| Reviewer Roundup |
| 1. |
 | Susan Granger |
| review follows |
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| 2. |
| MrBrown |
| read the review |
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Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
The Sorcerer's Apprentice's spell still works. The Disney
company's crown jewel sparkles again. Shown for four months at 76 IMAX
theaters in the United States, Latin America, Canada, and Asia, it's
now available on 35 mm in local theaters. When Walt Disney released
his bold, animated concert film back in 1940, he envisioned an annual
updating but, for 60 years, that hasn't happened. Now, using
traditional animation and computer-generated effects, there are seven
new segments, along with the original Mickey Mouse Sorcerer's
Apprentice, and the music is by the Chicago Symphony conducted by
James Levine. Each chapter is introduced by celebrities: Bette Midler,
Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, James Earl Jones, Angela
Lansbury, Penn & Teller. The first features abstract butterflies
dancing to Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5." Another, set to
Ottorino Respighi's "Pines of Rome," follows a baby whale trapped
inside an iceberg, separated from its mother and the rest of the
pod. There's a 1930s New York City tribute to the caricatures of Al
Hirshfeld, complete with NINA, his daughter's name, hidden in the
drawings, set to George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." Daisy and
Donald Duck march into Noah's Ark to Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and
Circumstance." Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier"
moves to Dmitri Shostakovich's "Second Piano Concerto," as a
one-legged soldier rescues a ballerina from an evil
Jack-in-the-box. Camille Saint-Saens's "Carnival of the Animals" pairs
a rebellious pink flamingo with a yo-yo. And the finale is a mythical
ode to the cycle of life moving to Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite."
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Fantasia 2000" is a splashy,
swirling 8. It's a joyous celebration of the art of animation.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
