Fantasia (1940)

5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My personal icon for classical music and the source of famed 20th Century conductor Leopold Stokowski being my idol due to his shadowy leading image!!!

Where to start with this wonderfully evocative interpretation of seven timeless pieces of classical music that accompany perhaps not Disney's most detailed, but still wonderful animations. It is essentially a series of short stories - each as different from the other as you can imagine. I think that's the most important principle when enjoying this - you must use your imagination. The representations try, with varying degrees of success, to put more defined, ambiguous and occasionally abstract imagery alongside the music - some with humour (frequently using animals, birds, insects etc.) through to far more sinister and challenging imagery, that at times reminded me of something Fritz Lang might have produced in the 1920s. It is a little too episodically presented - and the intermission needlessly robs it of flow but as a colourful introduction to classical music it takes some beating. (Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice was my favourite!)