Fantasia Movie Review

Most people don't have the time, money, or energy to watch many movies, so when you do get a chance to watch something, you want it to be worthwhile. That's why Rotten Tomatoes exists: to give a snapshot of whether a movie is worth your time. But does it always work? I'll be watching all of Rotten Tomatoes’ Certified Fresh movies from this Wikipedia list starting in the year 1990, the decade I was born, and we'll see if these movies are really worth the hype.

Movie 20 of 1990:

Fantasia, directed by Samuel Armstrong, James Algar, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen, David D. Hand, Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, Ford Beebe, T. Hee, Norman Ferguson, and Wilfred Jackson, was originally released in 1940, but re-released in 1990 for its 50th anniversary. It received two honorary Oscars, one for its use of sound and another for essentially inventing the music video. That's really what this movie is: a bunch of music videos smushed together. It's not the most exciting for a modern audience, but I can understand how revolutionary it was when it first came out.

This is a movie that I’d never seen before, but I realized how much of the imagery had become so ingrained in culture. I found familiarity in the dancing hippos, gargoyle devil, and the classic Micky wizard hat. I was brought back to childhood seeing these things again (I loved House of Mouse). This alone shows how much this movie has stood the test of time.

The way that nature was portrayed was lovely to watch, and honestly somewhat moving. Seeing how the changing of the leaves was personified as fairies altering the colors was unique. Nature was a heavy theme throughout; we even got an extended sequence of dinosaurs, most of which had creepy red eyes. I’m scared of dinosaurs, so I found that unsettling.

I did get a bit restless at certain parts. Sitting for two plus hours watching these pieces could feel a bit repetitive. This would have probably gone over better just watching them as the short films that they were, instead of one big piece. I wouldn’t call the movie boring, though; it’s just not always narratively the most gripping.

The more kid-friendly segments seemed to be front-loaded at the beginning. I can appreciate the anticipation of children getting restless sitting through a movie with little dialogue for such a long time. Overall, it was very well thought out and is a piece of movie history.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Is it worth the hype?:

It’s a bit high, but for the most part. Movie history is on display here. I might’ve preferred watching these as shorts, but the overarching themes of nature helped pull it together. This is something that any film or animation lover should experience at least once.