Review of Fantasia (2004) by Mike M — 16 Jul 2011
The highpoint of Walt Disney's artistic aspirations - to render an idea of culture (a night at Symphony Hall) in animated form - remains stubbornly middlebrow. I can remember yawning my way through "Fantasia" as a child; returning to it, I found it more interesting than I recalled, but still a hotchpotch, and terribly proscriptive in places - a vision of corporate control, if ever there was.
.. Like an especially decorous selection box, you pick from the original what you want - I like the moment immediately after the interval, when the orchestra strike up a tune of their own choosing, which has a spontaneity and freshness the rest perhaps lacks - but I don't think we'd lose a huge amount if we traded in the bulk of its two hours for, say, "Duck Amuck" and one of the Norman McLaren shorts.
This review of Fantasia (2004) was written by Mike M on 16 Jul 2011.
Fantasia has generally received positive reviews.
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