Thursday, 23 December 1999

continued...

READER OF THE DAY: CR on Fantasia 2000: "About 2-3000 packed the Royal Albert Hall tonight {Tue) for the latest stop on the Fantasia 2000 World tour. Roy Disney came on stage to introduce the performance and spoke of when he first heard Walt talk of his idea for the original Fantasia...that is a concert with film. That, he said, is what we will be seeing tonight...The Fantasia 2000 without the filmed links by people such as Steve Martin and Angela Lansbury.

Noted conductor James Levine came on stage and sat in front of a laptop computer which would show him the film as well as cue him when to start each piece. As each musical item passed, the audience response grew louder and louder.

In order:

With no opening titles to view it was straight into Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and at this stage I think the audience may have wondered what they were watching...a mixture of normal animation with many different hues of computer generated butterflies sent a confusing message to those around me...no one really knew what was taking place but thankfully the piece was short. Each piece of film was shown separately, allowing for audience applause and soloists to move on and off stage.

There were several times during the evening when my mind strayed into other Disney films. One such example was the next selection...Pines of Rome. This was a stunningly beautiful tale of an infant whale and its parents...what the magic is with the whales I will leave you to find out for yourself but now and again i was reminded of the whale in Pinocchio. The movie now seemed to be back on the track I expected...beautiful animation and bold imagination.

There are a few pieces which everyone will know and Rhapsody in Blue was no exception. Eric Goldberg's handy work was there to be seen all over the story of life in a big city during the depression which I assume was New York. I defy anyone to start watching this animation and not be reminded of the overture to West Side Story with its drawn skyline. This is what I recall was missing from a lot of the original Fantasia...good comedy and also a decent length of music .The stories were neatly interwoven and the crowds response was enthusiastic. The piano soloist also had a laptop on his piano since he could not see Levine conducting.

Next came what I thought would have been ideal classic DisneyÉ a fairy tale, The Steadfast Soldier, based on a piece by Shostakovich. The use of computer generated animation seemed appropriate given Toy Story, in that it told a tale of an evil jack in the box, a ballerina and a one legged toy soldier. The animation was fast and visually excellent but the story did not seem to be that enthralling. Again, a worthwhile item which could have been so much better.

I mentioned earlier about the length of the music...the clearest example of wishing for more time comes in Carnival of the Animals Finale...it could not have lasted more than 3 minutes but was hysterically funny as a yo-yo playing flamingo tries to fit in with the rest of the flock. The laughter from the arena was such you could have been mistaken for thinking you were watching a normal Disney cartoon.

The classic Sorcerer's Apprentice was next followed by for me the highlight of the evening. Two things need to be explained first. Every year the Royal Albert Hall hosts the world famous Proms Concert series and on the Last Night of the Proms, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance is played . Secondly, although you may all know the British national anthem God Save The Queen you may not be aware of the sort of unofficial English national anthem Land of Hope and Glory which is part of Pomp and Circumstance. And so began what is one of Donald Duck's finest celluloid moments...taking his lead from Fantasia and Mickey...Donald finds himself and Daisy assisting Noah collect the animals for the Great Deluge in the Ark. Again, I wont spoil the plot but the entire audience rolled about in fits of laughter. A choir had sat at the back of the stage for the whole performance and just as the Land of Hope and Glory part was about to be played, they all stood up. Surely Disney were not going to have a national anthem in one of their films...no the choir just sang las and ahs. But this is a minor quibble...this was pure Disney magic and everyone roared their appreciation.

Finally came Stravinsky's Firebird Suite - or as I now think of it - Bambi II ! The Brizzis have made a simply beautiful piece about an elk, a sprite and a firebird which I think I supposed to send out a message that everything restores itself in the circle of life. A piece of film Walt himself would have been proud of but in choosing the elk with its antlers, etcÉ I just couldn't help thinking of Prince Bambi.

And then it was over...without the links the whole performance ran for only an hour, no encore but several standing ovations which culminated in Mickey Mouse handing James Levine a bouquet. I, for one, will be heading to one of only three Imax screens here in Britain to view it on an even larger scale. With work like this and The Iron Giant, which opened here last Friday to rave reviews the world of animation looks bright for the next millennium."

E ME: How do you think the Oscar race is ready to shape up?

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE:

Friday, 12/24 - Twas The Night Before Christmas `99
Monday, 12/27 - Weekend Review
Tuesday, 12/28 - Top Ten Movies I Just Don't Get
Wednesday, 12/29 - The Worst Ten of 1999
Thursday, 12/30 - The Best Ten Films of 1999
Friday, 1/1/00 - New Year's Resolutions
Monday, 1/4/00 - Hot Button 2000 begins