D52 - Week 3 - Fantasia

Kevin's bit

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Is Fantasia a movie, or is it a collection of musical shorts? But is there any reason why a collection of shorts can't be called a movie? Either way I'm not sure how to review Fantasia as a whole. I quite like the Dance of the Hours segment and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. They're all nice to watch and the music's excellent (though I suspect this is one of the movies were having some sort of high-end sound set-up would've made a difference), but...without one cohesive story I just don't have much else to say about it as a whole. I would recommend it to fans of animation and/or music, but I'm not sure whether it holds up as a family film. At least, since there isn't an important dialogue, you don't feel as bad for talking over it.
Favorite character: Demure hippo
Least necessary character: Why does the narrator explain what's going to happen in a segment before each one? Couldn't the job of introducing the composer and title of each musical piece have been done by a title card?

Amanda's bit

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I really enjoy music and I very much enjoy Disney animation and together they are wonderful. On the other hand, part of what makes Disney's music so special is how much it adds to the story and with Fantasia, there is no story. The segments where the story is clear as Kevin mentioned above are the most entertaining bits and the sections without a story are very pretty but much less memorable.

Interestingly, as a fan of live classical musical performance something I noticed is that I didn't feel rude talking during the performance. At a live performance, I feel more engaged and because the performers are in the room with you, it's easier to lose yourself in the music. In your own home there is so much more distraction and possibly a less rich sound. I think this would have been an interesting production to see in a theater.

Favorite character: The soundtrack
Least favorite character: I have to agree with Kevin that a title card could easily have replaced announcer guy.
Overall: It's worth watching if you don't have to keep a young one in the seat and if you have a card game going at the same time.

Amanda's Extra: This movie was exclusively about music so it seemed only right to make a case for a digital player! This one features "the soundtrack" demonstrating his violin sound.