You're Not Loving Fantasia Hard Enough 

I have been screaming into the void that this is the best Disney movie since my childhood. This movie made me want to be an animator. Now, animation degree and design job in hand, I finally find someone screaming loud enough to be heard. Thank you for this. This is brilliant.

Walt disney + Tchaikovsky = Pure Gold

The hippo and the crocodile are my favorite couple. I love how the croc doesn’t discriminate and he only wants to dance with his plus sized gf even if she crushes him. Best ship dynamic.

I feel so validated by this video, because as a kid, I could TELL there were direct parallels between the Toccata and fugue in D-minor and the Nutcracker suite, but I couldn't put into words WHAT it was that meant.

Out of all Disney's "golden era" movies, this is without a doupt my favourite. I also love all those packege-era movies; they and the "dark age" movies are the ones that I rewatch the most...

Fantasia was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. It was 1970 and I was 5. I loved it until “Night on Bald Mountain.” It scared me to death!

I never watched Fantasia, but the last segment with dinosaurs gave me chills. It's kinda shocking how... brutal it is. I guess I will love Fantasia after the second part huh

He says "this may not be your personal favorite". Yes, it IS my personal favorite.

It's a shame that Disney chickened out of ending of Rite of Spring with the Dawn of Man, since it would have been a great paralellel to the ending of Act 2. It would have made the film more cohesive if Act 1 and 2 both ended with terror being conquered by hope, Act 1 showing the rational, scientific perspective, while Act 2 expressed the spiritual side. It might have helped more people realize your argument, that the film is not a series of shorts, but a holistic experience.

Disney’s Rite of Spring absolutely paved the way for Land Before Time and Jurassic Park.

Disney’s “Golden Age” aka their first 5 films put the modern company to shame.

You’ve analyzed this movie way better than anyone I’ve seen, as you analyze as a movie, not a painting. Everyone praises it for the animation and how well it pairs with the music, and while those are incredible, Fantasia is more about how it makes you feel. There’s a reason that despite Chernabog having no defined personality, he is listed with the greats like Maleficent or Ursula because he makes you feel the presence of evil anytime he is seen. There is a reason that one of Mickey’s most iconic images is him battling the water. That’s why Fantasia is seen getting into the top 10 and even 5 of many Disney rankings, while the package era films are mostly forgotten. And while I can’t say it’s my favorite, or even in my top 5, it is definitely a masterpiece like no other.

Fantasia was always my favourite Disney movie, even as a kid. I decorated the VHS case with all my favourite stickers. There is alot in this movie that was frightening enough to hide behind the couch - but the one scene I couldn't handle due to how terrifying it was the earthquake and disaster scene after the dinosaurs died out. Horrifying.

In the Rites of Spring segment, the animation artists were instructed to avoid "anthropomorphic cuteness" for the dinosaurs....they have to behave like animals...they lay eggs, they hatch, they grow, they eat. And they die!

Trex fighting Timothee Chamelet was not something I expected to hear on this video 🤣🤣. Great job 👏🏽

Fantasia was actually my favourite disney movie when I was growing up because it made me use my imagination. It was fun and fantastical. It felt like going on a journey as you watch it. I had all these questions that I wanted to know the answer to, like who are the characters and what happens to them outside of the movie. I kept watching it over and over again to learn more. I dreamt about and would imagine living in all of the worlds. I loved the entire experience

I don't think of the little mushroom as vain at all. I always figured he was just a little kid, maybe 2 years old, and he's having fun with the older family members. They are letting him do the parts of a "traditional" family dance that are the simplest so he's still included. Idk, I grew up as the youngest in my family by quite a large age gap, as visually implied with the mushroom family, and there were many time when we were doing something that was too hard/complicated for little me to keep up with so they always found a way for me to still feel included. And I saw myself and my family in those dancing mushrooms from the first time I watched this movie at 4 years old. All in all, I loved this movie as a kid and still do. My family was big into classical music, the toccata and fugue was my first favorite song according to my parents that noticed I was absolutely memorized by it as an infant. Everytime I went to visit my grandparents I watched this movie. It was one of the Disney movies that definitely inspired me to become an artist and draw.

This movie represents so much for me. It solidified my early love for classical music back in 1990 or 1991. It made me realize how important music was in general but also in movies. This one along with Goldsmith's Alien and Williams' scores to Indy, Hook and a lot of other masterpieces made me want to become a film composer. Yet this one, Fantasia, will always have a special place in my heart and life! (I just bought a second hand collector edition from 1990 with a booklet, two video tapes and two discs which are untouched. Neven been opened. Couldn't feel closer to a 90's Christmas morning than this morning). Happy to see that other people still love this movie so much. Thanks for this video essay!

As a chlid I watched Fantasia more than any other disney film.

The Golden age of animation! ❤👏🏻 Fantasia is a real masterpiece. 🖼️🎵

The process they did for the snowflake sequence is so interesting! Thank you for the great video, I'm on to part two!

this is one of my favourite movies of all time. it deserves another animated feature in modern time to introduce more classical music to a modern child audience.

My son sat mesmerized by this movie and it gave me a new appreciation for it. He is almost 4 and randomly asks to put it on while we play (he calls it the playing movie)

I just was rehearsing a play TODAY about Walt Disney and his relationship to the new design of Mickey Mouse for Fantasia and how it fed into his sort of identity crisis when facing the animator's strike and Art Babbitt. Of course we mention the dancing mushrooms, which Babbitt animated. There's a part where Babbitt complains "It's not about dinosaurs, it's about women!" and I sent this to the actors so they can see this point clearly, because how you actually put the footage there. This is like the best timing for a video drop ever. Thank you for making this!!!

Seeing this video on my feed > Christmas morning

Fantasia is a fine wine that only gets better with age, regardless if you're considering the age of the viewer or the age of the film. Every time I watch Fantasia, I enjoy it more than the last time. In the last two years alone, I've probably watched it 4 times. Whereas in the previous 10 years I had probably only watched it twice.

I am very pleasantly surprised to discover how some of the scenes were created. I always naïvely thought that the snowflakes and 'Ave Maria' scenes were just drawn frame by frame. I had no idea how much work and layering, "multi-planed" techniques were required to make them SEEM like they were effortless drawings. [Also, I never knew that Walt Disney himself was the voice of Mickey Mouse.] ...................... As you point out in "Fantasia" II, 'The Dance of the Hours' DOES act like a palate-cleanser, one i enjoyed immensely. It made me laugh out loud, especially when the hippo diva reclines on her couch and primly pulls her completely inadequate tutu over her zaftig haunches, to no avail. Sparkling visual gags throughout this segmant.

He's back!

I absolutely love Fantasia, and have since I first watched it on the old VHS player at my grandma's house, thank you for making this!

Again EXTRAORDINARY. You could be giving University-level talks with your incomparable insights.

You didn't need to make this masterpiece, but you did! I agree that Fantasia was already a masterpiece before people even realized it was a masterpiece. Same with Fantasia 2000 for me; both have always been my favorite movie combined! I especially agree about Toccata and Fugue; it was all abstract images sure, but I was able to detect a story from those abstract images as a child! I envisioned an enchanted musical community of magical instruments and shapes where everyone is happy. Children play volleyball and tag, the teens study in school or take their grandparents out to lunch, and the adults are boasting with parties, dances, and small get togethers, all thanks to a bumbling patrol of popsicle sticks. (And yes, I still do think they were popsicle sticks today.) All is well, until it becomes clear that there is a threat in the distance in the form of red lines. At first, the red lines manage to overthrow the popsicle stick patrol and plan a good day to destroy the town with their radioactive lasers. One problem: rockets! So the patrol hurries on a journey to find the rockets and, just before the red lines are about to commit their evil-doing, the rockets are released into space and spray a special gas that melts the red lines like ice cream cones. The enchanted boulder that controlled the red lines into their evil-doing is arrested and the town is happy again.

Fantasia really is the definition of a film ahead of its time. Not just because it took multiple decades before it truly got the recognition it deserved but because even now, few films have had the balls to tell a subtle overarching story in the very unique way that it does. Hell, it can be argued that there truly is no other film like it, not even its own sequel (as much as I love that film as well on its own merits)!

I love your videos so much. It's so great to bask in Walt Disney's genius during his life compared to the sterilized (in comparison), prepackaged animations we get today. This is the foundation and backbone of his industry. I love Fantasia with all my heart as it was one of my gateways to become an artist today.

This movie started my love for classical music. I loved it the first time I, at an early age , saw it!

"Fantasia is a work of art that demands to be examined closely". That pretty much sums up why I love it. I love most art where the creator put in enough effort to leave something for you to find when you dig deeply. That art where a high school or college English essay isnt wasted trying to find stuff that isnt there to find. There were a few bits of your video essay that were not my interpretation or maybe felt like a bit of a stretch, but overall, you nailed it. Disney clearly cares about this, so much more than any of the other similar music and animation works.

Your analyses are so deep and so thought out. It's hard to find a RU-vidr with this level of dedication to history and craft. I've enjoyed all of your videos and I look forward to the rest of them! Thank you.

As a Disney connoisseur; your videos are fascinating! You have such a unique and interesting perspective on Walt and his work!

The one thing I hate about Disney’s remastered versions of their old films is that they changed the colors of everything, which is especially prevalent in the Toccata and Fugue sequence. That’s why I still have a copy of the early 90s VHS release of Fantasia

Wow, I love the connection between the apprentice and Walt himself!

As a 7 year old, this was hands down my favourite movie. I watched it on a weekly basis and I couldn't understand why my friends didn’t enjoy it as much as I did.

This came out at the perfect time, I'd just finished rewatching Fantasia a few hours ago! Thanks for giving my all time favorite movie the thoughtful analysis it deserves, despite having watched it dozens of times since I was 3 you managed to draw out parallels I had not noticed before. Now to watch part 2 🙌

Return of the King (seriously tho, ur videos are amazing and worth the wait)

When I was a little kid, my parents made me watch this movie every night, thinking it would bore me to sleep. Sadly for them, it didn't work because I thought the movie was too beautiful.

The "walking piece of fudge" in the Bach piece is, to my eyes, clearly a coffin

I already love this movie pretty hard, but I'm totally here for the dissection. Something about these early Disney features stirs my soul. It isn't just that they're gorgeous to look at, although they are. The excitement of discovery, of innovation, comes through in the finished product. More recent Disney/Pixar films might have sharper screenplays, more complex themes, and more layered characters -- and I love them for that -- but the excitement, the energy of the early films isn't there. Plus, I miss the darkness. Fantasia and the other four Golden Age films weren't afraid to be terrifying at times, and I'm saying that like it's a good thing.

This has for more than a half-century and probably will remain my favorite Disney animation. I never understood the haters of this film or its initial commercial failure except that perhaps the 1960s when I saw it was a potently creative time not encumbered by the morass of conservatism across the American culture that existed before and after. Let's hope for a renaissance.

Fantasia was my favorite movie as an angsty teenager. I’d watch it after bad days, good days, even during studying. It’s my greatest comfort. My favorite part of the film is the trumpet solo of the white flower, it’s so beautiful and makes me hold my breath

Haven’t watched yet, but man oh man am I on board with the title of this video. Ha. Fantasia is one of my top five Disney movies.

This is my favorite Disney movie and might be my favorite movie of all time. It was my favorite since I was about five.

YES!! My fav (especially the rite of spring)!! The Schulheist notebook is a treasure of animation and SFX history. The way you describe the fusion of music and animation in The Sorcerer's Apprentice is reminiscent of YMS's analysis of the stampede scene in his Lion King review, and reinforces how powerful music is in film when applied correctly.

Wow. Impressed by your context, explanations and analysis, and haven’t seen videos like yours before, on to part 2.

Excellent dive into this classic film. Fantasia has always been my fav. Disney - hardly surprising as I am a musician - so, in augmentation of your comments, I'd like to add something on the subject of "animators' musicality / visual detail enhancing musical detail", a propos of Sorcerer's Apprentice (you brought this on by showing a detail of the score, the trumpet solo as Mickey's/Walt's scream). In fact, Stokowski (whom I greatly admire for many reasons) was frequently criticised for his "touching up" of classic scores by changing instrumentation. Today it isn't tolerated, but when Stoki was being trained (he enrolled at the Royal College of Music in 1896) it was a wide spread practice. So, just to mention a detail, the axe splitting the broom in the original Dukas score (another moment you pointed out), was changed by the conductor; there are only 4 cymbal crashes there, as opposed to the 8 crashes in the film, punctuating each of Mickey's blows. The film's creators had a good reason for this, because it made the seemingly endless number of brooms more plausible. (In the original source material, Goethe's poem, the apprentice merely splits the broom in two, and two brooms march on until the sorcerer returns.) In any case, this little change in the score (if anyone wants to check, beginning at 7 bars after rehearsal number 41), was brilliant and entirely suited to the purposes of the film. An example of the wonderful collaboration between Stokowski and the animators. - I myself would have loved for Disney to follow his plan of bringing new segments in and re-releasing every years, a continual evolution of the format, and the experiment of bringing classical music to the masses; that is, IF it had been possible to maintain the incredible artistic standards set by Fantasia. - I also would like to remind everyone that the sound recording, made in 1939, was ages ahead of its time - SIX CHANNEL STEREO! - with loudspeakers placed in front as well as in back of the audience. So those few theatres who actually installed the "Fantasound" equipment presented something so acoustically immersive, people were (if the statements collected at the time from, for instance, Broadway Theater audiences are looked at) absolutely stunned. I give a lot of credit to Stokowski who had, after all, made his first experimental stereo recordings in 1931/32 (Scriabin and Mussorgsky). However, it is also important to remember that the inventor of modern stereophonic technology was Alan Blumlein at EMI, who originally developed it for - the movies! - Thanks again for your lovely analysis (both parts), and I would be interested in your take on other music- related movies (The Red Shoes, for instance).

This movie deserves all of the love of this world and I will defend it until the end times.

amazing video!! i personally have a special place in my heart for fantasia, but it was interesting to listen and kinda "fell in love with it again" thanks to you!

"And boy, oh boy, does [Walt deliver]." Nice.

In the Little Mermaid, the villainess Ursula transforms into a giant, it was greatly influenced by Night on Bald Mountain's demon Tchabernabog!

WELCOME BACK!!! I absolutely adored the fantasia movies as a kid. This marked Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy as my favorite classical piece ever, which holds through today, and I'd rewatch the Greek section over and over.

I already loved Fantasia, as deeply as I love any of the early Disney films. For me, it's right up there with Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio, etc. I never needed any convincing of what a masterpiece it truly is, but I still come back to watch these essays from time to time, because they are just that good.

You were preaching to the choir talking to me. "Fantasia" became my #1 animated film of all time the day I first saw it in the theater during a re-release in the 1980's. It hasn't been replaced, either. For my money, hand drawn painted cell animation has never been done better and the sheer imagination behind the individual sequences and the way they were executed were mind blowing to me. "Fantasia 2000" was a welcome continuation of the masterpiece that earned it's place in the series(I keep hoping they'll eventually do a third one(impossible since they scrapped their hand drawn animation department..I suppose they could do it CGI, but I think something would be missing if they did), and include a segment for Goofy, since Mickey and Donald got theirs. I can re-watch Fantasia at any time and immediately get enraptured with the experience. The violin bows that turn into swaying flying creatures...the elemental fairies creating dew and frost...the marching brooms...that terrifying T-Rex...the ballet with elephants, hippos, crocodiles and ostriches...the love story of two forlorn centaurs...the sheer evil of the Devil of Bald Mountain and the serenity of the pilgrimage through the woods....all immersed me in pure emotional...well...emotion! It was, is and will always be a masterpiece of the highest order.

This movie is 100% my favorite Disney. Since I was a child I always went back to see it on every release in the theater and I've owned every home theater copy of it.

Fantasia is one of my favourite Disney movies! The music and animation go together so well. I have heard many stories about how the special effects were created, but never the one about the snow flakes. Walt really put quality over efficiency, and it shows in every movie he has supervised, especially in Snow White and Fantasia. Thanks for your analysis and interpretation of the movie! It's interesting how others percieve the segments of the movie without an obvious story.

YES! YOU'RE BACK!!

Sometimes I want to start a RU-vid channel discussing Disney films and some other things. But how good you are at educating and giving your interpretations makes me feel somewhat like the Sorcerer’s apprentice getting swept away.

honestly i have never held a very distinct opinion about fantasia. but i agree that it is a theatrical masterpiece

This is probably my favorite Disney film, its up there with Hunchback and Beauty and the Beast. I've watched it hundreds of times since I was a kid.

Sorcerer's Apprentice and Night On Bald Mountain are MASTERFUL. These are an important landmark not only for animation but how film can surpass dialogue in place of music and image. I know that both Federico Fellini and Stanley Kubrick loved Fantasia and were influenced by it; films such as '2001 A Space Odyssey' and '8 1/2' and of course every music video ever made.

i honestly would have never even known about the major classical music pieces if it werent for fantasia

I’m so glad you found the parallels between all the scenes! So beautiful! Thank you for shedding a new light on an old favorite!

Dont stop making your videos, they're amazing. Hope we really do go through all of the animated films.

When I was little I enjoyed Fantasia the animation inlightend me and as I got older I appreciated the music the more I watched it

Your intro was EVERYTHING.

You literally have the best video essays! Keep up the amazing work

The Nutcracker Suite was always one of my favorites 💖

I learned some things!

Always so excited to see an upload from you! Sad to say I skipped Fantasia when I was little cause I thought it was boring but I am definitely going to check it out now. The process of these old animations is incredible I love hearing about it.

This has always been my favorite Disney film even as a very young child (2-5). I would watch it every day at the babysitter and she even gifted me the film when I went and changed daycare because she said no other kid likes it. So, might as well go with the one that always appreciated it

I absolutely love your videos, and they've honestly inspired me to rewatch all the old Disney movies! As a kid I never noticed little things in the animation, but now that I'm older it's incredible to see the tricks these animators had to pull in order to achieve certain effects

Quite a piece of work to be tackled and done quite well. All the work to weave the video sequences with the discussion. Quite amazing Mr. Amazing.

God I love your videos! I love your writing! It's beautiful and especially when you tie everything back together in an ornate pretty looking bow (that looks like it was hard to make, but it's so beautiful looking, it's worth it). I never knew about the process for animating the snowflakes. It's wild how far they went to do it. I appreciate that scene so much more now (even though I hated it since I was a kid because I thought the music was boring and not exciting enough). Also I now picture you as that cat, even if you do a face reveal, I'm going to assume you just made your human do it lol

I LOVE this movie! Put it on in the background sometimes, but soon find myself stopping what I'm doing at a given segment and watching the whole thing as I become invested in the beauty of these two amazing art forms combined.

Fecking aye my favourite Disney movie that made me the most cultured-up binch on the block

So glad to have another Fudd video out, and such a wonderful exploration of a really underrated film. Thank you!

Great in depth analysis just as before! You deliver, man. That part about Mickey being Walt was something I never thought of before. Lovin your takes.

So worth the wait - I loved this!!!

And yet another great videoessay. You are my favourite

your videos are so good!! already can't wait for the next one

I'll be heading over to part two now, but first I would like to say this helped open my eyes to ideas regarding the film I didn't know were there before. I have always enjoyed the film, but your explanation gave me new appreciation for it.

Wow another amazing video! You go deep and I am here for it. 👍💐

Glad to see you again, I am in the right mood for this, wich Is always if we are talking about Fantasia

Another excellent video!! I was so excited to see you've posted a new video!!

Yees! I'm so happy to finally have gotten this video! I find Fantasia to be a work of Art and I can't wait to see what you have to say about it!

I never thought much of Fantasia, maybe because I had seen Opéra Imaginaire first and it became my all-time favorite, but now I definitely appreciate Fantasia much more, thank you!

Oh, there he is again! 🤗 I am so excited for this one. I love Fantasia! This will a great evening...🤩

It's interesting when this narrator explains what "obviously" is going on in Toccata and Fugue, I always saw something completely different. :)

21:32 I love your modesty and self-awareness xD

Glad you see you're still making videos about Disney movies, buddy. I appreciate you for it.

I'm loving your Disney videos! They're so insightful and talk about things I would've never thought about before- especially this one with observation of the abstract opening being called back to in the later shorts, and also the breakdown of The Sorcerer's Apprentice! Great stuff!

Great work 👏Your videos just keep getting better and better!

Absolutely fantastic analysis- I’ve never seen the connection between all the pieces until now! They all mirror each other beautifully and the connecting elements between the pieces are much stronger than some of the collection films made later on in Disneys filmography (i.e. make mine music & melody time) - which I feel lots of people unfairly compare Fantasia to. Happily on my way to part two!

For the algorithm! Because your videos are amazing, and they deserve to be on the front page of RU-vid!