First shot of animation: clips from the original Fantasia fly past on membranes that plant themselves and become the orchestra set.

The studio, and Walt’s nephew Roy E Disney in particular, make a play at legacy by returning to the most high-brow, artistically daring of the initial features. But by making a sequel Fantasia is diminished from a new form of art to a rather ambitious movie.

Fantasia 2000 has a studio ident, a title card, and a normal credit crawl. It also has a rotating cast of hosts, one for each segment. Instead of a recognized expert guiding you through orchestral music, it’s celebrities you already like. And instead of talking about the piece, they’re usually talking about the Fantasia concept.

The segments are much shorter on average, this is nearly an hour shorter than the previous Fantasia. Let’s go through them:

• Beethoven’s 5th: This abstract opener was intense enough at home, it must have been an overwhelming nightmare in a theater
• Pines of Rome: I've become poisoned to the point my most honest reaction is “it’s a baby freaking whale Jay!”
• Rhapsody in Blue: Calling Rhapsody in Blue vibrant is like calling a jet engine loud, but the short lives up to the soundtrack. The style, the color, the sight gags, I thought this was going to be my favorite.
• Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102 (The Steadfast Tin Soldier): Something you often see is people complaining all major CG animation sticks to roughly the same aesthetic; the same slightly cartoony, semi-realism. Where were these people when Fantasia 2000 came out? Where are the Tin Soldier stans? A painterly story told in color temperature made with tech specs a DTV Barbie video would clown on.
• The Carnival of the Animals, Finale: Somebody went back to the Alice in Wonderland concept art in the archives. A comic little short that gets a lot of mileage out of five birds moving as one, and one bird very much not.
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: The only returning segment, so look back in the tag for my initial reaction. But in this context they just don’t make ‘em like they used to. The tactile feel of ink and paint on cels, and the attention to framing and contrast instead of the soaring perspective games made possible by a digital camera. I wish I’d seen this as a kid to know what I’d thought of it then.
• Pomp and Circumstance: This one doesn’t work for me. Donald’s antics and the solemn March are supposed to highlight one another by contrast but it’s not hitting. And the central story depends on someone not hearing Donald Duck, the loudest cartoon character ever conceived.
• The Firebird: My actual favorite. Fantasias end on a high note for me, two out of two. Also shorts with lava, come to think of it. The nymph is a joy to watch, the elk is a tribute to the style of Bambi, the speed and exhilaration of flight, it even earned the explosion of particle effects at the end. Just magnificent.