A Response to Fantasia

Instead of simply being fascinated by the visual effects in Fantasia, I actually gained some insight into the film’s deeper meaning and symbolism. First, I will reflect on the scene of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. We saw many unusual things, from flying fairies to dancing plants to sexy fish. But out of the three, the sexy fish struck me the most, with its seducing lips and eyes. This scene is obviously sexist because it stereotypes women by portraying them as being very womanly and gentle. What does this tell us about society at the time of the movie’s filming? Let us remember that WWII was going on during this time. As men left to fight in the front lines, women began filling up the labor force, breaking their “inherent” domestic status. Perhaps animators wanted to tell women that they did not belong in this realm of society and should remain at home. Also, the Russian Dance scene stereotypes Russian people because the dancing plants looked like they were wearing large fur hats; the Chinese Dance scene stereotypes Chinese people because the dancing mushrooms looked like farmers wearing the well known conical straw hats. Fantasia stereotypes sexually and racially in multiple ways.

Next I want to talk about the scene of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. We are introduced to the beautiful scenery of Mount Olympus. The colors and style used by the animators are more surreal and vivid, contributing to the heavenliness of the location. We then see a variety of mythical creatures: unicorns, winged horses, and centaurs. In the scene where the centaurs are meeting the centaurettes, only those of the same colors are paired together, a fact that might imply that interracial relationships were frowned upon during the mid 20th century. When Zeus breaks the jollity of the Bacchanal, we are faced with yet another theme: the Sublime. The inhabitants of the Elysian Fields are an example of Pastoral Nature. Although I believe that one can live happily by a Pastoral Nature lifestyle, I think that the Sublime is occasionally necessary because the Sublime instills a sense of place and position in less powerful life forms. Sometimes a little fear is necessary to keep order in society.