Fantasia (1940)
Average Rating: 8.6/10
Reviews Counted: 49
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 2
A landmark in animation (and a huge influence on the medium of music video), Disney's Fantasia is a relentlessly inventive blend of the classics with phantasmagorical images.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 0
A landmark in animation (and a huge influence on the medium of music video), Disney's Fantasia is a relentlessly inventive blend of the classics with phantasmagorical images.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 104,499
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Movie Info
Fantasia, Walt Disney's animated masterpiece of the 1940s, grew from a short-subject cartoon picturization of the Paul Dukas musical piece The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Mickey Mouse was starred in this eight-minute effort, while the orchestra was under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. Disney and Stokowski eventually decided that the notion of marrying classical music with animation was too good to confine to a mere short subject; thus the notion was expanded into a two-hour feature,
G,
Animation, Kids & Family, Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Elmer Plummer, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, Erdman Penner, Joseph Sabo
Nov 13, 1940 Wide
Nov 1, 1991
Walt Disney Productions
Cast
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Leopold Stokowski
Himself -
Bela Lugosi
Model for Tchernabog -
Philadelphia Symphony Orc...
Orchestra -
Walt Disney
Mickey Mouse -
Deems Taylor
Himself -
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All Critics (49) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (2) | DVD (17)
The words most used to describe "Fantasia," besides the conventional "beautiful" and "wonderful" were "path-breaking" and "courageous." The phrase "courageous beyond belief" would be even more accurate.
Critics may deplore Disney's lapses of taste, but he trips, Mickey-like, into an art form that immortals from Aeschylus to Richard Wagner have always dreamed of.
Top CriticThere is something in Fantasia for every taste.
The concept and some of the episodes are tainted with kitsch, but there's no other animated film with its scope and ambition.
Certainly not to be missed.
Top CriticFantasia is simply terrific -- as terrific as anything that has ever happened on a screen.
I belong to those who had no need of that kind of entertainment, being content with seeing pictures and hearing music.
[Disney's] most personal and grandest vision. Watching the movie again proves that, of course, it's not a chore. It's a pleasure.
Breathtaking animation feat -- with some creepy visuals.
Despite a couple of uneven parts that may try the patience of some, the whole of Fantasia is a marvel.
Though Fantasia didn't perform as well as Walt Disney had hoped, it remains a testament to his exceptional cinematic genius. [Blu-ray]
The bonus features, or lack thereof, are a bummer, but Fantasia and especially its eager-to-please stepchild Fantasia 2000 have never looked better.
A symphony of sound, animation and unbridled Disney spirit.
At the time of its release, it was probably the boldest, most experimental production to come out of Hollywood, which is why it is not terribly surprising that it was Disney's biggest commercial failure.
Give me the ostriches in ballet shoes and the hippos in tutus ... over the cute fauns and unicorns frolicking in a pastel landscape ... any day.
Ribboned with flaws both impossibly minor and embarrassingly large, but it surely must count as one of the most visually stunning American movies ever made.
The most ambitious animated feature ever to come out of the Disney studios...
This is a very patchy affair -- while some of the animated pieces work, others come across as downright insane.
The ambitious and uneven eight-part marriage of classical music and animation has become among the most popular of Walt Disney's classics.
Audience Reviews for Fantasia
Super Reviewer
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- Mickey Mouse: [pulling On Stokowki's Coat] Mr. Stokowki! Mr. Stokowki! [Mickey Whistles To Get Stokowki's Attention]
- Mickey Mouse: My Congratulations, Sir!
- Himself: [shaking Hands With Mickey] Congratulations To You, Mickey!
- Mickey Mouse: Gee, Thanks! He, He! Well, So Long! I'll Be Seeing Ya!
- Himself: Goodbye!
Discussion Forum
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Foreign Titles
- Fantasia (DE)
- Fantasia (1940) (UK)


As a more mature foray into art and music fantasy, Disney further missed its mark with careless racist and sexist references (as it often does) in Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" with the specifically colored horses and in "Dance of the Hours" with the offensive and alarming gender roles. In the 21st century, "Fantasia"'s dated quality really shows.