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Walt Disney was somewhat ahead of his time experimenting with music and animation in Fantasia, an astounding achievement of artistry, craftsmanship, and innovation in animation. I dig Fantasia, but it’s an uneven mix. The host segments do not stand the test of time and it caters to an impossible audience by combining cutsey narrative segments with more abstract ones. The biggest eyesore for me is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, set to the imagery of frolicking centaurs, satyrs, and fat flying babies. Gender stereotypes abound (and some racial ones, too, until they were removed from the film a few decades ago; the current version is still self-censored). Highlights include the humorous “Dance of the Hours,” where a group of caped alligators dance with ballerina hippos; “The Rite of Spring,” which montages the birth of creation and the death of the dinosaurs; and “Night on Bald Mountain,” in which the devil Chernabog raises the spirits of the dead to dance in wicked merriment on a mountaintop — pretty psychedelic and spooky stuff for the Mouse House.

The soundtrack, a potpourri of classical music from the likes of Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Bach, is conducted by Leopold Stokowsky. For it’s time, I’m sure it was a terrific recording, but rewatching the film on Blu-ray, I found myself constantly wishing the music could be re-recorded. The levels are all over the place and the clarity of sound leaves much to be desired.

Academy Awards: Honorary Award for Achievement in Sound, Honorary Award for Achievement in Creating a New Form of Visualized Music