Fantasia (Genesis) review "I must confess that I listen almost exclusively to classical music. At work, I frequently infuriate my co-workers by turning off their intolerable rap music and switching to NPR. The thing with classical music is that it requires a great deal of concentration to get the most out of it. The pieces that I enjoy hearing the most are the ones that I have heard repeatedly, ones that I perhaps have some familiarity with the score itself, and ones that I'm able to pick up on the subtle nuances. "

I must confess that I listen almost exclusively to classical music. At work, I frequently infuriate my co-workers by turning off their intolerable rap music and switching to NPR. The thing with classical music is that it requires a great deal of concentration to get the most out of it. The pieces that I enjoy hearing the most are the ones that I have heard repeatedly, ones that I perhaps have some familiarity with the score itself, and ones that I'm able to pick up on the subtle nuances.

My personal favorite piece from the film would be the pairing of Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and Schubert's Ave Maria, or as Deems Taylor calls it, a juxtaposition of “the sacred and the profane.” The two pieces, despite being so different in style, go together so beautifully that only the most observant viewer would notice the transition. It creates a rather bizarre mixture of terror and comfort in the viewer that is perhaps appropriate to think about with Halloween just around the corner.

There have been a number of video games that have made music instrumental to their presentation – for example Mega Man, Rez, Mario Galaxy, Final Fantasy 6 – though I don't think any game has come close to the visual and aural orgasm that is Fantasia (the movie, not that shitty Genesis game). To be honest, I'm not sure what an interactive experience akin Fantasia would look like, but I would give anything for a game that could capture that inexplicable essence of music.

Fantasia connects music, something that is abstract and not easily understood, to concrete images, and for that I'm quite glad that a movie like it, and it's sequel Fantasia 2000, exists. It brings classical music to generations of children in a form that is accessible and simple to digest. In fact, Fantasia was the catalyst that spurred my life-long love of concertos and operas and what-have-yous, made me beg my mother for a viola, and coaxed me to watch the VHS so many times that the tape itself wore out and became non-functional. When I was a kid, I listened to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake every single night before going to bed. To this day, I still frequently stop what I'm doing, close my eyes, and listen to a piece while trying to form images in my mind. It's not just a great way to relax, it really helps one appreciate music.

If you're wondering how any of this is relevant to Fantasia on the Sega Genesis, let me ask you a better question: how is Fantasia on the Genesis relevant to anything?

Community review by dagoss (October 21, 2008) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.