Disney’s animation studios decided that nearly sixty years after the release of Fantasia (1940), they would revisit the idea of pairing abstract imagery with popular musical numbers. This time, while continuing much of the same themes and tones, Disney modernized what was such a big hit in the 1940’s and put a new twist on the way audiences would interpret the content. Much of what took place throughout the film seemed to have a definitive meaning; the animation department tasked with creating visuals unlike anything seen before seemed to have particular stories to tell and, yet, left everything up for interpretation. It appeared that the overarching theme of the film was that things are not always as they appear. The animators perfectly told a series of stories with very specific meanings that still allowed audiences to create their own understandings of what they were seeing. Disney, since its first feature-length film, in the 1930’s, has been fairly consistent with their animation and much of what they create has resemblances to other Disney works. The animation in this film had certainly been advanced and it still resembled some classic Disney films. The animation in the “Pines of Rome” segment was reminiscent of Pinocchio (1940) and the animation from the “Piano Concerto No. 2” segment has much in common with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). These segments paid homage to the original Disney films, essentially taking the success of Disney Studios full circle from its inception to the turn of the century. Something the original Fantasia lacked (other than dialogue) was a bit of personality between segments (while Deems Taylor was a very clear and concise narrator for the original, his lack of personality did not mesh well with the vibrant themes of the film). This installment of Disney magic was hosted by some rather paramount individuals, including Bette Midler, Quincy Jones and James Earl Jones. The hosts that stood out the most were Steve Martin and the tandem of Penn and Teller. They brought great personality and their own forms of comedy to the table helping create seamless transitions from segment to segment. Like the original, this film was, at times, hard to remain focused on as it was a series of small stories rather than one cohesive story. However, each story was much more solid compared to the fractured stories of the first film, making it significantly more enjoyable than those stories. Disney studios and The Chicago Symphony Orchestra created an experience unlike anything before it and successfully enhanced what Disney had attempted in the 1940’s. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120910/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
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