Fantasia: Leopold Stokowski, Deems Taylor, Corey Burton, Walt Disney, James MacDonald, Julietta Novis, Paul J. Smith, Ben Sharpsteen, Bill Roberts, Ford Beebe, Hamilton Luske, James Algar, Jim Handley, Norman Ferguson, Paul Satterfield, Samuel Armstrong, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Albert Heath, Arthur Heinemann: Amazon.ca: Video

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Amazon.com Essential Video

Groundbreaking on several counts, not the least of which was an innovative use of animation and stereophonic sound, this ambitious Disney feature has lost nothing to time since its release in 1940. Classical music was interpreted by Disney animators, resulting in surreal fantasy and playful escapism. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra provided the music for eight segments by the composers Tchaikovsky, Moussorgsky, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Ponchielli, Bach, Dukas, and Schubert. Not all the sequences were created equally, but a few are simply glorious, such as "Night on Bald Mountain," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "The Nutcracker Suite." The animation ranges from subtly delicate to fiercely bold. The screen bursts with color and action as creatures transmute and convention is thrust aside. The painstaking detail and saturated hues are unique to this film, unmatched even by more advanced technology. --Rochelle O'Gorman

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Customer Reviews

138 Reviews

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (138 customer reviews)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Becareful, Jan 14 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Fantasia (Special 60th Anniversary Edition, Uncut, Full Screen) (DVD)

Please becareful when buying this DVD. The package say it's uncut but it really isn't. Disney felt they needed to censor some scenes because they might offend some black people. I'm a black person and I'm more offended by Disney lying to me then the scenes. I hope someday in the future Disney will think I'm mature enough to own a real uncut version.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for the film, 1 star for the edited DVD, Jan 2 2004

By

Garrett Aja (North Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fantasia (Special 60th Anniversary Edition, Uncut, Full Screen) (DVD)

Originally conceived as an elaborate Mickey Mouse short (only to blossom into a 2-hour feature film), Fantasia is one of the most ambitious movies ever, animated or otherwise, with its perfect marriage of classical music and animation (something that began with Disney's Silly Symphonies in 1929 and would continue to appear in Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons well after Fantasia's release in 1940). However, the film was a commercial and critical failure for the Disney studio, not picking up steam until the '60s, when it was a popular choice for college students (via 16mm prints) as a "head" film.

However, the film hasn't been treated well at all despite being popular for the past 30-40 years. Firstly, the film's dynamic "Fantasound" soundtrack (which was an optical surround-sound soundtrack printed on a separate 35mm reel from the actual video portion of the film) quickly deteriorated, and was eventually transferred to a vastly inferior magnetic tape (which has become garbled as that too has begun to decay). Additionally, Fantasia was re-edited after the initial roadshow version had run its course in an effort to increase the film's popularity with filmgoers in 1940. And finally, the Pastorale Sequence was sloppily edited in the late '60s in order to remove the black centaurettes who serve their white companions.

With this in mind, there was much hope in 2000 for a fully restored Fantasia for the film's 60th Anniversary (and the release of the sequel, the excellent Fantasia 2000). Hyped as being fully restored and uncut, it seemed as if Fantasia would finally be seen as it was supposed to be once again.

However, the Pastorale sequence remained edited, and the Deems Taylor segments were redubbed by veteran voice actor Corey Burton. While the latter change is understandable (since the audio for the expanded segments has come up missing), the former is quite disturbing, particularly since Fantasia is best viewed in an academic environment-which is also the perfect place to discuss the (thankfully outdated) social stereotypes involved in the Pastorale sequence. Given this editing, it's impossible to ecommend this DVD. However, given that Fantasia is such a vital part of Walt Disney's legacy (and also about to return to the studio vaults until as late as 2010), it's hard to imagine that anyone could hold off from buying this altered version of Fantasia before it gets discontinued.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Walt Disney's Fantasia, Jan 30 2012

By

Roller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fantasia (Special 60th Anniversary Edition, Uncut, Full Screen) (DVD)

The DVD of Walt Disney's Fantasia is quite good, The option of being able to choose a chapter to watch, instead of the whole movie is quite good. The animation is amazing considering that the file was made in 1940. Overall it is well worth purchasing this DVD.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasia
One chilhood classic that Iwanted for so long. Great quality of of sound and images. Probably in the t0p 3 of the bests disney ever.

Published 20 months ago by Vincent Desc�teaux

5.0 out of 5 stars thank you for your service
Hello,

I want to thank you replacing the defect DVD I have first received. I have appreciated your promptness to proceed.
Cheers, Albatros

Published on Mar 27 2010 by albatros