French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop made history at tonight’s Berlin Film Festival awards ceremony, becoming the first Black director ever to win the Golden Bear, the fest’s top prize, for her inventive, resonant documentary “Dahomey.” She accepted the award from Lupita Nyong’o, in turn the first Black person ever to preside over the festival’s Competition jury — a stark image of progress to cap off a ceremony marked by impassioned statements against war and social discrimination.
Following French docmaker Nicolas Philibert’s Golden Bear triumph last year with his film “On the Adamant,” “Dahomey” is the second consecutive nonfiction feature to take the award. But it’s a radically unorthodox winner nonetheless, beginning with its 67-minute running time. Yet Diop, the actor-turned-director who took the Grand Prix at Cannes 2019 with her fictional debut feature “Atlantics,” packs a world of historical and political perspective into her film’s tight framework,...
Following French docmaker Nicolas Philibert’s Golden Bear triumph last year with his film “On the Adamant,” “Dahomey” is the second consecutive nonfiction feature to take the award. But it’s a radically unorthodox winner nonetheless, beginning with its 67-minute running time. Yet Diop, the actor-turned-director who took the Grand Prix at Cannes 2019 with her fictional debut feature “Atlantics,” packs a world of historical and political perspective into her film’s tight framework,...
- 2/24/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
From ‘Les Misérables’ to ‘West Side Story,’ here are IMDb viewers’ top picks for the best musicals ever brought to the big screen. Which is your favorite?
Musicals: They’re a realm where reality gracefully gives way to rapture, where spoken words don’t just bind characters but also the eloquent language of song and dance.
To the skeptics, musicals might seem an over-the-top or even trivial genre. Yet, when faced with the most masterful musicals ever made, it’s hard not to be swept away by their cinematic magic. The finest musicals entertain and deeply resonate, reaching even those who’d never typically hum along to a tune.
Related: 10 Best Movie Soundtracks of All Time, Ranked
With its vibrancy and verve, the musical genre might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It stands distinct and, at times, even polarizing – much like the bold strokes of a Western or...
Musicals: They’re a realm where reality gracefully gives way to rapture, where spoken words don’t just bind characters but also the eloquent language of song and dance.
To the skeptics, musicals might seem an over-the-top or even trivial genre. Yet, when faced with the most masterful musicals ever made, it’s hard not to be swept away by their cinematic magic. The finest musicals entertain and deeply resonate, reaching even those who’d never typically hum along to a tune.
Related: 10 Best Movie Soundtracks of All Time, Ranked
With its vibrancy and verve, the musical genre might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It stands distinct and, at times, even polarizing – much like the bold strokes of a Western or...
- 9/26/2023
- by Buddy TV
- buddytv.com
Disney made eternal waves across Hollywood with its advances animated projects, such as Pinocchio. However, they weren’t all immediate successes. Rather, some of them nearly cost Walt Disney everything after the losses that the company incurred. Pinocchio was one of the movies that nearly sunk the entire company, even though it would later become a substantial classic Disney film.
‘Pinocchio’ went into production after ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ L-r: Gepetto (voiced by Christian Rub), Pinocchio (voiced by Dickie Jones), and Figario (voiced by Clarence Nash), and Cleo | Lmpc via Getty Images
Geppetto (voiced by Christian Rub) is an old Italian woodcarver whose puppet, Pinocchio (voiced by Dickie Jones), comes to life thanks to a blue fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable). The wooden puppet wants to be a real boy, but his only chance at doing so is to prove himself to be “brave, truthful, and unselfish.”
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...
‘Pinocchio’ went into production after ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ L-r: Gepetto (voiced by Christian Rub), Pinocchio (voiced by Dickie Jones), and Figario (voiced by Clarence Nash), and Cleo | Lmpc via Getty Images
Geppetto (voiced by Christian Rub) is an old Italian woodcarver whose puppet, Pinocchio (voiced by Dickie Jones), comes to life thanks to a blue fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable). The wooden puppet wants to be a real boy, but his only chance at doing so is to prove himself to be “brave, truthful, and unselfish.”
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...
- 2/24/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Bambi (1942) Blu-ray Review, a Walt Disney Animation Studios movie directed by Bill Roberts, David Hand, Graham Held, James Algar, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, Samuel Armstrong and starring Donnie Dunagan as Young Bambi, Peter Behn as Young Thumper, Stan Alexander as Young Flower, Paula Winslow as Bambi’s Mother and Will Wright as Friend Owl. Release Date: June 6, 2017 Plot In Disney’s spectacularly animated [...]
Continue reading: Blu-ray Review: Bambi (1942): The Signature Collection Has Officially Got It Right...
Continue reading: Blu-ray Review: Bambi (1942): The Signature Collection Has Officially Got It Right...
- 5/31/2017
- by Mathieu Brunet
- Film-Book
A slew of classic Disney movies are hitting for the first time on Blu-Ray, including one double-pack release, and you’re going to want to make sure to pick these up. You haven’t paid attention to some of these titles for a while, and it’s about time you got the chance to catch them on Blu-Ray. The best part is that there’s a great mix of releases hitting. Bedknobs and Broomsticks is all but lost in the cultural consciousness, and it deserves a return. The Academy Award-winning movie from the year I was born is filled with a lot of fun and adventure, and like most Disney films, holds up well for a whole new generation.
The rest of the group covers a great spectrum, including two animated “big” titles, and a 10th Anniversary release. There’s a lot to expose your family to here, so check out all the info below,...
The rest of the group covers a great spectrum, including two animated “big” titles, and a 10th Anniversary release. There’s a lot to expose your family to here, so check out all the info below,...
- 8/6/2014
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
As we continue on, I need to once again clarify that if this list was “Joshua Gaul’s 50 Favorite Movie Musicals,” it’d be a quite a different list. But, if my tastes determined what is definitive, I’d be asking you all to consider Aladdin as a brilliant piece of filmmaking and wax nostalgic about my love for Batteries Not Included and Flight of the Navigator (not for the musicals list, of course). Much to my dismay, my tastes are not universal. I’d like to think my research methods are.
courtesy of themoviescene.co.uk
30. Annie (1982)
Directed by John Huston
Signature Song: “Tomorrow” (http://youtu.be/Yop62wQH498)
Originally a 1924 comic strip, the beloved stage musical about a red-haired orphan girl was brought to the big screen in 1982 and directed by John Huston (yes, that John Huston – director of The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen, not to...
courtesy of themoviescene.co.uk
30. Annie (1982)
Directed by John Huston
Signature Song: “Tomorrow” (http://youtu.be/Yop62wQH498)
Originally a 1924 comic strip, the beloved stage musical about a red-haired orphan girl was brought to the big screen in 1982 and directed by John Huston (yes, that John Huston – director of The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen, not to...
- 5/12/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Victory Through Air Power
Directed by Perce Pearce, James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, H.C. Potter
Written by Perce Pearce, T. Hee, Erdman Penner, William Cottrell, James Brodero, George Stallings, Jose Rodriguez
Starring Alexander P. de Seversky, Art Baker
Watching Victory Through Air Power in 2012 is akin to being given a glimpse into a parallel universe. Because of how protective the Walt Disney Company is of its history and legacy, and what people know of that history and legacy, the period in which they worked almost solely at creating propaganda of various types for the United States government isn’t as frequently discussed as their work on films like Bambi, Dumbo, or the package films of the 1940s. The very idea of propaganda is so different now than it was 70 years ago that being confronted by a more direct, adult, and dry version of patriotism is startling. Watching any film...
Directed by Perce Pearce, James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, H.C. Potter
Written by Perce Pearce, T. Hee, Erdman Penner, William Cottrell, James Brodero, George Stallings, Jose Rodriguez
Starring Alexander P. de Seversky, Art Baker
Watching Victory Through Air Power in 2012 is akin to being given a glimpse into a parallel universe. Because of how protective the Walt Disney Company is of its history and legacy, and what people know of that history and legacy, the period in which they worked almost solely at creating propaganda of various types for the United States government isn’t as frequently discussed as their work on films like Bambi, Dumbo, or the package films of the 1940s. The very idea of propaganda is so different now than it was 70 years ago that being confronted by a more direct, adult, and dry version of patriotism is startling. Watching any film...
- 6/23/2012
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Fantasia 2000
Directed by Don Hahn, Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy, Eric Goldberg, James Algar, Francis Glebas, and Paul and Gaetan Brazzi
Starring Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Penn and Teller, Angela Lansbury
Achieving balance is one of the great high-wire acts of family films. Some filmmakers attempt to make universal pieces of entertainment, to appeal to adults as well as to children. Many don’t, but the best of the films from Walt Disney Pictures succeed at that balance, or at least try very hard and come close to succeeding. The most obvious example of a group of people trying to make something as accessible for kids as it is for adults, something that everyone can enjoy on some level, are the two (as of now) Fantasia films. Both movies work within the medium of animation to transcend commonly considered tropes of storytelling. But the people behind both films went about...
Directed by Don Hahn, Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy, Eric Goldberg, James Algar, Francis Glebas, and Paul and Gaetan Brazzi
Starring Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Penn and Teller, Angela Lansbury
Achieving balance is one of the great high-wire acts of family films. Some filmmakers attempt to make universal pieces of entertainment, to appeal to adults as well as to children. Many don’t, but the best of the films from Walt Disney Pictures succeed at that balance, or at least try very hard and come close to succeeding. The most obvious example of a group of people trying to make something as accessible for kids as it is for adults, something that everyone can enjoy on some level, are the two (as of now) Fantasia films. Both movies work within the medium of animation to transcend commonly considered tropes of storytelling. But the people behind both films went about...
- 5/19/2012
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Fantasia
Directed by Samuel Armstrong; James Algar; Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield; Ben Sharpsteen and David Hand; Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, and Ford Beebe; T. Hee and Norm Ferguson; & Wilfred Jackson
Starring Deems Taylor
A few weeks ago, I read a great article by Drew McWeeny of HitFix wherein, while describing how his two children responded to one of the first and most important Disney live-action films, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he posed this question: are Disney movies automatically “for kids”? This is, unfortunately, a very common criticism levied by people who either should know better or don’t educate themselves on the history of film, let alone Disney films. You know what criticism I mean: “Oh, that’s just for kids.” “It’s a kids’ movie. Who cares?” Sometimes, when I nitpick some aspect of a Disney film, whether it’s live-action or animated, I hear that complaint. Why...
Directed by Samuel Armstrong; James Algar; Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield; Ben Sharpsteen and David Hand; Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, and Ford Beebe; T. Hee and Norm Ferguson; & Wilfred Jackson
Starring Deems Taylor
A few weeks ago, I read a great article by Drew McWeeny of HitFix wherein, while describing how his two children responded to one of the first and most important Disney live-action films, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he posed this question: are Disney movies automatically “for kids”? This is, unfortunately, a very common criticism levied by people who either should know better or don’t educate themselves on the history of film, let alone Disney films. You know what criticism I mean: “Oh, that’s just for kids.” “It’s a kids’ movie. Who cares?” Sometimes, when I nitpick some aspect of a Disney film, whether it’s live-action or animated, I hear that complaint. Why...
- 4/14/2012
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Ronald Reagan, Knute Rockne: All American Kay Francis, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow: Packard Campus Movies Thursday, September 1 (7:30 p.m.) The Wanderers (Orion, 1979) Set against the urban jungle of 1963 New York's gangland subculture, this coming of age teenage movie is set around the Italian gang the Wanderers. Directed by Philip Kaufman. With Ken Wahl, John Friedrich and Karen Allen. Action drama. Rated R. Color, 117 min. Thursday, September 8 (7:30 p.m.) Mildred Pierce (Warner Bros., 1945) A housewife-turned-waitress finds success in business but loses control of her ungrateful teenaged daughter. Directed by Michael Curtiz. With Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott and Ann Blyth. Drama. Black & White, 111 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1996. Friday, September 9 (7:30 p.m.) Pre-code Drama Double Feature Jewel Robbery (Warner Bros., 1932) A wealthy, married woman becomes captivated by a debonair jewel thief. Directed by William Dieterle. With Kay Francis and William Powell. Comedy,...
- 9/15/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Another bumper edition- I hereby pledge never to write several 2000 word reviews a week while neglecting this beautiful little column- with three weeks worth of viewing listed below.
An added element to the Film Diary this time around is the sub-challenge A Disney A Day, instigated at the behest of my girlfriend, who discovered that between us we now own every Disney home release- except the somewhat controversial Song of the South (which, despite featuring one of Disney’s most released soundtrack songs, is yet to see a DVD release)- and has decided that it would be a missed opportunity not to watch all of them as quickly as possible. Seems my spirit may have rubbed off there a little…
The count so far: 101 Films
Anyway, into three figures now, and catching up to the 1 film a day rate (though that’s slow for me). Read on, lovely Diary...
An added element to the Film Diary this time around is the sub-challenge A Disney A Day, instigated at the behest of my girlfriend, who discovered that between us we now own every Disney home release- except the somewhat controversial Song of the South (which, despite featuring one of Disney’s most released soundtrack songs, is yet to see a DVD release)- and has decided that it would be a missed opportunity not to watch all of them as quickly as possible. Seems my spirit may have rubbed off there a little…
The count so far: 101 Films
Anyway, into three figures now, and catching up to the 1 film a day rate (though that’s slow for me). Read on, lovely Diary...
- 4/17/2011
- by Simon Gallagher
- Obsessed with Film
Blu-ray Review
Bambi
Directed by: James Algar, Sam Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright
Cast: Hardie Alright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audry
Running Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Rating: G
Due Out: March 1, 2011
Plot: Bambi follows a young deer and several of his forest friends. Together his friends, Thumper and Flower, as well as his mother teach him about life in the forest.
Who’S It For? Children. Hopefully with their short attention span, the fact that Bambi has no actual plot will be lost on them. Hardcore Disney fans will be glad to see this beautiful transfer, but may be disappointed in the film since its childlike wonder has worn off.
Movie:
Bambi is one of those movies that, unfortunately, time has not been kind to. I remember watching it when I was a kid and being fascinated by the deer and his friends, but years later?...
Bambi
Directed by: James Algar, Sam Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright
Cast: Hardie Alright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audry
Running Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Rating: G
Due Out: March 1, 2011
Plot: Bambi follows a young deer and several of his forest friends. Together his friends, Thumper and Flower, as well as his mother teach him about life in the forest.
Who’S It For? Children. Hopefully with their short attention span, the fact that Bambi has no actual plot will be lost on them. Hardcore Disney fans will be glad to see this beautiful transfer, but may be disappointed in the film since its childlike wonder has worn off.
Movie:
Bambi is one of those movies that, unfortunately, time has not been kind to. I remember watching it when I was a kid and being fascinated by the deer and his friends, but years later?...
- 3/1/2011
- by Calhoun Kersten
- The Scorecard Review
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"127 Hours" (2010)
Directed by Danny Boyle
Released by Fox Home Entertainment
With a fast-forward button at the ready on home devices, it's high time more people see James Franco's Spirit Award-winning performance as real-life adventurer Aron Ralston, who gets his arm trapped under a boulder in Utah's Bluejohn Canyon and struggles to survive and free himself in Danny Boyle's life-affirming followup to "Slumdog Millionaire." (Matt Singer's interview with James Franco and Danny Boyle is here.)
"420 High Desert Way" (2011)
Directed by Tom Breedlove
Released by Maverick Entertainment Group
Dealing with a different drug than the one suggested by the title, this procedural drama follows a young undercover cop who must refine his extreme sports skills as he infiltrates a drug cartel and must bust them before they learn his true identity.
"Bambi" (1942)
Directed by James Algar and Samuel Armstrong
Released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment...
"127 Hours" (2010)
Directed by Danny Boyle
Released by Fox Home Entertainment
With a fast-forward button at the ready on home devices, it's high time more people see James Franco's Spirit Award-winning performance as real-life adventurer Aron Ralston, who gets his arm trapped under a boulder in Utah's Bluejohn Canyon and struggles to survive and free himself in Danny Boyle's life-affirming followup to "Slumdog Millionaire." (Matt Singer's interview with James Franco and Danny Boyle is here.)
"420 High Desert Way" (2011)
Directed by Tom Breedlove
Released by Maverick Entertainment Group
Dealing with a different drug than the one suggested by the title, this procedural drama follows a young undercover cop who must refine his extreme sports skills as he infiltrates a drug cartel and must bust them before they learn his true identity.
"Bambi" (1942)
Directed by James Algar and Samuel Armstrong
Released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment...
- 2/27/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
One of the new year’s resolutions I made for myself this year was to watch more “new to me” films. These films could be new releases or older cinema classics that I somehow have missed along the way through my 25 years of existence. Doing this is meant to expand my knowledge of film as well as my already great love for anything and everything cinema.
For my first month’s journey in cinema I was able to make it through twenty-one films, here they are, in the order I watched them:
(#1) The Abyss – 1989 – Directed by James Cameron
Pretty awesome film, I don’t know why I’ve missed seeing this for such a long time. It had a nice blend of sci-fi, action, & drama.
(#2) Executive Decision – 1996 – Directed by Stuart Baird
Pretty standard mid 90s action flick. Nothing special, but not a bad movie either. That being said, Oceanic Airlines...
For my first month’s journey in cinema I was able to make it through twenty-one films, here they are, in the order I watched them:
(#1) The Abyss – 1989 – Directed by James Cameron
Pretty awesome film, I don’t know why I’ve missed seeing this for such a long time. It had a nice blend of sci-fi, action, & drama.
(#2) Executive Decision – 1996 – Directed by Stuart Baird
Pretty standard mid 90s action flick. Nothing special, but not a bad movie either. That being said, Oceanic Airlines...
- 2/1/2011
- by Marc Vibbert
- FusedFilm
Blu-ray Review
Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD combo)
Fantasia
Directed by: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norm Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen
Cast: Leopold Stokowski
Running Time: 2 hr 5 min
Rating: G
Due Out: November 30, 2010
Plot: Seven classical pieces of music are animated in a film that’s meant to be the visual representation of what you hear when listening to these pieces.
Who’S It For? Unlike most animated films, this requires a more mature audience. Though there’s nothing objectionable in the material, it might be dull for kids.
Movie:
The most experimental of any of Disney’s animated feature films, Fantasia tells seven stories, all set to music. The most famous is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Mickey Mouse wearing a red robe and blue hat covered in stars. Even people who haven’t seen the...
Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD combo)
Fantasia
Directed by: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Ford Beebe, Norm Ferguson, Jim Handley, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen
Cast: Leopold Stokowski
Running Time: 2 hr 5 min
Rating: G
Due Out: November 30, 2010
Plot: Seven classical pieces of music are animated in a film that’s meant to be the visual representation of what you hear when listening to these pieces.
Who’S It For? Unlike most animated films, this requires a more mature audience. Though there’s nothing objectionable in the material, it might be dull for kids.
Movie:
The most experimental of any of Disney’s animated feature films, Fantasia tells seven stories, all set to music. The most famous is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Mickey Mouse wearing a red robe and blue hat covered in stars. Even people who haven’t seen the...
- 12/1/2010
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
There’s a mixed bag waiting for Disney fans with Volume 5 of the Disney Classic Short Films collection. On one hand you have the unforgettable The Wind in the Willows with the awesome J. Thaddeus Toad and a genuinely touching version of The Ugly Duckling. But then you have four more cartoons all on the older spectrum making it hard to say whether or not the younger ones in your life will be able to sit still. This volume has the highest concentration of older cartoons as well as a newer cartoon that most kids won’t really latch onto – so I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that older children will get more out of this volume than the youngest ones.
The Wind in the Willows (1949)
Directed by James Algar & Jack Kinney, Written by Winston Hibler & Kenneth Grahame
God, what can really be said about this incredible classic.
The Wind in the Willows (1949)
Directed by James Algar & Jack Kinney, Written by Winston Hibler & Kenneth Grahame
God, what can really be said about this incredible classic.
- 5/17/2009
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
In 1940, Walt Disney's "Fantasia" caught the public's imagination in an extraordinary way. The movie was a breathtaking achievement for movie cartoonists, who, despite occasional silliness, displayed a free-form approach to animation in their marriage of music to imagery.
In "Fantasia 2000", Disney animators have done it again. Employing technical tools those pioneering animators could only dream about, today's cartoonists have splashed across the screen bold and beautiful images that pulsate to several musical styles.
Freed from the confinements of traditional storytelling to pursue pure imagery, the animators experiment wildly with styles and color palettes. You can almost feel the artistic exhilaration that went into this 75-minute movie: Whales fly with birds, Donald Duck meets Noah and Al Hirschfeld sketches turn into a teeming cityscape.
Disney can anticipate a huge worldwide audience for this film that should become, as the first movie did, a perennial family entertainment, good for revival or video rentals for decades to come. In some quarters though, anxious viewers will have to wait awhile as Buena Vista launches "Fantasia 2000" in exclusive four-mouth engagements at IMAX theaters around the world beginning Jan. 1. The film will go out in regular 35mm next summer.
The IMAX release is a stroke of genius as the large-screen format brings the viewer into the surreal worlds dreamed up by the animators. The movie encounters a minor problem in the blow-up of the one sequence from the original film, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Mickey Mouse. Despite a meticulous restoration process, this episode does not maintain its color resolution when blown up to IMAX's super screen size.
"Fantasia 2000" contains seven new episodes starting with the staccato first movement from Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony". This three-minute selection is the most abstract of the film's sequences, as triangular fragments drift, swirl, form and re-form pastel-colored designs against a world of clouds and waterfalls much like the pieces in a kaleidoscope.
Each of the remaining sequences is introduced by hosts including Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, Angela Lansbury and the film's music conductor James Levine.
Respighi's "Pines of Rome" evokes not Italian forests but, weirdly yet movingly, humpback whales in a sparkling, blue-tinged Nordic wonderland, performing ballets under water and in boreal skies as a lightning storm and squadrons of birds accompany their migration.
George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" borrows from caricaturist Hirschfeld to create a 1930s Manhattan with variations of blue that takes in a hard-hat construction worker, an overworked doorman, the out-of-work Joe, a little girl dragged to ballet and a Harlem jazz club.
Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto No. 2" provides the music for a telling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", an action-filled fairy tale about a one-legged toy soldier's determination to protect a lovely ballerina from an evil jack-in-the-box. Animators use CGI to create a three-dimensional plasticity for the three main characters, who move through a world where shifts in color express the story's emotions.
Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals", arguably the weakest of the new episodes, has the nimble water ballet by a flock of flamingos destroyed by one trouble-maker who sneaks a yo-yo into the "chorus line." Pleasing watercolors convey the battle between the conformity of the flock and the routine-breaking by this rebel.
Excerpts from four of the marches in Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" provide the backdrop for the story of Noah and the Ark with Donald Duck acting as his wildlife wrangler. But this is a new, poignant Donald who believes he has lost his beloved Daisy in the tumult of the creatures' boarding. His sorrow is only relieved when the Ark finally "docks" on Mount Ararat and the two love ducks are reunited.
"Fantasia 2000" saves the best for last. Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite -- 1919 Version" prompts a mythical story of life, death and rebirth in which a life-giving water Sprite, summoned by an elk, inadvertently rouses a flame-belching Firebird lurking within a volcano. The monster lays waste to a wilderness with fire and Molten Lava only for the Sprite's magical touch to reawaken the foliage. The intensity of the powerful images and fiery colors in this sequence is stunning.
Created during nine years in a project championed by Disney vice chairman Roy E. Disney, "Fantasia 2000" firmly re-establishes that studio's leadership in animation at the dawn of the new century.
FANTASIA 2000
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Executive producer Roy E. Disney
Producer Donald W. Ernst
Directors Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy,
Eric Goldberg, James Algar,
Francis Glebas, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi
Music conducted by James Levine
Performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" conducted by Leopold Stokowski
Supervising animation director Hendel Butoy
Associate producer Lisa C. Cook
Editors Jessica Ambinder Rojas,
Lois Freeman-Fox
Color/stereo
Running time -- 75 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
In "Fantasia 2000", Disney animators have done it again. Employing technical tools those pioneering animators could only dream about, today's cartoonists have splashed across the screen bold and beautiful images that pulsate to several musical styles.
Freed from the confinements of traditional storytelling to pursue pure imagery, the animators experiment wildly with styles and color palettes. You can almost feel the artistic exhilaration that went into this 75-minute movie: Whales fly with birds, Donald Duck meets Noah and Al Hirschfeld sketches turn into a teeming cityscape.
Disney can anticipate a huge worldwide audience for this film that should become, as the first movie did, a perennial family entertainment, good for revival or video rentals for decades to come. In some quarters though, anxious viewers will have to wait awhile as Buena Vista launches "Fantasia 2000" in exclusive four-mouth engagements at IMAX theaters around the world beginning Jan. 1. The film will go out in regular 35mm next summer.
The IMAX release is a stroke of genius as the large-screen format brings the viewer into the surreal worlds dreamed up by the animators. The movie encounters a minor problem in the blow-up of the one sequence from the original film, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Mickey Mouse. Despite a meticulous restoration process, this episode does not maintain its color resolution when blown up to IMAX's super screen size.
"Fantasia 2000" contains seven new episodes starting with the staccato first movement from Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony". This three-minute selection is the most abstract of the film's sequences, as triangular fragments drift, swirl, form and re-form pastel-colored designs against a world of clouds and waterfalls much like the pieces in a kaleidoscope.
Each of the remaining sequences is introduced by hosts including Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, Angela Lansbury and the film's music conductor James Levine.
Respighi's "Pines of Rome" evokes not Italian forests but, weirdly yet movingly, humpback whales in a sparkling, blue-tinged Nordic wonderland, performing ballets under water and in boreal skies as a lightning storm and squadrons of birds accompany their migration.
George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" borrows from caricaturist Hirschfeld to create a 1930s Manhattan with variations of blue that takes in a hard-hat construction worker, an overworked doorman, the out-of-work Joe, a little girl dragged to ballet and a Harlem jazz club.
Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto No. 2" provides the music for a telling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", an action-filled fairy tale about a one-legged toy soldier's determination to protect a lovely ballerina from an evil jack-in-the-box. Animators use CGI to create a three-dimensional plasticity for the three main characters, who move through a world where shifts in color express the story's emotions.
Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals", arguably the weakest of the new episodes, has the nimble water ballet by a flock of flamingos destroyed by one trouble-maker who sneaks a yo-yo into the "chorus line." Pleasing watercolors convey the battle between the conformity of the flock and the routine-breaking by this rebel.
Excerpts from four of the marches in Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" provide the backdrop for the story of Noah and the Ark with Donald Duck acting as his wildlife wrangler. But this is a new, poignant Donald who believes he has lost his beloved Daisy in the tumult of the creatures' boarding. His sorrow is only relieved when the Ark finally "docks" on Mount Ararat and the two love ducks are reunited.
"Fantasia 2000" saves the best for last. Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite -- 1919 Version" prompts a mythical story of life, death and rebirth in which a life-giving water Sprite, summoned by an elk, inadvertently rouses a flame-belching Firebird lurking within a volcano. The monster lays waste to a wilderness with fire and Molten Lava only for the Sprite's magical touch to reawaken the foliage. The intensity of the powerful images and fiery colors in this sequence is stunning.
Created during nine years in a project championed by Disney vice chairman Roy E. Disney, "Fantasia 2000" firmly re-establishes that studio's leadership in animation at the dawn of the new century.
FANTASIA 2000
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Executive producer Roy E. Disney
Producer Donald W. Ernst
Directors Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy,
Eric Goldberg, James Algar,
Francis Glebas, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi
Music conducted by James Levine
Performed by Chicago Symphony Orchestra
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" conducted by Leopold Stokowski
Supervising animation director Hendel Butoy
Associate producer Lisa C. Cook
Editors Jessica Ambinder Rojas,
Lois Freeman-Fox
Color/stereo
Running time -- 75 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 12/23/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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