I just got back from a showing of "Fantasia" at my local theater for its 75th anniversary (which today is also the 87th anniversary of Mickey Mouse). "Fantasia" is one of those movies that is just so special that you just have to see it on the movie screen - TV screens just can't do justice.
Anyway, one thing I noticed recently (and had heretofore not really paid attention to) was the amount of water and bubbles in the movie. It can almost be seen as a water concert. Or if not a water symphony, then at least a concert where water plays a role. You might say it's like Walt Disney World's Electrical Water Pageant without anything electrical. With the obvious exception of the opening Toccata and Fugue segment, almost every scene in the movie contains water and bubbles at some point or another.
I'll go section by section...
After Toccata and Fugue, we have the Nutcracker Suite. Here, we see several moments with water, in the Dance of the Flutes segment showing multicolored blossoms on the water...
...and of course, the Arab Dance with coy-looking fish.
Next, there is the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment with Mickey Mouse. Here, water and bubbles are almost front and center here, from Mickey's directing of the ocean waves...
...to, of course, the flooding caused the broom(s) that keep filling the cauldron full of water. When the cauldron overflows, the brooms simply add to the flood.
And even when the sorcerer Yen Sid arrives to stop the flooding, there are still puddles of bubbles on the floor:
Then, in the Rite of Spring segment, bubbles and water appear at several points. For instance, the opening scene of no life on Earth is full of bubbling lava and rough, roiling seas:
Then all is quiet as the ocean teems with single-cell life...
...that evolve into dinosaurs. These creatures are never too far from water.
Furthermore, the fight between the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Stegosaurus is set during a downpour.
Finally, near the end, after the dinosaurs are wiped out, come earthquakes that bring in more rough seas:
This ends the first half of my review. The second half is coming soon.
Oh, and before I forget, happy birthday, Mickey Mouse! And Minnie, too!
87 years! Can you believe that?
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