"Fantasia": Name that Segment Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Nutcracker

"The Nutcracker" is a Tchaikovsky ballet about a transformed prince and the girl who breaks his enchantment. The Disney animation team nixed that idea when creating animation about dancing flowers, fish, fairies creating dew, and the passing of summer to autumn to winter. Pieces used include "Arabian Dance", "Dance of the Reed Flutes", and "Waltz of the Flowers".

This segment comes from "Fantasia".

Answer: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This is the only segment included in both films. Unlike with most "Fantasia" shorts, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" directly represents the composer's (in this case, Dukas) story intentions. The apprentice uses his master's hat to animate a broom to do his manual labor but cannot control the magic enough to make the broom stop, and a massive flood ensues.

This short introduced Mickey Mouse's new design, and the image of Mickey in his robes and magic hat became a symbol for the Disney company for years.

Answer: Piano Concerto No. 2

The Andersen story "The Steadfast Tin Solider", in which a one-legged toy soldier defends a ballerina doll from a jack-in-the-box, features a happier ending than the original because Shostakovich's concerto ends on an upbeat note. Walt Disney himself wanted to put this fairy tale to animation, but the project never materialized. Once made, it ended up in "Fantasia 2000".

Answer: Night on Bald Mountain

This segment from "Fantasia" is usually considered as one with the next, Schubert's "Ave Maria", as the demonic dances of "Night" are defeated by the soft notes of "Maria". This version of "Night on Bald Mountain" was not completely composed by Modest Mussorgsky but rather arranged by Rimsky-Korsakov.

The original wasn't published until the 1960s. Some of versions of Mussorgsky's opera "The Fair at Sorochyntsi" feature "Night" as a dance.

Answer: The Firebird

The twenty-minute "Firebird Suite" was adapted from Stravinsky's own ballet about a prince who calls upon a bird to save his village from demons. In "Fantasia 2000", a nature spirit's home is destroyed by a volcano she accidentally awakens, and she must replenish the land afterwards. The full ballet runs about fifty minutes; the pieces used in the film are "Round Dance of the Princesses", "Infernal Dance of King Kashchei", "Berceuse", and "Finale".

The parody film "Allegro non troppo" from 1976 also features a sequence set to "The Firebird"; it tells the story of what would happen were Adam and Eve to refuse to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree (the serpent eats it instead and becomes corrupt).

Answer: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor

No story is told in this "Fantasia" segment set to Bach's music; instead, we start with colored lights on a silhouetted orchestra before transitioning to abstract images. It ends with Stowkowski conducting the sunrise and water fountains. Bach's piece was originally written for organ but was transcribed for a full orchestra for "Fantasia" and is now sometimes performed as an orchestral arrangement.

Answer: Rhapsody in Blue

Gershwin's work is one of the few segments from the "Fantasia" films to feature music of the 20th century. The original jazz piece has no story; the "Fantasia 2000" animators changed that by playing the music over the lives of multiple discontented people in New York City.

They don't meet, but their actions affect others, and by the end of the piece, they eventually get what they want, such as a better job or time with parents.

Answer: The Rite of Spring

Though this "Fantasia" segment is best known for its dinosaurs, only ten of its twenty-three minutes feature the creatures. It begins in space, then moves on to volcanoes, the beginning of sea life, dinosaurs, and their extinction. Stravinsky's full "Rite of Spring" ballet lasts about thirty-five minutes and depicts a series of folk dances before one girl is chosen to be sacrificed to the earth.

Answer: The Pines of Rome

Respighi's piece is set to mostly CGI animation. After a whale calf is separated from its parents, it explores a cave before reuniting with them. A large pod of whales then takes flight and breaches the clouds. Only about a third of the music of "Pines" is used in this "Fantasia 2000" section.

The original piece is a tone poem that musically depicts pine trees in different locations in Rome.

Answer: Dance of the Hours

"Dance of the Hours" comes from the Ponchielli opera "La Gioconda", in which the ballet is presented as an entertainment at a party. The opera contains a love quadrangle, but the "Fantasia" version has a more straightforward story, as ostriches, hippos, elephants, and alligators dance and chase each other.

A highlight features Hyacinth Hippo and Ben Ali Gator dancing a pas de deux. Speaking as a ballerina, Hyacinth has pretty good technique for an animated hippo.