Fantasia Encore

Fantasia Encore is an American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 61th film in Walt Disney Animation Studios's filmography. This movie is directed by Rich Moore and it serves as a sequel to Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. Like the two predecessors, the film consists of animated segments set to pieces of music except it focuses on more than just classical music. Compared to its predecessors, it also has more segments. The film premiered on January 1th 2022 to March 31th 2022 in 4DX, and on May 5, 2022 in normal theaters.

Plot
The program follows just like the previous films where each song is with a different segment. First off it provides a brief history of Fantasia with the narration done by Stephen Fry. Musicians take their seats and tune up before the conductor (John Williams) approaches the conductor's podium. John Williams also introduces each music piece before the segment.


 * Carol of the Bells by David Foster - The very first segment done by Canadian composer David Foster. This is a short yet simple segment featuring abstract art themed around the Christmas holiday.
 * Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 - Same as the second film.
 * Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks by Richard Strauss - This is loosely based on a German chapbook. The art style resembles a television show-like fashion and it tells the story of a low-class sellout prankster who learns to use his powers for good thus becoming a superhero
 * Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff - This is themed on Russia due to its composer. It tells the story of a nightmare and a dream struggling for a sleeping child's soul. This one combines CGI and Hand Drawn animation.
 * Short Ride in a Fast Machine by John Adams - This is a fast-paced Western-themed segment with the art style having a video game pixel art similar to that of the Neo Geo, Game Boy Advance, or an indie game with pixel art. Pays homage to western films where it does have western elements in a unique way.
 * The Pastoral Symphony - Same as the first film.
 * Cape Light by T-SQUARE - This is themed on Japan due to the group and this segment has Jazz elements. The art style is reminiscent of a typical modern-day anime. The segment tells the story of a cute romance between a teenage boy and a teenage girl during the modern days of Japan.
 * Boléro by Maurice Ravel - This is themed on outer space and the art style is similar to that of a comic book. Tells the story of a curious robot who wonders about many different discoveries on an alien planet he decides to visit learning about the stuff around him like something a child would do.
 * Sinfonia da Pacifica: I. Allegro energico by Richard Mills - Themed on Australia, it talks about a voyage on a ship involving pirates. It's a hand-drawn segment that takes the form of an art style seen in history. A group of pirates is seen sailing the seas while looking for treasure and declaring land.
 * Malambo, Extrait d'Estancia by Silvestre Revueltas - This is a South American themed segment and it is a fully CGI segment done by Walt Disney Animation Studios themselves. This is more of a silly little dance similar to the Dance of the Hours segment from the First Film as well as the Carnival of the Animals Finale from the Second Film. This is basically just a group of animals from South America doing their shenanigans and a lot of other fun stuff like Spider Monkies, Cacomistles, Coatis, Flying Squirrels, Ocelots, Mexican Grey Wolves, etc.
 * Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity by Gustav Holst - This segment stars Goofy who is an illusionist. Also based on England due to the composer. Pete also appears in the segment who attempts to give Goofy a much bigger hard time. Also has some psychedelic elements due to Goofy being an illusionist.
 * Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner and Kayama by Karl Jenkins - This is a mix between two composers and it's similar to that of Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria segment from the first film but with a twist due to the composer's origins. This is themed on Africa. It features creatures from African urban legends like the Kongamato, the Inkanyamba, the Bili Ape, and the Impundulu messing up the African lands and environment. Now the people of Africa are at war against these monsters from the African urban legends. The art style has a beautiful African theme. Once the war is over, it changes to another song called Kayama where it shows the African village and environment restoring itself while the people praise with joy as the happy ending of the movie.

Theatrical Short Film
Before the film started, a short film that featured a 2D animated short done by 20th Century Studios called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Videogame Dreams, which focuses on Greg Heffley and Rowley Jefferson who play video games in a sleepover and comedic dreams about themselves in various games they played in.

Box Office
The film opened up at #1 on its opening week grossing $91.5 million domestically. It became box office success and it made a total of $472.3 million worldwide.

Critical Reception
The film has gotten positive reviews due to its segments, creativity, musical score, and its comeback of the Fantasia series. It got nominated for various awards and many have called Fantasia a musical comeback that is worth a shot if done right. The film received a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Trivia

 * The designs of the teenage boy and teenage girl from the segement "Cape Light" ressemble the designs of Max and Penny from Rhythm Heaven: The Movie.
 * However, the designs were changed in the Disney+ release of the movie (even though their designs still remain in the DVD and Blu-Ray release of the film).