Fatma Betül Ataş 2018110204 Comparing Fantasia 1940 and Fantasia 2000 of Walt Disney’s in the Context of Opening Sequences Even the whole idea of Fantasia is breathtaking since film is a sensory experience in the first place. The classical music has the highest quality of all emotions and those existed emotions can fit with both concrete and abstract visual. However, the fascination that music can match with images, and the movement of images with tunes is handled impeccably in the Fantasia 1940 rather than Fantasia 2000, which I will now talk about in details. Fantasia 1940 opens with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor in a very majestic way in company with masses of different colors and lights. Learning that Bach is a musician who lays the foundations of western classical music and creates a turning point made me realize that how pleasantly meaningful this choice is. After that, it completely appeals to thoughts and feelings. The splendid congruity of music with abstract images made me feel as if I was wandering in the composer's mind. Music specifies where we stand, once again. Mountain-like images in places where the music is rising and changing colors according to the rhythm of the music made it feel like this was exactly what it should have been. Furthermore, the movements of the violin bow in those abstract images and seeing the strings of the instruments on the screen according to the arrival of the notes was one of the things that struck me and impressed me a lot in the Fantasia 1940. The music that we hear as unified is actually made up of pieces and that's the beauty of this revel. It was like for us, the audience to witness the visual thought process with tasting every little slice of the composition. On the other hand, I can easily say that I felt the same magnificence when I heard the 5th Symphony at the entrance of the Fantasia 2000. What makes Beethoven special is that he can create a glorious and well-organized structure with very little material. Associating with this detail, using an absolute music and demonstration of “Music exists in its own independently. So, it can match with anything.” serves the purpose of the film. Even so, I guess there is nothing good to say other than Beethoven because watching the sequel disappointed me as much as I enjoyed watching the original one. Now I think back and notice that what I remember about Fantasia 2000 is not the music, but the narrative that is conveyed to the audience. As in the original film, we dive into the film with abstract images. But in the sequel, these images suddenly take on certain geometrical shapes and form a fiction. The narrative limits our scope of imagination so severely that the audience doesn't even realize that the music doesn't really need a story to follow up. Fantasia 1940 was like an empty canvas. I felt that wherever I moved my eyes, I could see all the visual feast combinations that could be on that canvas. Nevertheless, the canvas is already full and there is no room for me to thought in Fantasia 2000. Yes, it may be said that there is a harmony but it's just that. The visual representation pulled down the grandiose atmosphere of the music without intention. Eventually, although Fantasia stands in a very captivating place in the history of classical music and the importance of musical accompaniment as an animation film, the details between the original one and the sequel attract attention even in the opening sequence.