Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 [Blu-ray]

Disney have out-done themselves with this restoration of Fantasia. It would appear that all the original live-action footage and narration have been restored and (other than the removal of the "racist" character from the Pastoral Symphony) Fantasia has finally been returned to how it played back in 1940.
The animation has been cleaned up to a sparkling shine and the 4:3 aspect ratio has been retained (so no awful 16:9 stretching or cropping!). Disney even thought to include a feature that replaces the "pillarbox" black strips with custom borders that reflect each scene of the film, which actually manages to enhance the viewing experience.
The restoration is so good, in fact, that I think Fantasia 2000's visuals actually pale in comparison, though are by no means poor.

As for bonus features, there's a lot on offer if you're a fan of behind-the-scenes documentaries and Disney history (which I personally love) but not so much for those who want deleted segments or anything from the abandoned Fantasia 2006 project (which doesn't seem to even get mentioned). The best bonus is definitely the Salvador Dali collaboration film Destino and its accompanying feature-length documentary "Disney and Dali: A Date with Destino". The short film itself is a moving work of art that I could watch again and again and never tire of; the documentary is a very interesting insight into the lives of Walt Disney and Salvador Dali and how they came to work together. There's also a brief look at "Musicana", an abandoned spiritual successor to Fantasia that was dreamt-up but then abandoned in the 1970s.
(It should be noted that all of the above features appear on the Fantasia 2000 disc so may not be available in the stand-alone Fantasia release - just a word of caution.)

All-in-all, a fantastic restoration of a timeless masterpiece and a must-have for any animation fan.

I first saw Fantasia during the late 1960s when I saw it on a local flea-pit, now long closed. Being a lover of classical music, I expected to be really disappointed with expectations of poor performances and sound. However, this was not the case, and to this day I have never lost my admiration of this film and believe it to be one of Disney's finest creations.

And now, this Blu-Ray version has come along with high expectations from me, and I was not disappointed. The picture is beautiful to look at, with some scenes, especially in the Beethoven Pastoral scenes, showing fine detail and outstanding colour. This applies right throughout the film, and makes purchasing of Blu-Ray machines all the more worthwhile.

As for the audio, I did have a slight problem with this. My hearing has deterioted over the years, since I am now in my 60s. Luckily, I haven't lost the tone altogether, and using a Yamaha Home Cinema 7:1 amplifier I was able to spread the sound much wider around the room. But, I didnt like the DTS Theatre Mode, seemed too bassy and flat for me, so I switched the sound mode to Movie Spectacle 5:1 and found it sounded much better, with more treble. Of course, everyone's hearing is different, so viewers should find the right sound mode for them.

The same applies to Fantasia 2000. I already had a copy of this on DVD bought a few years back, so I knew what to expect anyway. I particularly enjoyed the Blu-Ray version however, with much sharper detail and fantastic colour. I also used the same sound mode Movie Spectacle 5:1 and it sounded superb.

There are some extras which are worthwhile too, especially the Dali Destino segment which you will find on the Fantasia 2000 disc.

This could be one of THE Blu-Ray releases of the year.

To cut a long review short, I'll open with the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) version. Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 on Blu-ray is a perfect release. The transfers are flawless and the 7.1 DTS HD representation of the classical scores are aural nirvana. The stunning picture and audio bring the old Fantasia soundbite of 'seeing music and hearing pictures' to new levels of immersion. I'll put my neck on the line and describe Fantasia as the finest moment of Disney's Golden Age, an act of startling genius, and similarly claim this to be the most impressive Blu-ray release for any of the House of Mouse's classics yet. Fantasia 2000 makes this edition well worth choosing over the Fantasia solus release, although it is undeniably the lesser of the two films. Your kids might not love the world of Fantasia initially, but that's nothing that a trip to the hospital for a soul transplant can't fix.

Now with that out of the way, let's do this thing.

Packaging:

In truth, the packaging isn't much to write home about. While the very reasonable price has to be taken into consideration, it's just two separate common or garden Blu-ray cases in a box of thin card. No booklet beyond an advertorial pamphlet. It does conform to the stylings of the splipcases from previous Disney classics and has an embossed front, but if you were hoping for a digipack, stop hoping.

Picture quality:

The likes of Dumbo and Pinocchio have been fine on Blu-ray but watching Fantasia is the first time I've been blown away by a Disney classic. The drawings and animation truly do have an ageless quality to them and it's difficult to imagine how they can improve on this. One thing you want from HD is great colour and Fantasia has a lot of colour for Blu-ray to work its wonders on. Naturally, Fantasia 2000 benefits from being little over a decade old but could have suffered because of those scenes that use what is now eleven-year-old CGI. As it happens, while there is a comparative soullessness to some of the CGI sections, it still looks good. The more traditional animation is spectacular and the transfer is again flawless.

Fantasia comes in its original aspect 1.33:1 ratio while 2000 is widescreen. You also get the optional Disney View for Fantasia to fill in the black bars down the sides with still drawings, but that usually just ends up intrusive.

Audio:

Audio is often relegated to a secondary concern for the average consumer, but with Fantasia it's at least as important as the visuals. Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Schubert and Beethoven demand the finest quality and they get it with the 7.1 HD surround sound. Thunderous percussion and lush strings all the way. Of all the releases on Blu-ray, this is a prime example that demands you take your audio set-up seriously.

Extras:

Brian Sibley's audio commentary for Fantasia delivers worthwhile insights into all aspects of the film. You'll never need Wikipedia again! The other major bonus comes on the Fantasia 2000 disc in the form of Destino, the six-minute collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali. The audio here is 'only' stereo and the visuals aren't as crisp as the main features, but it's good enough. The remaining extras aren't all that worthwhile beyond another commentary for each film from previous DVD releases, but when you're getting two great films and another short one, that's more than worth the asking price.

The films:

Fantasia remains a genuinely remarkable film, quite unlike anything else from Disney. In places it still matches the finest in avant-garde. A visual concert from start to finish with the only dialogue coming from Deems Taylor's introductions. In Nutcracker Suite two leaves perform a pas de deux, later echoed by a hippo and alligator in Dance of the Hours. It famously flopped on release. Well, of course it did, some things are just too ahead of their time and outrageously imaginative for their own good.

Mickey Mouse has always been the poster boy for the film, and although he isn't star in the way newcomers might expect, his one sequence, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, is perhaps his most iconic short (sorry, Steamboat Willie). It also has some of Mickey's darker moments, but Night on Bald Mountain is Disney at its darkest, with demons and nudity (yeah, well, as a prude, I think nudity is a pretty dark place to go...). Not forgetting The Rite of Spring, which depicts the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'm a little surprised there's not a single word of caution beside the U rating.

Fantasia 2000 is a worthy if understandably inferior follow-up. The introductions by the likes of Steve Martin and Penn & Teller are the worst parts, in fairness. On the plus side, you do get to feel the presence of a James Earl Jones intro. In places, such as the excellent Rhapsody in Blue, it completely does away with conventional Disney style for something altogether more European, but when juxtaposed with the CGI elsewhere, it leaves the film feeling more disjointed. No one segment can be singled out for criticism, though. Firebird Suite would not be out of place in a Studio Ghibli film and Donald Duck makes a crowd-pleasing appearance in Pomp and Circumstance.

Conclusion:

Are you really still reading? I do apologise, just buy it already! There is no Blu-ray collection that this doesn't belong in.