Review of Fantasia 2000

I consider the original Fantasia to be probably the best animated film ever, so obviously my expectations for this were extremely high. The main issue I've always had with Fantasia 2000 is that the quality of the different segments are uneven. In the original Fantasia, I would say that all the segments were of the same artistic quality. Sure, I prefer some over others (I like Pastoral Symphony over Dance of the Hours, for instance) but still, the whole thing felt cohesive, as a whole work of art. Fantasia 2000 feels more like a grab-bag collection, and the segments just aren't all of the same quality. When I tell people about it, I feel I have to review each segment individually, which was never the case for the original. These're my reviews:

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony - good, though I think they tried too hard to imitate Toccata and Fogue.

Pines of Rome - hands down, the best segment! I've watched it and rewatched it over and over.

Rhapsody in Blue - definitely a very original idea to combine Gershwin with Al Hirschfield and New York. On repeat viewings though, I feel it doesn't hold up as well. The characters just aren't very engaging, and the little girl felt like a rip off of Little Lulu.

The Steadfast Tin Soldier - around here was when I began to notice what I said about lack of quality. This segment was neither great nor terrible, but just "okay," and it seemed too rushed.

Carnival of the Animals - this hardly even counted as a segment. It was just a throwaway joke.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice - I know that keeping this segment was meant as a nod to Walt's original plan of rereleasing Fantasia with some new stuff while keep old ones, but ultimately, it was pointless. Why waste 7 minutes of film with footage we've already seen? Why didn't they rerecord the music or something, just to make it feel fresh? And couldn't they have given such a classic piece of animation a better introduction than what Penn and Teller say? (Don't get me wrong, I like Penn and Teller, but their introduction is just a comedy routine).

Pomp and Circumstance - another segment that's just "okay." I'm not even religious, but does anyone find it a bit awkward to have Donald Duck in a Biblical story?

Firebird Suite - wonderful! Reminds me a bit of FernGully, a non-Disney cartoon. I do feel that it could've been developed to be a little longer as it ends too quickly, but still, taking it for what it is, it's a nice work of art.

My remaining gripe was that I hated the celebrity cameos introducing each piece. This made the movie feel like a TV special. I realize that they probably didn't want to redo what they did with Deems Taylor (having an unknown guy with a face kept in shadow is probably not very marketable), but then they might as well have not had any hosts. Roger Ebert said he didn't think the hosts were necessary anyway.