SCENES FROM   "FANTASIA 2000"

December 31, 1999
Web posted at: 11:00 a.m. EST (1600 GMT)

From Bill Tush
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- In the beginning was "Fantasia."

Released in 1940, the animated Disney film married music to animation in a way never before attempted, with combinations ranging from the bizarre (hippos dancing in tutus to "Dance of the Hours") to the comic (Mickey Mouse conjuring spells in the film's most famous "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" sequence).

Then, there were the re-releases. They altered the film for better or worse, trimming it from 120 minutes to 88. Once, those adjustments squashed it to conform with the CinemaScope aspect ratio. Finally, in 1990, the film got the remastering treatment so audiences could at last see a pristine, restored version.

	VIDEO
Theatrical preview for "Fantasia/2000" Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

Now, fans of "Fantasia" have something new to anticipate. Roy Disney, nephew of Walt Disney and current head of Disney Animation, has taken the 1940 classic and redone it -- again -- creating "Fantasia/2000," a film with entirely new segments except for the signature "Sorcerer" sequence.

That Mickey Mouse cartoon, Disney says, "is the original film and the original sound. We toyed around with recording the sound, and nobody really, really did (conductor Leopold) Stokowski's version."

Roy Disney

But Mickey and the conductor are now IMAX-size. And seven new numbers have been added. Computer animation is also coming into play. The original was entirely hand-drawn. Imagine hand-drawing every bubble in the Cinderella segment, each reflecting the downtrodden princess' reflection. Now, Disney says, "We can add a lot more elements."

The new segments include images of flying whales set to portions of Ottorino Respighi's "Pines of Rome"; a comic romp through 1930s New York using George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"; a chorus line of flamingos set to parts of Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals"; and a Noah's Ark piece starring Donald Duck, and featuring Sir Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" March No. 1.

While the changes may seem like sacrilege to those who thought the original animated feature untouchable, Roy Disney says the alterations have been made in the spirit of Walt's original intentions.

Mickey's creator, Disney says, wanted the film to be a work in progress. "That idea just simply sort of faded away," he says, "and I guess I was the guy who always remembered it."

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Check the list to see if "Fantasia/2000" is playing in your city

And the original film itself is unlikely to disappear. Made for the then-exorbitant sum of $2.28 million, it's made at least $41.6 million on the video-rental circuit.

For many, at least for the next four months, the rental counter may be the best place to get a taste of the dreamlike world of "Fantasia."

While "Fantasia/2000" is to play for four months beginning New Year's Day on 75 IMAX screens around the world, those screens won't necessarily be at a theater near you -- not even at the nearest IMAX house.

Most large cities have an IMAX cinema. But many are at science centers or educational institutions either unable or unwilling to meet Disney's stipulation that they show nothing but "Fantasia/2000" for four months.

The film opens in regular theaters later in the year.

Like its predecessor -- which was initially a commercial flop -- "Fantasia/2000" is not thought to have blockbuster potential. Rich Gelfond, IMAX co-chief-executive, says his company will be happy if the film grosses a modest $25 million to $35 million during its IMAX run.