1940 - Rated G - 2 hr 4 min
Director: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, et al.
Starring: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor
Watching this again for the first time in literally years, I learned some things. Apparently, Fantasia wasn't supposed to be just one movie. It was meant to be a "new way of going to the symphony" and should have been a series of different "feature films." Mickey was supposed to get some other great roles, not just the Sorceror's Apprentice, but it never panned out. I'm not sure what stopped them after 1940, but it took until 1999 for Roy Disney to revive the concept for Fantasia / 2000.
If you haven't seen this, it really is like going to a symphony. There's an emcee and a conductor and an orchestra, then there's some music. And each piece is animated. Sometimes just with colors and shapes and randomness, then other times with a story. Who doesn't love the hippo/ostrich/crocodile ballet?
And that's that. What was meant to be an innovative concept fell by the wayside. I guess it wasn't as popular as it was hoped to be. It's fun, but I'm pretty sure one (or now two) of these was enough.
When I was a kid I thought that Night on Bald Mountain was the coolest freaking thing EVER!
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