A Fanciful Composition

 

The brilliance of Fantasia is of course the music. It is an astoundingly bold idea to allow the music free reign over the plot of a story as opposed to the other way around which is usually the case. However, I think Disney has always understood the importance of music to plot. Take for instance his early work on the Silly Symphonies. What drives those little cartoons and makes them memorable is how expertly music is woven into the plot.

However, I'm not going to fly too far into the idea of visual music and music theory. I hardly know a thing about it aside from that it exists and that some people can talk about it for hours (btw, kudos to those people, I find their vocabulary alone to be fascinating).

Due to the insane volume of homework I have these days I was unfortunately not able to give Fantasia my full and undivided attention while I was watching it as I usually would have done. Instead I ended up working on a painting while Fantasia played in the background. Usually this kind of callous inattention would have shamed me to my core but with Fantasia it felt oddly appropriate. Also, it sure helped me get through the horrifyingly lame parts of this movie.

So...let's talk artistic style.

I love how dramatic, bold, and graphic the orchestral scenes are in this movie. The black silhouette on colored background has become iconic. Stokowski standing on that pedestal with his baton raised as the background shifts from oranges to reds is thrilling and sends the chill of anticipation down my spine.

Then they launch into Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and although that starts off visually strong and compelling it soon laps into weird. The visions of bow strings dancing through dream-like clouds turns into a sea sick adventure on rust colored waves. Bleh. Disney, I know you and Dali were BFF's and all but I don't know if it was such a good idea to listen to his input so closely.

It's ok though, Fantasia is saved from ruin by the charming rendition of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite. Although this one isn't a complete favorite of mine...I'm not a fan of ambiguous backgrounds which is evident while those little Chinese mushrooms, the flower people, and the goldfish dance. However, I'm in love with the fairies as they change the seasons from Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. It always reminds me of when I was very young and my parents would take us children on a drive through the canyon to look for the "Fall Fairies" when the leaves would start to change color in Autumn. I stuck to the idea that they were real much harder than I ever did to the idea of Santa Claus. I remember one time being very frustrated that I could never find any actual fairies and my mom told me "You can't see the fairies but you can find the evidence of them by the changing colors in the leaves." Cop-out to the extreme but it satisfied me. I don't know why we never went searching for "Spring Fairies" or "Summer Fairies" but I loved it all the same.

I don't think there's much to say about The Sorcerer's Apprentice other than the fact that it's awesome. Also, I doubt anyone other than those music people I mentioned earlier would even know about this little piece of music is Mickey Mouse hadn't acted it out for everyone.

Remember when I mentioned the parts of Fantasia that are horrifyingly LAME?? The Rite of Spring piece is that part for certain. I'm sure there are some dinosaur fanatics out there that think this section of Fantasia is awesome but I consider it to be amongst the lamest things Disney ever put into production. Other than giving us an odd account of the history of the prehistoric world it has no redeeming qualities. I don't even consider it to be that well drawn. The anatomy of the dinosaur's doesn't even seem correct. And OMG is it LONG! It was during this scene that I was beyond grateful that I had homework to do so I didn't actually have to watch this shameful monstrosity. Also, since I wasn't actually watching it, I have concluded that The Rite of Spring sounds more like a circus performance that has gone terribly, terribly wrong than a prehistoric vision of LAME.

Then there's a blessed intermission which are always amusing to watch on DVD. After which we learn that if a bassoon were an image it would look like a fart.

I don't have a whole lot to say about The Pastoral Symphony other than I would like to have any elementary school teacher who has ever told one of their students to stop coloring the sky orange because the sky is and always will be blue to watch this movie. The sky is orange about as often as it is blue in this piece and no one ever notices because it looks completely natural. In fact, this whole symphony is an explosion of insane color mixtures and it is mind-blowingly awesome because of it. Also, has anyone else ever noticed that when this number is being introduced half of the mythological names they use are Greek and the other half are Roman? Disney never seems capable of getting their mythology correct.

Dance of the Hours is more or less a bland production to me. It's another one that's full of ambiguous backgrounds. Although I will note that I can think of four Disney movies off the top of my head that feature elephants. Did Walt have a thing for them? Also turning an ostrich into a ballerina is terribly clever and I do love those crocodiles. They are so expressionate (<- spell check is telling me that isn't a word but I don't know how else you would spell it. Anyone out there have ideas?). Ok, ok, one more thing that's pretty awesome about this short is the excellent use of simple shapes to create their creatures. They probably used no more than a circle, a square, and a triangle to construct all those animals. Bravo.

And now we come to the moment everyone's been waiting for. The finale that makes this whole movie worth watching...NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN/AVE MARIA!! I get all twitter-patted just thinking about how pretty this section is. It is so graphic, so bold, so intelligent. I am giddy with excitement remembering how beautiful this scene is. Thank you Kay Nielsen for producing some of the most stunning concept images and inspiration in animation history. I am addicted to patterns and visual rhythm which is why I LOVE the Ave Maria sequence. The image of a long line of robed figures all holding glowing candles as they walk through a forest made to look like the large stained glass windows of a Gothic cathedral is stunning. I love the lines of the trees that are continued through the lines of the figures that are then reflected through the water below the figures. This creates such an amazing visual display on the vertical axis but then they take it another step further by continuing the the rhythm on the horizontal axis with the leaves in the trees making a line followed by the glowing lights the figures are carrying, then the figures themselves, and that brilliant water once again reflects the pattern on the bottom of the screen. This serves to lead the eye both down the image and across so that you follow the line of action all the way to its end. This is so amazing!























I wish Disney could have gotten his wish when it comes to Fantasia. He wanted it to be an on going production with new shorts added to it and old ones taken out regularly so that it would always be new and interesting to watch. I would love it if they did this for the shorts in front of most Disney movies that come out these days. They kind of do...to an extent, but those shorts aren't based on an already existing piece of music. This is why I'm pretty ok with the production of Fantasia 2000, but I'll talk about that on a different day much further down the road.

I Got No Strings On Me!

I am in love with Pinocchio. This movie is a visual masterpiece. The craftsmanship that is shown throughout this film is stunning. I seriously love this movie so much I have a hard time organizing what I want to say...there's just too much.

I know many a person who casts Pinocchio aside due to the dark nature of the plot or because they consider it boring. In fact, I just finished talking to my roommate about how she doesn't like Pinocchio because when she was a child she thought it was boring. I myself have distinct memories of falling asleep in my grandma's living room while watching Pinocchio because I found it so mind-numbingly lame.

As a result, I don't consider Pinocchio to be a movie that was actually made for children. I don't know when it was officially decided that animation was a medium made for the little ones but whoever came to that conclusion and passed it on to the rest of humanity should be severely reprimanded. For example, take the new movie Wreck-It-Ralph. That movie takes place in an arcade. What ten year old child really knows and understands the culture of the arcade? Do they know who Sonic the Hedgehog is? Or how awesome Mario Kart was? I think I can safely say that child doesn't exist. So is Wreck-It-Ralph really geared exclusively to the 12 and under crowd?

Getting back to the point....Pinocchio is better suited to a more mature audience than a younger one. It makes better sense to someone who has been a child and is not busy being a child. You are more empathetic towards the characters and their struggles. I look at the character of Pinocchio and he acts like a 5 year old boy...a nuance an actual 5 year old would never be able to pick up on. He asks ten million questions that all start with the word "Why," he's naive and easily influenced and often forgets lessons he just learned. He is eager to please, hopeful, loving, etc. When he makes mistakes it's due to a lack of understanding, not maliciousness. In fact, he reminds me of my nephew when he was five.

When I look at Pinocchio I relate to his journey because I remember learning important life lessons as a child. Albeit mine weren't as dramatic (I don't recall ever being faced with the threat of becoming a donkey). A child doesn't relate to that journey because they're currently learning those lessons.

Speaking of life lessons; I love how starkly obvious the differences in morals between 2013 and 1940 are when watching Pinocchio. Things like: excessive smoking and drinking will turn you into a jackass, respect your elders, don't lie, go to school, etc. I mean, we still believe in those things these days but you won't ever find a modern movie that will so obviously spell it out for you. A lot of them will actually spell out the opposite instead.

A few other miscellaneous thoughts:

Jiminy Cricket might be the worst conscience ever. He often abandons Pinocchio at the first sign of trouble. When Pinocchio resolves to free his father from Monstro the Whale he tries to talk him out of it instead of condoning him for finally doing the right thing even if it's hard. When the Blue Fairy comes to save Pinocchio from Stromboli he does tell Pinocchio that he should tell the truth but when the fairy asks Pinocchio where his conscience was Jiminy tells him to "leave me outta this!" a bit of a contradiction, wouldn't you say? Also, he's quite the lecher.

The Blue Fairy is the most awesome fairy in Disney history by a long shot. She is beautiful, graceful, kind, merciful, and compassionate. Far from those bratty, bumbling, and idiotic fairies Disney produced in later years.

and finally...

HOLY EYE CANDY BATMAN! This movie is gorgeous! The immaculate detail in the backgrounds of this movie are to die for. Shot after shot I am just blown away by the amount of time and effort was put into this masterpiece. The tender care and thoughtful craftsmanship is evident from start to finish.

Oh, and for those who think this movie is dark, you should try reading the original story. The Brother's Grimm have nothing on Carlo Collodi.

P.S. I had the hardest time ever trying to form into words how awesome I think this movie is. Thank heavens for Brain Sibley who summed up my feelings pretty neatly. Read his blog. It's awesome. Link

 

Snow White and the New Year's Resolution

Today I began on my New Year's Resolution. While other people have made goals to loose weight or stop drinking soda I have decided to watch all Disney animated movies in order. I suppose this isn't as much of a resolution as it is a challenge to watch 52 movies in a year but there's no need to be specific about it. I LOVE animated things and I've been wanting to watch all these lovely classics for years now.

You all know what movie I started with of course: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.



Looking at this flick from an illustrative point of view it is awesome to see influences coming from some wonderful illustrators, namely Arthur Rackham whose influence is felt with Snow White's flight into the forest (those trees totally scream creepy Rackham) and Carl Spitzweg who was a big deal in Disney's world back in the day.

I also love the subtle things they do to help you automatically know the nature of each character. Snow White is drawn with rounded edges everywhere: her face is round, her eyes are round, the sleeves on her dress are round, even that thing around her neck is drawn with round edges (I don't know what they're called, I've often referred to them as rain catchers because that's what they look like) this gives the impression of softness. Add to that the fact that she's almost always dressed in the primary colors and you have the image of innocence, kindness, and trust. If you look at Grumpy's beard you'll know that he's a character that's easily put on edge due to the jagged lines used in it. Likewise Sleepy looks ready for a nap with his drooping features and long beard that looks like a blanket. It obvious that the Queen is wicked due to all her dramatically sharp lines....her crown, her eyes, lips, and hands, not to mention her rain catcher is extremely sharp. When she turns into the ugly hag she doesn't look as evil as she does untrustworthy. Giving her a protruding nose with a giant wart and a hump on her back makes her look less than human, also the fact that any lines that would give an implication of gender have been eliminated makes her seem suspicious. What is she? Is she human? She is also associated with the secondary colors (her robe is purple, her mirror is green and orange) which give a feeling of creepiness and mystery.

I get a little annoyed when people tell me they don't like Snow White due to her voice. I can't help but hear my grandma's voice when I listen to Snow White talk. I don't think my grandma ever learned to stop talking to her children like they were 3 so she had a cadence that was very reminiscent of Snow White's. She was also an opera singer and although I doubt she actually sounded like Snow White during her days on stage when I hear Snow White sing it's like listening to my Grandma sing.

Speaking of my grandma, here's a little story that has little to do with this movie:

Once upon a time, my sister and I along with two of our cousins were going to sing a couple of Disney songs for our Grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary (the songs were "I Know You" from Sleeping Beauty and "So This is Love" from Cinderella. Not that it's relevant for you to know the songs but just fyi). One day the four of us were gathered around the piano in my parent's living room. One of my other sisters was playing the piano and we were doing a warm up song with "One Day My Prince Will Come," the love song Snow White sings to the dwarves. My grandma was seated on the couch listening to us sing this song when my grandpa came in. My grandma smiled at him and said "Here comes my prince now."

I rolled my eyes then (I was probably nine at the time) but that moment has stuck with me ever since.

Getting back to the point....

I love this movie. I think it is so charming. I love the craftsmanship. This is truly a piece of artwork.

Also, I'm terribly curious as to what gooseberry pie tastes like.

And since everyone should be exposed to the original fairy tale: link