Synopsis

A musical anthology pairs classical compositions with imaginative animated imagery, continuing the format established by Disney's 1940 classic. New sequences visualize everything from abstract geometric motion and urban life to a playful flamingo, a destructive volcano, and a family's struggle against winter. The original "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" returns, while live-action introductions connect the segments and celebrate the relationship between music and animation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film was developed under the working title "Fantasia Continued," reflecting Walt Disney's original idea that Fantasia should remain an evolving work rather than a one-time production.

• Roy E. Disney championed the project for years and helped bring the Fantasia concept back to theaters nearly six decades after the original film.

• Fantasia 2000 was the first feature-length animated film released in IMAX. Its initial engagement began on January 1, 2000, and lasted four months before the standard theatrical release on June 16, 2000.

• The film premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City on December 17, 1999. It was also presented as part of a concert tour that visited London, Paris, Tokyo, and Pasadena.

• Seven new animated sequences were created for the film, while "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was retained from the 1940 production.

• "Rhapsody in Blue" uses a visual style inspired by caricature artist Al Hirschfeld. The sequence's Broadway finale employed more than 200 colors, creating technical difficulties for Disney's CAPS digital ink-and-paint system.

• The Firebird sequence draws on the imagery of Mount St. Helens' 1980 eruption, transforming the natural disaster into a dramatic cycle of destruction and renewal.

• The film's classical program includes works by Beethoven, Respighi, Gershwin, Shostakovich, Saint-Saens, Dukas, Elgar, and Stravinsky, with the music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.