Fantasia 2000: Visions of Hope

by John Culhane, Roy E. Disney, James Levine (contributor)

When Walt Disney created Fantasia in the late 1930s, it was his plan to update the animated feature film with classical music and state-of-the-art animation techniques. But a disappointing box office showing forced him to shelve those plans -- until now. Under the auspices of Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew and vice-chairman of the Wait Disney Company, Walt's dream will come true when Fantasia is reborn as Fantasia 2000.Set to premier on January 1, 2000, this animation extravaganza features six fresh musical pieces with sparkling new animation, as well as three sequences meticulously restored from the original film. In John Culhane's elegant and sumptuous volume, artwork from each of the film's nine sequences -- concept paintings, character sketches, storyboards, rough animation, clean-up animation, and spectacular final images -- are stunningly reproduced in exuberant color and on the highest quality paper. In keeping with Walt's optimistic view of the future, John Culhane's text delves into the theme of hope and resurrection, making this volume the perfect book to launch the new millennium.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

179 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1999

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book - then again you would expect nothing less from the world of Disney.

The original Fantasia was an incredible piece of work - which still to this day does not really fit any one simple description, its music, its art, its animation, its Disney and the list can go on and on.

Then came the re-imaging of the original in 2000. I am not sure if this is the view Disney took but I feel its the best description. It takes some of the old work and revives it all the while weaving it in to new pieces coming up with something truly beautiful and equally as captivating as the first.

But this book is more than that - there are details of behind the scenes, what they tried to create and how they achieved it. This book appeals to the die hard Disney fan and the causal reader alike.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a large and richly illustrated coffee table book devoted to arguably the last and most 'renaissance-like' feature film of the Disney renaissance (1989-2000). The book uses a large print and contains surprisingly little, yet very welcome background information on the origin of the story ideas, the challenges of the artists, and their references. Note that this book is a celebration of the movie: it knows no criticism - it's all praise. Note, too, that a lot of the artwork consist of film stills, there's much less concept art present than you'd hope for. Culhane's earlier book on the original 'Fantasia' (1987) is much more interesting in every respect.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Culhane's text is over-written and scatterbrained. He also interviews the artists, who prefer spelling out subtext over offering insight.

At least the art's large, unlike his book on 'Fantasia.'

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are both my favourite Disney films. I love going through this book every now and again to relive it through book form.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great insight into one of my favorite movies ever

[Drew Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantasia/2000 continues the tradition of animation set to classical music established in Walt Disney's original concert feature from 1940, Fantasia. This book chronicles the art and making of each segment of Roy Disney's pet project.

I found this oversized Disney art book at a book sale many years ago, and have finally taken the time to really look through it (that it came in a commemorative silver cardboard case for some reason might have put me off from opening it very often, ha ha... I mean, the half-open plastic wrapping is still on the thing). As Art-Of books go, it's pretty good, including many of the elements you would expect -- concept art, character designs, storyboards, CG-renderings, and full-page and spread production stills, featuring segment-by-segment chapters. The text is informative and fairly non-intrusive, though I'm always sort of of the opinion that these books would be served better with more images and less text. The art is the thing! But this particular movie has so much historical context that the facts and conversations with filmmakers and musicians seemed to support the graphics nicely. There's even a sort of P.S. with biographical blurbs about each of the composers whose music is featured in the film.

This is a great addition to the oversized Disney art book series. Fantasia/2000 is a pretty underappreciated film, and it's always fascinating to get a little insight to the making and art of such an artistic achievement. It really made me want to watch the movie again, or at least listen to the awesome classical soundtrack.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overwhelming, breathtaking, discerning, amusing and silly—these are some of the adjectives that come to mind when describing this oversized book that details one of the most memorable movies ever created in the 20th century. Fantasia 2000 isn’t a remake of the original; except for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” segment, every part of this film was brand new. But it recaptured the Disney spirit, one that entailed innovation, captured wonder and splashed the big screen with color, movement and some of the greatest classical “hits” of the Western hemisphere.

This book ably lays out the details that went into the making of that grand film with page after page of gloriously colored stills, photographs and line drawings. These often intertwine with the text, each complementing the other as the writer brings the reader behind the scenes, as it were, with the ideas and tech support underpinning each segment. If you’ve seen the film, this book is the perfect accompaniment. If you haven’t, it will make you want to go out and see it, bringing with you a deeper understanding of what made each part work so brilliantly. Fantasia 2000: Visions of Hope will make a believer out of any sceptic—when Disney animation is at its best, there is nothing that can touch it.

[τλιϓλ · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب مليء بالتفاصيل، غني بالرسوم
لقد أبهرني ^_^

Amazing, I loved it since I saw the cover and once I finish reading it I was like: HOW WONDERFUL

[Milan Tlach]

I this is was 21, December 2016 Happy Birthday Milan for a Milan's Books Fantasia 2000: Vision of Hopes.