Convinced it has not been done before a classical music fan tries to organise a screening of cartoons that have been drawn to accompany different pieces of famous classical music. There are segments of naked nymphs, big lumbering dinosaurs as well as scrawny cats.
by William Thomas |
Published on
Release Date:
01 Jan 1977
Running Time:
90 minutes
Certificate:
15
Original Title:
Allegro Non Troppo
A charming, wicked satire from Italian animator Bozzetto, who also appears in live action segments as a man putting together an epic cartoon based on classical music. The highlight is a parody of Fantasia's Rites Of Spring Passage as Ravel's Bolero accompanies a vision of evolution which begins with creatures swarming in an astronaut's thrown-away Coke bottle, starring an especially sneaky gorilla.
Other segments vary from the melancholy to the hilarious, and feature remarkable character animation: Debussy's Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun is a wistful little sketch about an old satyr while Sibelius' Valse Triste is an excuse for an overdone bit of misery about a wretched waiflike alley cat. The links are a bit forced but most episodes are unforgettable.
Although Disney have done it before with Fantasia, Allegro Non Troppo manages to hold its own, equally inventive and applicable to the music. It can come across as messy in parts but then impressive in others, most notably the dinosaur segment.
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