Sunday, December 28, 2014

Disney Movie Reflection: Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, and Make Mine Music

This is my final reflection on individual Disney movies. I feel sad about writing this for the last time especially since this is a bit of hodge podge of movies. I watched Fantasia 2000 in the Spring and watched Fantasia right before Halloween. I watched Make Mine Music in early December as I began to prepare for the holidays.

While this seems a bit of a hodge podge, I grouped these together because I had a clear thesis about these movies that I will expound on for a bit and then talk about what I like and don't like about each movie briefly.

Thesis: Music drives Disney movies often times more than words but gets the least appreciation. As I write this, I am listening to the beginning of Cruella De Vil which starts with about a minute of music and then words and I instantly love the parts sans vocals even more. I love Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 because it really takes the film down to two basic elements: music and animation. Make Mine Music is great but it can be a bit hit or miss with it's vocals. For example, Peter and the Wolf is great but is even better with out the narration because the music really tells the story when paired with visuals.

My favorite Disney character is Mickey Mouse but more importantly Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasia's "Sorcerer's Apprentice" which you see in both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. The ability to take a character that is universally known and tell a clear story about him without letting him talk is pure mastery. I love the story of mischief and magic mayhem that contains such musically driven drama. If you were to narrate the Sorcerer's Apprentice it would be a boring story because they story is so simple.

Make Mine Music's Casey at Bat proves this point. The story of Casey is basic. He is overconfident and he pays the price for his pride by losing the game. This cartoon is narrated similar to Peter and the Wolf and it becomes boring and even a little dumbed down. If you were to just pair the story with music and images, you could tell a compelling story that engages the viewer.

Enough on my thesis. Here are my individual reflections in brief:

Fantasia
As mentioned before, this movie holds my most beloved character. I also love "Night on Bald Mountain" for it's extremely dark nature and general creepiness. My least favorite piece is the piece that is paired with the evolution of the world focusing primarily on dinosaurs. The music doesn't match the story as well as I would like it too. Finally, the nutcracker suite and Beethoven' Pastoral symphony are near flawless.

Fantasia 2000
Sequels are never as good as the original but this one sticks pretty true. I do love that Donald makes his starring role in an music pairing just like Mickey did in "Sorcerer's Apprentice" by starring in retelling of Noah's Ark set to "Pomp and Circumstance". I also love the brightly colored Gershwin piece set in a bustling city. I find the piece about whales weird and the piece set to "Firebird" about the Spring sprite is just a little too new age-y for me.

Make Mine Music
Despite what you may infer from above, I did really enjoy Make Mine Music. I would watch it again or own it. I do love "Peter and the Wolf" because it reminds me of being a kid and my dad showing me the cartoon and him really liking it."The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At the Met" is also a favorite because of it's obscurity and the fact that they kill the whale in the end and he sings from heaven. It is a little dark to kill the main character but they just throw him up in heaven and let him sing. There are some more forgettable parts of this movie that I had to look up even thought I watched this less than three weeks ago. I didn't love the piece about teens in jalopies. The animated piece with two live action ballet dancers is cool because it definitely is innovative for the time but it isn't my favorite. Most of these compilation films are the same, they have their high notes that you probably know if you like Disney and they have their lower notes which are obscure for a reason.

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