVD is recommended. Although I recommend waiting, so Disney can put out Fantasia avec centaurettes and more special features.
Brilliance from amongst the trifles.
The newest processes of the day may be called ancient by today's standards, but the significance of Fantasia lies in its greatness. It is a high-quality artwork and cinematic experience worthy of the greatest auteurs. However, not all of Disney's works were in the realm of greatness. Combining sureal graphic imagery to pre-existing classical music proved an entirely new idea of comment. Such significance is important to the progression of cinema, it is a landmark of cinema history. Fantasia develops its work for its cinematic comment. It is as every bit brilliant as the composers and their great works. Fantasia was something totally new and exciting for the cinema, but, in quality, remains today as a significant statement within cinema as a form of art. Comprehension of Fantasia's essence lies in true love to the subjective form.
Film appreciatists forbade strictly any alteration, whatsoever, to the work. Shame on Disney executives for releasing a masterpiece under the quandary of social scrutiny. Better to release it outright. They altered Fantasia, do they realize their pettiness to the change? Fantasia belongs to me as much as it belongs to the company. They have an obligation to Fantasia. They try to demean it for making money with an alteration. What's the matter, they don't want people to think Walt Disney as a racist? Such triviality swarms their productivities.
very good
i recived the product in good condition there is nothing wrong with them. the most exciting thing is its fastest delivery. i bought a lot of stuff from amazon but this one is good in keeping its promise of delivery date. thanks
Related DVD's The Fantasia Anthology (3-Disc Collector's Edition)
More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical, and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000 features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death, and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Steve Martin - James Levine Director(s): Gaëtan Brizzi - Pixote Hunt - Paul Brizzi - Francis Glebas - Hendel Butoy DVD Release Date: Released the 14 November 2000 This item is currently not available.
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One of the brightest nuggets from Disney's golden age, this 1937 film is almost dizzying in its meticulous construction of an enchanted world, with scores of major and minor characters (including fauna and fowl), each with a distinct identity. When you watch Snow White's intricate, graceful movements of fingers, arms, and head all in one shot, it is not the technical brilliance of Disney's artists that leaps out at you, but the very spirit of her engaging, girl-woman character. When the wicked queen's poisoned apple turns from killer green to rose red, the effect of knowing something so beautiful can be so terrible is absolutely elemental, so pure it forces one to surrender to the horror of it. Based on the Grimm fairy tale, Snow White is probably the best family film ever to deal, in... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 09 October 2001 This item is currently not available.
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A Disney "classic" that actually is a classic, Dumbo should be part of your video collection whether or not you have children. The storytelling was never as lean as in Dumbo, the songs rarely as haunting (or just plain weird), the characters rarely so well defined. The film pits the "cold, cruel, heartless" world that can't accept abnormality against a plucky, and mute, hero. Jumbo Jr. (Dumbo is a mean-spirited nickname) is ostracized from the circus pack shortly after his delivery by the stork because of his big ears. His mother sticks up for him and is shackled. He's jeered by children (an insightful scene has one boy poking fun at Dumbo's ears, even though the youngster's ears are also ungainly), used by the circus folk, and demoted to appearing with the clowns. Only the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sterling Holloway Director(s): Ben Sharpsteen DVD Release Date: Released the 23 October 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Disney's 1959 animated effort was the studio's most ambitious to date, a widescreen spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapting Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked Queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her 16th birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Things almost but not quite turn out that way, thanks to the assistance of some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 09 September 2003 This item is currently not available.
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Imaginatively rendered but slightly chilly, this 1951 Disney adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic is also appropriately surreal. Alice (voiced by Kathryn Beaumont) has all the anticipated experiences: shrinking and growing, meeting the White Rabbit, having tea with the Mad Hatter, etc. Characterization is very strong, and the Disney team worked hard to bring screen personality to Carroll's eccentric creations. For a Disney film, however, it seems more the self-satisfied sum of its inventiveness than a truly engaging experience. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Wilfred Jackson - Clyde Geronimi - Hamilton Luske DVD Release Date: Released the 27 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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