More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical, and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000 features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death, and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not an equal) to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the one original Fantasia piece included here. The high point of Fantasia 2000, though, is a fantastic day-in-the-life sequence of 1930s New York City set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and animated in the style of cartoonist Al Hirschfeld; it's a perfect melding of music, story, and animation. Let's hope future Fantasias (reportedly in the works) take a cue from the best of this compilation. The music is provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, interspersed with negligible intros by Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones, and others. --Mark Englehart

Customer Rating:
Summary: Horrible.
Comment: I knew what I was getting as far as the movie with this purchase, however what the seller failed to mention was that the DVD was actually a bootleg. Not in new shrink wrap, it was in a cheap plastic slip with a printed cover. Worst of all, upon popping the DVD in the player to make sure it at least worked it is dubbed in JAPANESE!! This seller was by far the worst experience I have ever had on Amazon. No reply, no refund, nothing. I urge anyone who comes across this seller not to buy these cheap bootlegs from them.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Movie
Comment: This is a great movie for kids and adults. It's better than the first Fantasia. Besides the flying whale during the Pines of Rome (the only part I don't like--who thinks of flying whales with a song like the Pines of Rome?), everything is incredibly creative and exciting to watch!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Postive
Comment: I received this movie within a decent time and it was actually a wonderful movie. I am satisfied with my purchase.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the original
Comment: The original Fantasia is two hours long. Fantasia 2000 is only 75 minutes long. Sure, it's more attention-grabbing, but this is even less compelling than the original.

Beethoven's 5th is underused (only four minutes worth of music compared to the twenty minutes of the 6th). The second movement of "Pines of Rome" by Ottonio Respighi is entirely cut out. WHY? The Finale to "Carnival of the Animals" is more bombastic than it should be. "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin has some good points, so no loss there. "Pomp and Circumstance" by Sir Edward Elgar is a hit and miss. Donald Duck is supposed to be a nonchalant, hot-headed duck, but I guess political correctness got its wish here. Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto" is uninteresting, and it lacks the beauty and charm that's found in the original. And finally, they could've used the complete 1910 version of Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird" rather than the 1949 suite. The villain of the sequence is awe-inspiring, however.

So the animation is much better-looking than the original, but it lacks the intrigue and extreme risk-taking that was found in the original. So I give this a C+.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not the original, but still nice
Comment: I know that "Fantasia" was suppose to be a continual work-in-progress, but this is several decades too late to capture Walt's true vision, I'm sure. Still, I think it warrants 4 stars for beautiful music and some great animation.

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