For everything that has a beginning has an ending and this is the final review in what I like to call the “Fantasia 2006 Anthology.” This newly-dubbed series originally started as a look at unknown, underrated Disney short films and gradually progressed to where each short film starting with The Little Match Girl to Lorenzo to finally Destino were shorts intended to be used in the proposed Fantasia 2006. Now, we have the final short film in the lineup, One by One. How does this short fare with the previously reviewed shorts which I’ve given all glowing reviews?

As the final short in this Anthology, it is without a doubt a visually impressive beautifully detailed film; it is one of the best short films released by Disney. One by One tells the story of a group of South African children deciding to fly kites after one boy discovers a colorful feather floating from the sky. After gathering materials to produce colorful kites, the children release them into the sky. What else can I say concerning high positives that I haven’t already given in past reviews? Let’s get those out of the way: the animation obviously is both gorgeous and stunning, the level of detail added in each shot such as the backgrounds, people’s facial expressions as well as movement is appreciated.  The story, though simple, is powerful, and the music by Lebo M fits with the short while also being amazing. (I also have to praise them for how it’s an original piece of music and not an orchestrated adaptation of a classical music piece.)

Though it is not my favorite out of the Anthology lineup (that honor goes to Destino, personally.), it is a great animated short film. Now, I want to apologize as this next section goes into a more different discussion. Previously on my Destino review, I claimed that it was a mistake for Disney never to make Fantasia 2006. Since I’ve made that claim I regretted saying it since in all reality, it was unrealistic.

The original Fantasia, while it has been grown a cult following and has been praised receiving a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes as well as being awarded distinct honors such as being selected for preservation in The United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”, didn’t fare to whole ton of positive reviews like today. Most reviews at the time of its initial release which was 1941 were very mixed ranging from film critics claiming that it was a landmark achievement in film history to receiving criticism from music critics taking fault with conductor Leopold Stokowski’s rearrangements and abridgments of the original music pieces. Even the original composer of The Rite of Spring, Igor Stravinsky criticized Stokowski for their rendition of the piece saying, “the order of the pieces had been shuffled, and the most difficult of them eliminated.” Unfortunately, this didn’t help with Fantasia reaching back its money.

Fantasia, at the time, had a budget of around $2.28 million and only reached a small profit. However, due to the film’s high production costs, the European distribution market being cut off due to World War II, the leasing of theaters (no, not movie theaters), installing sound equipment for high presentations, which would be known as Fantasound, and the mixed critical reception ended up making Fantasia a flop. This and World War II heavily affected Walt Disney and the studio, cutting back on production costs on their next feature films. This also affected Walt’s original plan to create a series of Fantasia films with experimental animation styles as well as different styles of music. However, it wasn’t until 1999 when a sequel would finally come, Fantasia 2000.

Fantasia 2000, released in 1999 grew to positive reviews though some critics took to issue with the film having uneven quality such as shorts like “The Firebird Suite” and “Pines of Rome” being some of the best Disney animation has to offer. While other shorts such as “The Carnival of the Animals, Finale” and “Pomp and Circumstance” were good on their own but didn’t fit for how Fantasia 2000 was trying to recapture the serious tone that the original Fantasia had established. The addition of actors and actresses, as well as others, weren’t praised as much. But like the old saying, history is doomed to repeat itself, the same happened with Fantasia 2000’s box office returns.

Fantasia 2000 had a budget of around $80-$85 million receiving only a worldwide total gross of $90.9 million. So with the overall film turning out mostly a financial failure plans for a third Fantasia were scrapped. Now on a personal note, I love art, I love movies, and I love animation. As a fan of the first two films, especially the first I would love to see a third film come to fruition. However, in a realistic sense making a third Fantasia film, financially wouldn’t be impossible but due to both past films being financial failures it wouldn’t make sense to make another if it wasn’t going to reach back it’s money. Plus both films were not marketable films; they’re at best art films with motion and music. The only thing Disney has profited off the films is Mickey from the short, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which is probably the most memorable and popular short that the general public knows of.

Is it unlikely that we’ll ever get a third Fantasia film? Most likely, with the film industry constantly changing every year to being more focused on sequels, remakes, movie reboots, and film adaptations, it’s hard to find a lot of original films anymore especially with 2D animation with the exception of a few films being released (The Wind Rises, When Marnie was There, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, The Princess and the Frog). Plus, with Disney focusing all their attention on their attention on their 3D animation division, live-action projects, and their other properties (i.e., Star Wars and Marvel) they may not have time to focus their attention on another Fantasia film. But in all honesty, who knows, Disney has gone back to several scrapped concepts and revived them for movies like The Snow Queen a.k.a. Frozen (2013) or Reboot Ralph to Wreck-it-Ralph (2012).

Like Destino, One by One sadly isn’t available on home video with the 2004 special edition DVD of The Lion King 2 being its only release. It’s a shame because I would love to see this and Destino get the HD treatment. Thankfully the short can be found on the video above via YouTube though not in the best quality. Stay tuned for one more look at another Disney short, “Clair de Lune.” Though it won’t be a review as much as a short look. Farewell for now, meanwhile go outside and fly a kite yourself, maybe a colorful one.