Review: Fantasia on Blu-ray

Rating: 10/10

I recently purchased the Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 combo pack on Blu-ray.  I already own the Fantasia Anthology three-disc DVD set which contains Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 and Fantasia Legacy, which has all of the special features for both movies.  Of course with these being a pair of my favorite movies I had to pick up the high-def version on Blu-ray.

Overall, the Blu-ray presentation of Fantasia is amazing.  From the menus to the film you can tell that great care was taken in the re-mastering of this movie.  The menu is full sound and and motion.  When you move the cursor there is a different musical tone that is played in a scale like a toy piano.  The picture is vivid and sharp.  The colors pop and are more pristine than the DVD version.  The sound on the Blu-ray is crisp and clear.  It is great to hear Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in such clarity.

For the most part Fantasia is in the original, uncut version.  The film even includes the intermission segment complete with the curtains closing and the title card projected.  This was something that was cut out of some of the previous versions.  However, it is still a "censored" movie , but I believe that it does not detract from the film at all.  For those unaware, the segment featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" contains the censored scenes.  This segment features the symphony set against a world of centaurs.  The editors censored the scenes depicting a black centaur.  Apparently the way in which it was drawn and acts is considered racist.  I have seen the original clip and I understand how it can be considered racist.  The Disney editors did a great job in censoring these scenes.  The editors panned over and zoomed in on other aspects of the scene, cutting out the black centaur and its actions.  These edits are flawlessly done.  It is so seamless that you do not notice that something was cut out.

My favorite segment of Fantasia is Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.  I find the concept of the evolution of species to be fitting.  The way in which the "story" progresses with the music is spot on.  This for me is one of the reasons why Fantasia is so successful.

The only drawback to this Blu-ray set is the lack of special features.  The Disney Studios have included some new special features, but left off the unfinished segments like Debussy's Claire de Lune or Sibelius's Swan of Tuonela.  These pieces were sketched or storyboarded, but never finished.  These were included as special feautres on the three-disc DVD set Fantasia Anthology that I have had for years, so I will not be getting rid of these anytime soon.

In spite of the lack of these special features, the Blu-ray version of Fantasia is well worth owning.  The picture is crisp, the colors are vivid and the sound is clear.  This is the way in which Walt Disney meant for this film to be experienced.


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