Fantasia

Mousecartoon time now is here.Fifty years after its birth, "Fantasia," the animated Disney extravaganza of middlebrow classical music, has been re-released for about the umpteenth time, improved yet again from the previously improved edition of 1982. It's much cleaner and less crackly, and some lost footage has been restored. That's the good news.It's still "Fantasia." That's the bad news.The piece, which marries seven famous but familiar pieces of music to seven fanciful animated sequences, was a flop when it was released in 1940, but has gradually grown in both audience acceptance and critic's opinions since then.

Artscape kicked off its lineup of headlining acts with Fantasia Barrino, an R&B singer who found fame and a solid fan base on the third season of popular show “American Idol.”  Barrino kept her set-up simple; rather than trick out the stage with nifty high tech gadgets, the R&B singer ensured that all audience attention was on her. The stripped down stage suited her and kept the atmosphere intimate, despite the mass of eager fans and families...

The Senator is bringing back that old proto-music video "Fantasia" in a restored version for two weeks, starting today.The original 1940 production featured a full-frame 1:37 ratio, a multichannel stereo soundtrack and an intermission. These features have been re-created for the showing on the 900-seat theater's big screen, but this restored version will also be screened in 70 millimeter for enhanced depth and detail.Additionally, the screenings at the Senator will feature a 1940 newsreel for an added sense of milieu.

Matisyahu, G. Love and Fantasia will headline Artscape this year. They are just a few of the tons of singers who will perform over the weekend on three different stages. The music side of the festival starts on Friday July 15 and ends July 17; performances take place throughout the day, with some starting as early as noon on some days. The festival is divided into three stages named after their sponsors. Fantasia will close the first night on the Wells Fargo stage. And Matisyahu, out with new live album "Live at Stubbs," will perform there as well as the last performer on Sunday night.

Much of it was canned emotion, of course, but you have to hand it to the producers of American Idol, they built to a killer climax in the final hour last night before announcing that 19-year-old Fantasia Barrino was the new American Idol. And then they managed to take it a notch higher with a tearfully joyous Barrino closing the two-hour telecast singing "I Believe," the soaring, gospel-based ballad that has become the anthem of television's highest-rated show this year. Host Ryan Seacrest said on air last night that a record 65 million votes were cast in the competition between Barrino and 16-year-old Diana DeGarmo.

Mario and Fantasia, two standout talents in the overly calculated realm of modern R&B, have placed big hits on the pop and urban charts and sold millions of albums. But neither has fulfilled the promise of his or her talent. There's still hope, though. Mario and Fantasia, the marquee names at Friday night's African American Heritage Festival at Camden Yards, are younger than 25. So with time (and, with any luck, better material), both should soar artistically. But for now, the two are churning out mostly trite urban-pop tunes and albums brimming with rudimentary, trend-conscious production.

The Philadelphia Orchestra Association slapped the Walt Disney Co. with a lawsuit yesterday, claiming it deserves half the $120-million videocassette profit from the animated classic "Fantasia."The Philadelphia Orchestra's "musical performance, name and likeness were used throughout the movie," the suit said, and "no contract or agreement" gives Disney the right to use its performance without compensation.The civil lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. Besides half of "Fantasia''s estimated profit, the suit seeks unspecified punitive damages.

LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney's animation classic "Fantasia" will be updated with several new segments now being created for release in 1996-97, it was recently announced.The revamped version, to be called "Fantasia Continued," will fulfill Disney's original wish to keep the 1941 film fresh by periodically replacing some old segments with new ones, the studio said in a news release."We would . . . change the program just like the ballet does," Disney said when "Fantasia" was released.Details about the new segments and which old ones would be dropped were not released.

IT'S BEEN stretched, Cinemascoped, polished frame by frame and, at one point, even adopted by the dope heads as their signature film. That was 1970 when users looking for added visual thrill watched big-screen showings of ''Fantasia'' and were further transported by it.In 1982, it was re-released with a new score conducted by Irwin Kostal and, in all, has been re-released eight times, this being the eighth. Not bad for a film that didn't make any profit when it was first released. Fifty years later, it is one of the bigger money makers for the Walt Disney Studios, who are re-issuing it on its 50th anniversary.

Fantasia 2000 An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack (Walt Disney 60986) Walt Disney's "Fantasia" was always the most high-minded of animated films. The original 1940 feature wasn't just a visual and aural tour de force; it was also a sly lesson in music appreciation, bringing the classics to audiences who otherwise might never have heard Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" or Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours." Naturally, there's an element of edification in "Fantasia 2000" as well. From the opening semaphore of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, conductor James Levine -- assuming the role Leopold Stokowski held in the original -- does his best to make classical music seem as entertaining and exciting as a John Williams "Star Wars" score.

"American Idol" winner Fantasia, the laid-back blues of G Love & Special Sauce and the reggae/hip-hop stylings of Matisyahu are the headliners among some 40 musical acts set to play Artscape 2011, organizers announced today. Fantasia, the winner and clear audience favorite from 2004's third season of "American Idol," will close out Artscape's main stage on opening night, July 15. Philadelphia's G Love & Special Sauce, best known for their hit debut single "Cold Beverage," will be the final main-stage act on night two, while Matisyahu, a Hasidic Jew known for blending reggae, rock and hip-hop, will bring the festival to a close with a performance July 17. All three acts will perform from the Wells Fargo main stage, to be set up at Cathedral Street and Mount Royal Avenue.

Kandi Burruss has quickly become a fan favorite among viewers of the drama-filled "Real Housewives of Atlanta" series on Bravo. Since joining the show in its second season, Burruss' easy, carefree nature and signature smile have brought balance to the bickering, back stabbing and wig-pulling that have provided viewers with a nonstop flow of water-cooler fodder. A major portion of Burruss' story line last season involved her onetime fiance, Ashley "A.J. " Jewell, who died after a fight outside of an Atlanta club.

When Fantasia Barrino opens her mouth as Celie in the national tour of The Color Purple and belts out the lyrics to "I'm Here," she could be talking about her own life. Like Celie, the heroine of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the teen-age Fantasia contended with rape and domestic abuse. And, like Celie, she launched a successful career against all odds when she won the third season of American Idol. Two best-selling albums followed, along with a memoir called Life Is Not a Fairy Tale that later was made into a movie for cable television.

Jennifer Hudson cds Jennifer Hudson went from being booted off American Idol to winning an Academy Award in just four years. But while she was developing her acting career, it seemed as if her debut album would never come out. (In addition to her Oscar-snatching role in Dreamgirls, she also appeared in Sex i n the City: The Movie and has a role in the coming flick The Secret Life of Bees). Finally, the 27-year-old Chicagoan has released her much-talked-about self-titled CD. The disc, in stores today, goes out of its way to show off Hudson's musical diversity.

Mario and Fantasia, two standout talents in the overly calculated realm of modern R&B, have placed big hits on the pop and urban charts and sold millions of albums. But neither has fulfilled the promise of his or her talent. There's still hope, though. Mario and Fantasia, the marquee names at Friday night's African American Heritage Festival at Camden Yards, are younger than 25. So with time (and, with any luck, better material), both should soar artistically. But for now, the two are churning out mostly trite urban-pop tunes and albums brimming with rudimentary, trend-conscious production.

Miss Northern Maryland crowned Keia Brown, 22, of Abingdon recently won the Miss Northern Maryland title from the Miss America organization. She competed against nine other contestants in interview, talent, swimsuit, evening gown and on-stage question categories. Brown performed a lyrical dance to Fantasia Barrino's I Believe for her talent portion. Her platform was "Enough Is Enough: Cyber Safe Our Youth." She is a senior at Marymount University in Arlington, Va., where she expects to graduate in May, with a degree in fashion merchandising.

There is a downside to winning American Idol. The victor can be profiled in a movie as dreadful as The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film premieres at 9 tonight on Lifetime, and Barrino's story would seem perfect fare for a cable channel dedicated to empowering women. The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale airs at 9 tonight on Lifetime; it repeats at 8 p.m. tomorrow and 9 p.m. Monday.

That earthy, approachable, homegirl-up-the-block charm is just part of the reason millions gravitated to Fantasia Barrino when she was on American Idol last season. But her most magnetic draw was her vocal style: ripe with church-honed histrionics and appealingly rough around the edges. On the show, Fantasia (she goes by just her first name) tore through any song thrown at her --from Barry Manilow to the Gershwins -- with charged vitality. She rightfully strolled away the first-place winner and has since scored platinum with her debut, Free Yourself.

Don't crown Lakisha Jones -- or rival Melinda Doolittle -- the new American Idol just yet. That's what Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer of the hit Fox series American Idol, told reporters yesterday during a telephone news conference. When asked if the talent show hasn't already become a two-person contest, Lythgoe said, "I've seen the three divas -- if you remember, they were LaToya London, Jennifer Hudson and Fantasia [from Season 3]. And I've seen them cancel each other out." So, he has become "wary" about early favorites, Lythgoe said.

There is a downside to winning American Idol. The victor can be profiled in a movie as dreadful as The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. The film premieres at 9 tonight on Lifetime, and Barrino's story would seem perfect fare for a cable channel dedicated to empowering women. The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale airs at 9 tonight on Lifetime; it repeats at 8 p.m. tomorrow and 9 p.m. Monday.