Fantasia - Television Tropes & Idioms

alt title(s): Fantasia

Fantasia is a 1940 animated film from Disney. It's a surreal, yet classic blend of animation and classical music, often considered to have been ahead of its time back in the day.

The film consists of animated sequences synchronized to classic pieces of music. They are as follows:

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. This sequence features abstract images, shapes and forms moving in time to the music.
The Nutcracker Suite, composed by Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky. Surprisingly, this features no characters from the Nutcracker ballet, but original sequences based on the Seasons featuring dancing fairies, fish, flowers, leaves, and even mushrooms(not a samba, sadly).
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, composed by Paul Dukas. The most famous scene in the entire film. This sequence features Mickey Mouse as a sorcerer's apprentice, who borrows his master's enchanted hat and decides to try out its powers. He finds out, however, that the magic is a little too much for him to handle.
The Rite of Spring, composed by Igor Stravinsky. This sequence showcases the evolution of life on Earth, from the formation of the planet to the extinction of the dinosaurs, according to the theories of the time.
The Pastoral Symphony, composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven. During this part of the film, mythical creatures such as centaurs, cherubs, satyrs, unicorns, and Pegasuses prance around, and attend a festival for the god Bacchus, only to have it interrupted by Zeus.
Dance of the Hours, composed by Amilcare Ponchielli. In this sequence, ballet-dancing anthropomorphic animals (ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators), representing times of day (morning, noon, evening and night) dance in time to the music. Hilarity Ensues. (No, really, it does)
Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria, composed by Modest Mussorgsky and Franz Schubert, respectively. The first half of this sequence is probably the most Nightmare Fuel-filled sequence in Disney animation, featuring Chernabog (who is essentially the Slavic equivalent of Satan) raising the dead from the grave. The sequence leads to a contrasting sequence to the calm tune of Ave Maria, featuring religious villagers walking through a forest and an old cathedral.

Fantasia was not well-received during its initial release, but the years have been rather kind to the film (except for a politically-incorrect character that had to be cut out of The Pastoral Symphony), and it became a hallowed masterpiece of western animation, eventually resulted in a sequel, Fantasia 2000. Unlike most Disney sequels, this one was actually in accordance with Walt Disney's intent; the original idea was to update the film every year, animating one or two new songs every time and rotating older ones out of the print to make room for the fresh material. In addition, the prestige of being in a Fantasia film meant that Disney had no trouble lining up celebrities to introduce the various sections of film.

The sequences in this one include:

Symphony No. 5, composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Like Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, this is an "abstract" sequence, featuring butterfly-like triangles flitting about.
Pines of Rome, composed by Ottorino Respighi. This one features a family of humpback whales that fly (yes, fly).
Rhapsody in Blue, composed by George Gershwin. In this sequence, several city people in 1930s New York go about their lives, set to the lively jazz-inspired music of Gershwin with visuals inspired by the drawings of Al Hirschfeld.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major-I, composed by Dmitri Shostakovich. Basically, this one is Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier set to music.
The Carnival of the Animals, Finale composed by Camille Saint-Saëns. This one centers around a flamingo playing with a yo-yo, much to the disapproval of his peers.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, back by popular demand.
Pomp and Circumstance, composed by Edward Elgar. This scene is based on the story of Noah's Ark, featuring Donald Duck as Noah's assistant.
Firebird Suite, composed by Igor Stravinsky. A sprite brings spring to a forest, only to accidentally awaken the destructive Firebird.

Not to be confused with the American Idol winner, or the name of the fantasy world in the film version of The Neverending Story.

Compare later Disney films Make Mine Music and Melody Time which both feature music-based shorts, even using a few of the unused ideas from Fantasia. Contrast Allegro Non Troppo, the 1977 Bruno Bozzetto answer to Fantasia which hovers comfortably somewhere between Affectionate Parody and Take That (and is just as breathtakingly beautiful).

These films contain examples of:

Anime Anatomy: Didn't stop the censors from complaining, though, and was averted in the Night on Bald Mountain sequence.
- Disconcertingly enough, in The Pastoral Symphony segment the female centaurs are prepubescent girls from the waist up and prepubescent horses from the waist down, while the male centaurs have bulky, muscular human torsos and lower bodies proportioned like adult horses.
  - Was this troper watching the same film? I distinctly remember post-pubescent anatomy, nipples, and not thinking anything odd of it because I was seven.
Arcadia: The Pastoral Symphony
Astronomic Zoom: In The Rite of Spring.
Conspicuous CG: The Symphony No. 5 is the most obvious offender, but the Pines of Rome has several long shots that are incongruous to the closeups.
Continuity Nod: Besides the actual discussion of the first film, 2000 begins with a speech on the "types of music" that is taken straight from the first film.
Crowning Moment Of Funny: The Dance of the Hours segment.
- Carnival of the Animals!
Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming: Say what you will about the "Pomp and Circumstance" segment, but you may be a robot if the leadup and then Donald and Daisy's faces at the end don't get you slightly misty.
Crowning Music Of Awesome: Many. But the moment where all the dinosaurs turned and went "O SHI-" as the T-rex made the scene is a big one.
Deliberately Monochrome
Deranged Animation: Night on Bald Mountain
Disney Acid Sequence: The entire film.
Disney Villain Death: The Steadfast Tin Soldier when the Jack-in-the-Box falls into the fire.
Disneyfication: The adaptation of The Steadfast Tin Soldier, though that was mostly from the original ending not matching the music. Check out the storyboard reel on the DVD for that.
Downer Ending: The Rite of Spring.
- If it weren't for the Executive Meddling, Walt Disney would have kept the happier ending where a band of early humans start a bonfire and dance in celebration of their discovery.
Executive Meddling: The Pomp and Circumstance sequence in Fantasia 2000 was inserted at the insistence of Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who had just gone to his son's graduation and wanted a song "everyone can relate to." The original idea was to have all the of the couples from the Disney Animated Canon parade by with babies, but the animators mutinied, saying that the whole idea sounded like a cult mass wedding, and most egregiously that it violated the "no sex" rule regarding the characters. The Donald Duck / Noah's Ark compromise was reached as a result, and was singled out by critics for being so out of place once the film was released.
Eye Open: The Firebird.
Evil Is Cool: Between the Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria sections, representing in turn the profane and the sacred, take a guess which one has burned itself into people's memories the most.
Family Unfriendly Death and Violence: Again, Rite of Spring.
- The Sprite's appearance following the rampage of the Firebird is the closest Disney has ever gotten to Rape As Drama.
Fertile Feet: The Spring Sprite in Fantasia 2000.
Furry Confusion: Lampshaded
Ghibli Hills: The Rite of Spring
Glowing Eyes Of Doom: Chernabog
Henpecked Husband: One of the characters in Rhapsody in Blue
Inept Mage: Mickey in The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Interspecies Romance: Specifically, hippo/gator in the Dance of the Hours segment.
Mickey Mousing: Done in reverse!
Nature Spirit: The sprite in Firebird Suite
Never Trust A Trailer: Promotional art for Fantasia often seems to imply that Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice faces off with Chernabog. Of course, the two appear in entirely different segments and do not interact.
Nice Hat: The sorcerer's hat in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, arguably.
Nightmare Fuel: Chernabog. 'Nuff said.
- The death-of-the-dinosaurs sequence probably caused a few sleepless nights as well.
- And the Firebird's rampage.
One Froggy Evening
Pop Cultural Osmosis: You just have to pity The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Rhapsody in Blue for being stuck with the thoughts and images of Fantasia and not what the original composers intended.
- Although nobody will still remember what Pomp & Circumstance was originally written for outside being used for graduation ceremonies... And this doesn't help it either.
  - Except in the UK, where they associate it with the Last Night of the Proms.
Public Domain Soundtrack
Ripped From The Headlines: "Firebird" is based on the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens (but with lava).
Reptiles Are Abhorrent
Robe And Wizard Hat: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Satan: "Night On Bald Mountain" was originally introduced as starring "Satan himself" when Fantasia first premiered. His name was later changed to Chernabog (an obscure Slavic demon) in what was basically a reverse Jesus Taboo.
Scare Chord: Built-in into some of the pieces, and taken full advantage of by the animators.
Sdrawkcab Name: The sorcerer in The Sorcerer's Apprentice is officially named Yensid. Think about it.
Sealed Evil In A Can: Arguably, the Firebird (well, maybe sleeping evil). Moreso with the "Cutterflies" in "5th Symphony".
- The Firebird isn't evil, just destructive. Some types of forests actually need to be burnt down once in a while as part of the plants' life cycle. Note that the Sprite's magic didn't work on the higher slopes of the mountain until after the Firebird's rampage.
Shadow Discretion Shot
Shout Out: "Firebird" is awfully similar to Princess Mononoke.
Somewhere A Palaeontologist Is Crying: Rite of Spring, filled with Stock Dinosaurs (including the T. Rex, of course) of different Mesozoic periods and sometimes-questionable anatomy.
- In their defense, it's not that inaccurate for what was known in 1939. But that's a long time ago.
  - Science Marches On is more likely.
- OBJECTION! That was an Allosaurus, not a T. Rex. Granted, as a Jurassic dinosaur it still had no business being in a Cretaceous era (Triceratops, Pteranadon, various Hadrosaurs, Archaeopteryx...) piece (nor did the Paleozoic Dimetrodon)...but, in the end, the coolest part of the entire sequence (Allosaurus vs. Stegosaurus, both Late Jurassic) was justified!
  - WRONG! They call it a Tyrannosaurus in the intro prior to the segment. The film-makers were told that T. rex was only supposed to have two fingers by Palentologists (It was discovered 'round that time that they did), but Disney kept the three-fingered T. rex thinking that it looked better that way.
  - There's still a dimetrodon among those dinosaurs—a mammal-like reptile that died out millions of years before dinosaurs appeared.
- I don't know why that Stegosaurus was so damn fat, either.
Sorcerers Apprentice: Guess.
Space Whale
Standard Snippet: Most of the music, although Rhapsody in Blue is literally stuck in this state.
Swing Low Sweet Harriet
Trope2000
Unfortunate Implications: Sunflower, the servant centaurette in "The Pastoral Symphony", who is half black human/half donkey and performs menial tasks for the blonde, white centaurettes.
- There was originally a pair of zebra-striped black centaurette servants holding fans for Bacchus in the same sequence. They were filmed, but cut later. Also, almost all the centaur/ette pairs pair up along colour lines; blue with light blue, purple with lilac, etc.
  - The zebra-striped black centaurette are in the movie; Sunflower, who is obviously a racist caricature, is not.
- Also the dancing mushrooms, who were obviously meant to look like Chinese caricatures with those funny cymbal-shaped hats.
  - Um... you do know what the piece is called, right? Those thistles were stereotypically Russian, too.
Viewers Are Morons: Every short is introduced with a fairly complete plot summary, so the viewer can be aware of the imagery they are trying to represent.
- For most of the film's existance, this wasn't the case. In 1947, the narration was shortened so that the veiwer was only given the name of the peice of music and the general setting. the full narrative was not restored until 2000.
Vindicated By History: The film was derided by many in its original release as a kitschy travesty, but now is regarded as one of the great masterpieces of Western Animation.
What Could Have Been: Fantasia 2000 mentions several abandoned concepts, including a segment based on Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries", a "baby ballet", and a "baseball ballet" directed by Salvador Dali, which was actually finished(!) so it would have been a part of...
- Fantasia 2006. "Destino" (the aforementioned Dali segment), The Little Matchgirl, Lorenzo (about a fat cat with a living tail trying to kill him), and an African song set to children flying handmade kites was meant to be a part of this sequel.
What Do You Mean It Wasnt Made On Drugs