Fantasia 2020

Fantasia 2020 is a new sequel to Fantasia 2000. It is the third and final installment of the BBC and Disney Fantasia trilogy. The film consists of ten animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leon Botstein and Seiji Ozawa music is performed by the American Symphony Orchestra. Music critic and composer Paul Kandel acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies, providing a live-action/animated introduction to every animated segment.

It will be released on August 3rd.

Segments
Fantasia 2020 opens with live-action scenes of members of an orchestra gathering against a blue background and tuning their instruments in the half-light including a grand piano, half-shadow. Master of ceremonies Paul Kandel enters the stage (also in the half-light, half-shadow) and introduces the program.

Segment 1: Symphony No. 9: 4th Movement (written by Ludwig van Beethoven)
Abstract patterns and shapes that resemble stars in various colorful shades, tints, and hues explore a world of light and darkness whilst being pursued by a swarm of fire. The world is ultimately conquered by light.

Segment 2: Pines of Rome (written by Ottorino Respighi)
Set in a frozen Arctic landscape where aurora lights shine across the beautiful night sky, the segment introduces three humpback whales. Two of them are adults, and the third is their little baby who appears to be feisty and loves to swim around and jump high out of the water.

The baby humpback follows its parents to the surface where they jump and splash in and out of the Arctic waters until they rise out and fly except the baby humpback. After a few jumps, it finally manages to get airborne and joins its parents. It suddenly spots a group of seagulls and decides to fly with them but instead makes them annoyed. The angry seagulls chase after until the baby humpback escapes into the water and becomes trapped inside a huge iceberg.

Surrounded by frozen icy walls, the baby humpback appears unhurt but all alone in the dark icy caverns. It begins to explore the cave searching for a way out. Beneath the cave's waters are many spiky icicles in every direction. It rises to the surface and sees its mother's shadow whose on the other side of the ice walls. The baby humpback desperately tries to get to it and follows its parents' shadows to a light. Once it swims inside it, it begins to float to where the light is shining from and is reunited with its parents.

As the brightest star flashes, the three whales return to the waters and join a larger pod of humpback whales. Soon millions of humpbacks take to the sky and fly across a forest landscape to the top of the clouds. They fly towards a storm cloud where bright light is shining from it until finally, they rise out of the waters where the star shines like a nighttime sunrise.

Segment 3: The Ugly Duckling/The Four Seasons (written by Antonio Vivaldi)
Based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen. Set on the British countryside, this segment tells a story about a young bird hatched in the nest with mallard ducklings. Over the course of the changing seasons, the ducklings and their parents don't get along with the young bird, until they realize he has grown into a beautiful mute swan.

Background animals include European fallow deer, domestic horses, greylag geese, grey herons, European robins, red foxes, European badgers, European rabbits, European hedgehogs, European red squirrels, least weasels, ring-necked pheasants, common kingfishers, European otters, water voles, carrion crows, tawny owls, common frogs, European pond terrapins and northern pikes.

Segment 4: The Frog's Music/Summertime (written by George Gershwin)
Set in the Deep South, a colony of frogs in a bayou take on the form of a jazz band, playing instruments such as the piano, drums, and trumpet. Two pieces of music are used in this segment, one by Ella Fitzgerald and another by Louis Armstrong. At the end of the sequence, a riverboat goes by and wash all the frogs around.

Like the other segments, you can hear the Hamadryas baboon speaking (but only singing).

Segment 5: Dance of the Hours (written by Amilcare Ponchielli) and The Carnival of the Animals (written by Camille Saint-Saëns)
A pair of palace doors open and we enter. Enter Madame Upanova the ostrich, who begins to perform her warm-up exercises, waking her fellow dancers. As they perform, their movements made somewhat ungainly by their long legs, Madame Upanova is thrown into the air, descending gracefully. She flutters her eyelashes and her bow at the viewer. She then finds a large conch of fruit and distributes it among her dancers, but chooses to keep the grapes for herself. The ostriches squabble between themselves over the grapes, resulting in the grapes being dropped into a pool, from which bubbles rise. Madame Upanova and her dancers promptly flee.

Hyacinth Hippo comes out of the pool. She eats the grapes while shaking water off her ballet slippers and tail, and is dressed in a tutu by her servants, making herself up with a powder puff, and then begins to dance slowly and gracefully - ironically much more gracefully than the skinny ostriches - playing 'pat-a-cake' with her hippo servants and pirouetting, spinning her fat up her body and sinking down again. However, this soon tires her out and she yawns. Her servants pull her to a couch, which she falls asleep on, her weight bending the couch visibly as evening falls.

Enter Elephanchine and her elephant troupe. They tiptoe in so as not to wake the sleeping Hyacinth, surrounding her briefly, and then moving to the pool where they begin to blow bubbles with their trunks. One to her astonishment blows a bubble with a goldfish in it. Hyacinth yawns widely, inhaling all the bubbles and when one bursts on her bottom, tugging her tutu down a little. However, she does not awaken. With their bubbles, the elephant troupe creates their own tutus and begins to blow bubbles and kick them off their backs, though one gets a bubble stuck on her foot. They create a pillar of bubbles that supports the slumbering Hyacinth high in the air. A strong wind blows, blowing the elephants and their bubbles away, night falls, and Hyacinth drifts gently to the ground.

The clock strikes six, and alligators begin to approach the sleeping Hyacinth, surrounding her. One whispers to his companions and points at the sleeping Hyacinth. Enter Ben Ali Gator. Seeing the alligators surrounding Hyacinth, he tosses his cape aside and leaps forward, frightening them away. He then approaches Hyacinth and is instantly astounded by her beauty. She awakens and is surprised by Ben Ali Gator, then enters a Pas de Deux with him, first fleeing, then running back, and leaping into a lift, which the much slimmer Ben Ali has trouble performing. He pirouettes her, eventually riding around on her extended leg and finally bowing to her.

In the climax, Hyacinth teases Ben Ali, running from his advances and nearly running into several alligators as she does so. He pursues her, falling into the pool as he does so. She then runs through a line of dancing hippos. Ben Ali and his alligators pursue them also, frightening them away. The ostriches and elephants hide behind pillars as the alligators search the palace, pulling out hippos, elephants, and ostriches, with the ballet becoming rapidly more chaotic. All of the characters are shown dancing together, including Ben Ali with Hyacinth, performing lifts rapidly, finally standing over her, with her gazing adoringly at him.

On a final gong bang, the doors slam shut, collapsing in on each other, and the scene changes to a flock of flamingos do about their business until they notice a slapstick member who enjoys playing with a yo-yo going about his own idea of fun. They immediately try to force him to engage in their "dull" routines. The member tries to escape, engaging in a mad chase that includes pecking, dashing, and kicking. Finally, one of the flamingos catches the yo-yo and throws it into a nearby tree. He is congratulated by the others, but then the slapstick member emerges with multiple yo-yos in several colors and swings them verbatim. A question in this segment's host sequence leads into its story before the next 2 segments, "What would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?" as opposed to a duller and more realistic question, "What is man's relationship to nature?"

Segment 6: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (written by Paul Dukas)
The scene starts with Sorcerer Yen Sid, who is working on his magic while his apprentice Mickey does the chores. After some magic, Yen Sid puts his hat down, yawns, and goes to his chambers.

When he goes out of sight, Mickey puts the hat on and tries the magic on a broom. He commands the broom to carry buckets of water to fill a cauldron. Since Mickey is satisfied, he sits down on the chair and falls asleep.

He dreams that he was a powerful sorcerer high on top of a pinnacle commanding the stars, planets, and water. Mickey wakes up to find that the room is filled with water, but since the cauldron is overflowing, the broom is not stopping. Mickey tries to stop the broom, but with no success, the broom walks right over him, bringing more and more water. Mickey even tries grabbing one of the buckets, but that too fails. Finally, when the water keeps rising, Mickey, in desperation, grabs a huge ax and chops the broom into pieces. Just when it is all over as Mickey is away, the little wooden split pieces, lying quietly on the floor, begin to come alive, stand upright, grow arms out of their sides, and turn into more brooms with buckets of water. They keep going to the vat and fill it up. Mickey tries to get the water out but finds that there are too many brooms. Mickey goes to a book and looks for a spell to stop the brooms. Mickey finds himself in a whirlpool. Just then, Yen Sid comes in and sees this, and with a wave of his hands, the water descends and the army of brooms is decreased to one broom.

Yen Sid glares at Mickey, who gives him back his hat and the broom. He picks up the buckets and goes back slowly to finish his chores. In the end, Yen Sid whacks Mickey from behind with the broom, and Mickey quickly runs out of the room and leaves.

After the piece is over, Mickey runs to Leopold Stokowski and congratulate each other and Mickey exits and Leopold waves goodbye after he shakes hands with him.

Segment 7: Pomp and Circumstance Starring Donald Duck (Edward Elgar)
As the time of the Great Flood draws near, Noah rounds up all the animals and instructs Donald to ensure that they all get onto the Ark. The animals refuse to get on at first, but after a bolt of lightning nearly hits them, they comply. The dragon, griffin, and unicorn sit by, laughing. While he is checking them off on his list, Donald realizes Daisy has not yet come aboard. He rushes back to their hut to get her, not seeing her get on as he does. Suddenly, a giant wave crashes over their hut, washing it away. Daisy, who is watching from the Ark's window, doesn't see Donald rush back to the Ark in time and thinks he got washed away too. Similarly, Donald thinks the same thing about her as he failed to notice she wasn't still in the house and both are saddened by the apparent loss of one another.

Forty days and forty nights later, after the rain has let up, Donald sends out a male dove to check for land, angrily pulling him away from his mate whom he refuses to leave in the process. Upon seeing the female dove cry because her mate is gone, Donald realizes that he is missing Daisy more and more. Elsewhere on the Ark, Daisy looks at a picture of her and Donald that she keeps in a locket, and begins to feel the same way. Throughout the voyage, neither duck knows that the other is there.

The male dove soon returns with a twig from an olive tree. When the Ark lands, Donald looks on as the animals, some of which had young during the journey (for instance, the rabbits had at least 20 young), climb off. As Noah is leaving, he ruffles Donald's head feathers affectionately to congratulate him on a job well done, but Donald continues to feel sad about the apparent loss of Daisy. Elsewhere, Daisy is walking down the plank when she realizes that her locket has fallen off its chain. Going back to look for it, she finds it and bends down to pick it up. Donald, having noticed the locket as he stepped out to sweep up some grass, reaches down to pick it up at the same time. They both see one another and are overjoyed to see that the other is alive. Daisy kisses Donald and they walk away together, arm in arm, to admire their new home under a beautiful rainbow.

Segment 8: Night on Bald Mountain starring Lord Shen (written by Modest Mussorgsky)
"Lord Shen: Is it my turn? James Levine: Yes, it's your turn! The 8th number on our Fantasia program is a version of one piece of music so utterly different in construction and mood that they set each other off perfectly. Today, we are going to hear A Night On Bald Mountain, by one of Russia's greatest composers, Modest Mussorgsky from the original Fantasia. Bald Mountain, according to tradition, is the gathering place of Satan and his followers. Here on Legion Park, which is the equivalent of our own Halloween, the creatures of evil and good gather to worship their master. Under his spell, they dance happily until the coming of dawn and the sounds of church bells send the infernal army slinking back into their abodes of darkness. (You can hear dogs barking to James Levine and Lord Shen when Korrina enters the stage to the conductor.) Korrina: Okay, Jim, he's on his way. Go to the intro. James Levine: Ladies and gentlemen, Night on Bald Mountain starring Lord Shen."

A remake of the segment from the original film. This segment focuses on Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2 on Legion Park.

Chernabog will be replaced by Lord Shen. The sequence takes place in a mountainous area, in which a village is overlooked by Bald Mountain. The peak of Bald Mountain is home to Lord Shen, which he climbed up as he looks at the village down below. Stretching out his arms, Lord Shen casts a dark and light shadow over the village and forest and summons ghosts, including the spirits of hanged criminals (who pass through the noose where the vulture was sitting on a second time as they rise from their graves), crocodiles coming out of the moat and grounds of a ruined castle and the tigers follow the crocodiles.

The ghosts join together to become a single mass, swirling around Lord Shen, who laughs and summons fire and demons. As the demons emerge and gather below their master, he grabs a number of them and disdainfully throws them into the fires of Bald Mountain, while his other minions dance on. He then uses flames to create images on his right palm: first, the water waves resemble three elegant dancers with long flowing hair; then, at his pleasure, they transform into dancing barnyard animals and zoo animals. Lord Shen then dances them with blue lizard-like demons who crawl on his tail and then become crushed. When Lord Shen danced around the mountain, the flames become blue demons with horns and tails who dance before him, causing him to make a planned greeting. As the dancing continues, it becomes more frantic, awesome, and chaotic; Korrina (from Mega Revelations!) and Valerie (from Fairy-Type Trickery!) dance with Boss Wolf (from Kung Fu Panda 2) and Tai Lung (from Kung Fu Panda) when the Vultures (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) and Diablo the Raven (from Sleeping Beauty) fly above the demons, occasionally the Harpies (from the original Fantasia film) begin flying around and grabbing them and throwing them into the inferno.

The celebration culminates in a blinding flash of fire from the inferno. Lord Shen, ready to continue his minions but he laughs at the sound of the gong, which heralds the coming of the dawn. Though he initially loves the sound, the light of the sun forces him and his friends to retreat; as the ghosts return to their resting places and the demons hide in the mountain as Lord Shen ran off to the temple.

Segment 9: The Rite of Spring (written by Igor Stravinsky)
A remake of the segment from the original film. This segment focuses on the age of dinosaurs. The Jurassic dinosaurs will be replaced by the Cretaceous dinosaurs since it takes place in North America 75 and later 66 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous. And all dinosaurs will have modern scientifically accurate anatomy.

Creatures in order of appearance

 * 1) Xiphactinus
 * 2) Jellyfish
 * 3) Archelon
 * 4) Tusoteuthis
 * 5) Mosasaurus
 * 6) Elasmosaurus
 * 7) Pteranodon
 * 8) Quetzalcoatlus
 * 9) Ichthyornis
 * 10) Borealosuchus
 * 11) Dimetrodon
 * 12) Edaphosaurus
 * 13) Adocus
 * 14) Cameroceras
 * 15) Brontoscorpio
 * 16) Xiphactinus
 * 17) Cretoxyrhina
 * 18) Rhamphorhynchus
 * 19) Allosaurus
 * 20) Argentinosaurus
 * 21) Troodon
 * 22) Velociraptor
 * 23) Archaeopteryx
 * 24) Ankylosaurus
 * 25) Stegosaurus
 * 26) Alamosaurus
 * 27) Apatosaurus
 * 28) Struthiomimus
 * 29) Triceratops
 * 30) Corythosaurus
 * 31) Parasaurolophus
 * 32) Acheroraptor
 * 33) Compsognathus
 * 34) Thescelosaurus
 * 35) Plateosaurus
 * 36) Leptoceratops
 * 37) Didelphodon
 * 38) Kannemeyeria
 * 39) Dakotaraptor
 * 40) Stygimoloch
 * 41) Pachycephalosaurus
 * 42) Edmontosaurus
 * 43) Tyrannosaurus Rex
 * 44) Spinosaurus
 * 45) Cimolopteryx
 * 46) Dimorphodon
 * 47) Anzu
 * 48) Allosaurus
 * 49) Ceratosaurus
 * 50) Gallimimus
 * 51) Therizinosaurus
 * 52) Microraptor
 * 53) Sinornithosaurus
 * 54) Iguanodon
 * 55) Dakotadon
 * 56) Giganotosaurus
 * 57) Macrogryphosaurus

Segment 10: 1812 Overture (written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
A follow-up of The Rite of Spring and the final segment. This segment shows what happens after the dinosaurs. The first half features the animals of Eocene Germany, the second half features the animals of Pleistocene Europe and North America, and the final half features the animals of the modern African savanna, North American and South American forest with mountains, Indian mountains with forest, and the Australian outback.

Creatures in order of appearance

 * 1) Purgatorius (shown at the beginning of the segment)
 * 2) Leptictidium
 * 3) Gastornis
 * 4) Propalaeotherium
 * 5) Darwinius
 * 6) Eurotamandua
 * 7) Kopidodon
 * 8) Pristichampsus
 * 9) Ambulocetus
 * 10) Basilosaurus (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 11) Arsinoitherium (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 12) Moeritherium (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 13) Entelodon (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 14) Paraceratherium (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 15) Hyaenodon (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 16) Deinotherium (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 17) Megalodon (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 18) Livyatan (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 19) Phorusrhacos (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 20) Argentavis (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 21) Diprotodon (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 22) Megalania (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 23) Gigantopithecus (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 24) Doedicurus (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 25) Macrauchenia (shown in the timeline scene)
 * 26) Woolly Mammoth
 * 27) Woolly Rhinoceros
 * 28) Megaloceros
 * 29) Cave Bear
 * 30) Eurasian Cave Lion
 * 31) Reindeer
 * 32) Steppe Bison
 * 33) Smilodon
 * 34) Capromeryx
 * 35) Camelops
 * 36) Ancient Bison
 * 37) Western Horse
 * 38) Columbian Mammoth
 * 39) Dire Wolf
 * 40) Red-Crowned Crane
 * 41) Sandhill Crane
 * 42) Blue Wildebeest
 * 43) Grant's Zebra
 * 44) Thomson's Gazelle
 * 45) Topi
 * 46) Cape Buffalo
 * 47) Red-Billed Oxpecker
 * 48) Common Warthog
 * 49) Olive Baboon
 * 50) Hamadryas Baboon
 * 51) African Bush Elephant
 * 52) Laughing Kookaburra
 * 53) Toco Toucan
 * 54) Jaguar
 * 55) Llama
 * 56) Cattle Egret
 * 57) African Lion
 * 58) Martial Eagle
 * 59) Black Rhinoceros
 * 60) Indian Rhinoceros
 * 61) Grey Crowned Crane
 * 62) Meerkat
 * 63) Vulturine Guineafowl
 * 64) Greater Kudu
 * 65) Reticulated Giraffe
 * 66) Impala
 * 67) Cheetah
 * 68) Southern Ostrich
 * 69) Spotted Hyena
 * 70) Common Hippopotamus
 * 71) Greater Flamingo
 * 72) Lappet-Faced Vulture
 * 73) Ruppell's Vulture
 * 74) Marabou Stork
 * 75) Nile Crocodile
 * 76) Indian Peafowl

Credits
Musical score conducted by Leon Botstein and Seiji Ozawa. Performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, including as noted.

Live-action/animated scenes Symphony No. 9: 4th Movement The Four Seasons Summertime Dance of the Hours Springtime The Rite of Spring 1812 Overture
 * Directors:  Robert Zemeckis
 * Master of Ceremonies and narrator:  Paul Kandel
 * Cinematography:  James Wong Howe
 * Musical score:  Symphony No. 9: 4th Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven
 * Director:  Samuel Armstrong
 * Story development:  Lee Blair, Elmer Plummer, and Phil Dike
 * Art director:  Robert Cormack
 * Background painting:  Joe Stahley, John Hench, and Nino Carbe
 * Visual development:  Oskar Fischinger
 * Animation:  Cy Young, Art Palmer, Daniel MacManus, George Rowley, Edwin Aardal, Joshua Meador, and Cornett Wood
 * Musical score: The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
 * Director: Nathan Greno
 * Story development: James Capobianco and Ron Meurin
 * Art direction: Michael Humphries
 * Based on the story "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen
 * Musical score:  Summertime by George Gershwin
 * Director:  Mike Gabriel
 * Story development:  Sylvia Moberly-Holland, Norman Wright, Albert Heath, Bianca Majolie and Graham Heid
 * Character designs:  John Walbridge, Elmer Plummer, and Ethel Kulsar
 * Art direction:  Robert Cormack, Al Zinnen, Curtiss D. Perkins, Arthur Byram, and Bruce Bushman
 * Background painting:  John Hench, Ethel Kulsar and Nino Carbe
 * Animation:  Art Babbitt, Les Clark, Don Lusk, Cy Young, and Robert Stokes
 * Musical score: Dance of the Hours by Amilcare Ponchielli
 * Director:
 * Story development:
 * Art direction:
 * Musical score:  Springtime by Christopher Willis
 * Director:  Alonso Ramirez Ramos
 * Art directors: Jenny Gase-Baker, Jastin Martin
 * Background painting:  Ivan Aguirre, Juan Garrido, Trevor Simonsen, William Wary
 * Animation Production: Maercury Filmworks
 * Animation Director: Graham MacDonald
 * Musical score:  The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky (abridged)
 * Directors: Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfield
 * Story development and research:  William Martin, Leo Thiele, Robert Sterner, and John Fraser McLeish
 * Art direction:  McLaren Stewart, Dick Kelsey, and John Hubley
 * Background painting:  Ed Starr, Brice Mack, and Edward Levitt
 * Animation supervision:  Wolfgang Reitherman and Joshua Meador
 * Animation:  Philip Duncan, John McManus, Paul Busch, Art Palmer, Don Tobin, Edwin Aardal and Paul B. Kossoff
 * Special camera effects:  Gail Papineau and Leonard Pickley
 * Musical scores:  1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
 * Director:  Ron Clements and John Musker
 * Story development:  Campbell Grant, Arthur Heinemann, and Phil Dike
 * Art direction:  Kay Nielsen, Terrell Stapp, Charles Payzant and Thor Putnam
 * Background painting:  Merle Cox, Ray Lockrem, Robert Storms, and W. Richard Anthony
 * Special English lyrics for Ave Maria:  Rachel Field
 * Choral director:  Charles Henderson
 * Soprano solo:  Julietta Novis
 * Animation supervision:  Vladimir Tytla
 * Animation:  John McManus, William N. Shull, Robert W. Carlson, Jr., Lester Novros, and Don Patterson
 * Special animation effects:  Joshua Meador, Miles E. Pike, John F. Reed, and Daniel MacManus
 * Special camera effects:  Gail Papineau and Leonard Pickley

Trivia

 * Lord Shen's friends are the next characters who gather on Walpurgis Night at Legion Park during being summoned by Lord Shen, including vulture, ghosts, tigers, Nile crocodiles, walking skeletons, pig, wolf, goat, zebras, okapis, satyrs, chimpanzees, peacocks, rattlesnakes, secretary bird, Korrina (from Mega Revelations), Valerie (from Fairy-Type Trickery), Boss Wolf (from Kung Fu Panda 2), Tai Lung (from Kung Fu Panda), horses, spotted hyena, bald eagle, pronghorn antelope, Asian elephants, giraffes, harpies (from the original Fantasia film), and great blue herons.
 * The Rite of Spring remake is the only segment to have a follow-up segment, 1812 Overture. It is also the only segment remake in the series.
 * The last two segments will be made in photorealistic CGI with live-action backgrounds, like the rest of the segments that were traditionally animated.
 * The end credits music will be the Finale from Carnival Of The Animals written by Camille Saint Saens.