Fantasia
The Disney film “Fantasia”, produced during Disney’s so called ‘Golden Age’ in 1940, strings together ten animated and live shorts with a full professional orchestra and to showcase the work of eight venerated composers. One of the hallmarks of Disney’s ‘Golden Era’- also nicknamed ‘The Tar and Sugar Era’, was the vivid mix of light and dark, sweet and sinister. Fantasia is a shining example of this melodramatic style.
The film opens with a subdued, but colorful, live action opening where the orchestra’s conductor introduces the film, its design and himself as its narrator. I couldn’t help but be reminded of classrooms in Early Childhood Centers where we encourage children to paint to the music...and the resulting conversations about their representations. Especially in the first piece-Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by German Baroque maestro Johann Sebastian Bach. …show more content…
The most abstract and minimalist animation of the film- it simply did little to interpret the piece thematically. It was a simple graphic interpretation of the structure of the music- gestural renderings of dynamics and tempo. It was what we saw working with children- painting fast when the music goes fast, moving lines and shapes up and down with the pitch of the music.
This was followed by Nutcracker Suite, including "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", "Chinese Dance", "Dance of the Flutes", "Arabian Dance", "Russian Dance" and "Waltz of the Flowers" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, legend of late-Romantic period. Selections from the ballet suite underscore scenes depicting the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn to winter. A variety of dances are presented with fairies, fish, flowers, mushrooms, and
The Disney film “Fantasia”, produced during Disney’s so called ‘Golden Age’ in 1940, strings together ten animated and live shorts with a full professional orchestra and to showcase the work of eight venerated composers. One of the hallmarks of Disney’s ‘Golden Era’- also nicknamed ‘The Tar and Sugar Era’, was the vivid mix of light and dark, sweet and sinister. Fantasia is a shining example of this melodramatic style.
The film opens with a subdued, but colorful, live action opening where the orchestra’s conductor introduces the film, its design and himself as its narrator. I couldn’t help but be reminded of classrooms in Early Childhood Centers where we encourage children to paint to the music...and the resulting conversations about their representations. Especially in the first piece-Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by German Baroque maestro Johann Sebastian Bach. …show more content…
The most abstract and minimalist animation of the film- it simply did little to interpret the piece thematically. It was a simple graphic interpretation of the structure of the music- gestural renderings of dynamics and tempo. It was what we saw working with children- painting fast when the music goes fast, moving lines and shapes up and down with the pitch of the music.
This was followed by Nutcracker Suite, including "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy", "Chinese Dance", "Dance of the Flutes", "Arabian Dance", "Russian Dance" and "Waltz of the Flowers" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, legend of late-Romantic period. Selections from the ballet suite underscore scenes depicting the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn to winter. A variety of dances are presented with fairies, fish, flowers, mushrooms, and