All the Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 segments are connected, and the connection is Sorcerer Mickey
When Mickey dreamed with the hat on, it was not actually a dream. That's why Yen Sid took it off before he went to sleep: it makes dreams come true… literally:- Toccata and Fugue in D minor is a part of his dream we didn't get to see, what he was dreaming just before he rose from the armchair and on to the stone pillar.
- In Pomp and Circumstance, the flood was caused by the rainclouds Mickey invoked while on the pillar.
- Rite of Spring begins with stars… It is very suspicious that Mickey was manipulating stars not long before that. That's right: Mickey accidentally caused another Big Bang, leading to the formation of a suspiciously Earthlike planet in the Mickey-created cosmos. (or perhaps it's the rest of the movie that's not set on Earth, with Mickey creating ''our'' Big Bang. Who knows ?).
- The Nutcracker Suite, Dance of the Hours, The Carnival of Animals and The Brave Tin Soldier are a consequence of Mickey firing magic everywhere at the end of the dream sequence; he actually cast the same kind of spell as on the broom in various places, causing plants, animals and inanimate objects to come alive.
- Likewise, when the "magic powder" Mickey created fell in the sea, it had similar effects on aquatic wildlife, leading to The Pines of Rome.
- It looked like a supernova gave the whales the power of flight.
- Likewise, when the "magic powder" Mickey created fell in the sea, it had similar effects on aquatic wildlife, leading to The Pines of Rome.
- Rhapsody in Blue is another effect of this; it's the "wish-granting" spell that got cast everywhere. Thus why the protagonists's wishes all came true.
- Night on Bald Mountain is the downside of the same thing, as the townspeoples's worst fears and superstitions came true in Chernabog.
- The Pastoral Symphony's storm was caused at the end when Mickey was messing up with lightnings. It's not Zeus that caused the storm, it's the storm that summoned Zeus.
- The Firebird was created by Chernabog (we already saw how Chernabog was himself created by Mickey).
- So were the evil butterflies of the 5th Symphony.
The Firebird isn't evil
It's just a nature spirit responsible for destruction. Note how he just burned the trees and not killed the elk.
- Makes sense to me. I guess this would be designated as Obliviously Evil mixed with Blue-and-Orange Morality. I personally think, however, that part of the rampage might have been because it was ticked at being woken up.
- That's part of the WMG about the "Friends and the the High Council" WMG and its wiki "Disney War"…
The Firebird will appear in Kingdom Hearts
Wishful thinking yes, but Chernabog was a random boss fight and a lot of people enjoyed it. Though if the bird was a character in the game, I doubt a boss fight would really fit the mood, more of a race against time ordeal.
The Devil from Fantasia is the Greater-Scope Villain of the Disney multiverse and commands all the other villains
It is he who whispers in the ears of villains like Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Cruella de Vil, Frollo, Maleficent and the others, inspiring them to commit their evil deeds. And they don't even know he's doing it. He's that subtle.
- Well, he is supposed to be Satan, and that's what Satan does...
- If you read the original legends of Witches, they are said to receive their powers from Deals with Satan, and given how many Disney Villains are Witches...
- Okay but what about Hades. They both seem to be Satanic Archetypes. So how it work between them ?
- Given where Hades came from, it's possible that he's exempt from this category due to predating Satan by a longshot.
- Hades is a Predecessor Villain. He was the original ruler of the underworld, but after he was imprisoned in the Styx, the devil (also known as Chernabog), took control and became more powerful than Hades ever was. This would make Hades a Starter Villain as well, as he was the first threat the world had ever faced, but Chernabog surpassed him in every way.
- In sorcerers of the magic kingdom, Hades calls Chernabog his "Number one guy", implying Chernabog is The Dragon.
- Adding to this theory, he's not just limiting himself to villains anymore; he's the one who stoked Queen Elsa's fears and encouraged her and her parents to lock her away.
- All that is pretty much part of the "Friends and the High Council" theory.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice was All Just a Dream.
Either that or Mickey Mouse had an Acid Reflux Nightmare. Chernabog and the Firebird are the same being
More specifically this being living in a mountain is a variation of Gods Need Prayer Badly which is based on whatever the residents fear. The first incarnation years in the past is a satanic being repelled by prayer while the second is influenced by contemporary fears of deforestation and fights the dominant earth deity. Supported by the locations appearing to be the same with the ending shot of fantasia through the trees being reversed in the ending shot of Fantasia 2000 backing up through the trees.
- And yes I know they are most likely in Germany and the Northwestern US respectively but considering the location change this could be in line with American Gods changing over continents. OR maybe they are distant cousins.
- Alternative it's like a Yin/Yang situation, like with many nature spirits. For some time it is a dark demon, for some time it is a fiery phoenix.
- Alternatively, the Firebird is Chernabog's Dragon.
Yen Sid was putting his apprentice through a magical equivalent of Wax On, Wax Off.
Yen Sid wanted the apprentice to use magic to speed up the task. It was a test. A test he failed.
- On the other hand, he looks slightly pleased at the very end when he swats Mickey on the butt with the broom to send him back to work. Maybe the Apprentice didn't fail at all...maybe the lesson wasn't "Use magic to do your chores quickly" but "Here's why you shouldn't play with this stuff when you don't understand what you're doing."
The two birds in the "Claire de Lune" segment are The Admiral and the Princess.
They got separated for a while, but are reunited to fly together again. Chernobog has a reason to celebrate...
The film was released at the same time that a period known as the "phony war" was coming to an end. Perhaps Chernabog is looking forward to what's coming?
Possible music for another Fantasia.
Music pieces that Disney has yet to use in any other picture:- The Blue Danube (as the abstract opening number)
- Moonlight Sonata
- Hungarian Rhapsody (Looney Tunes has done it many times, as did MGM, it's Disney's turn now)
- Just about any Shostakovitch orchestra piece (although The Steadfast Tin Soldier was done to Shostakovich).
- The Carnival of the Animals. Yes, they did use it - but not really; they just used one of the pieces, and did not illustrate it like Saint-Saens intended.
- Saint-Saens prohibited it from being publicly performed, so it's hard to say how he would've illustrated anything.
- Gabriel Pierné's "Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied", which was originally intended for the mythological piece in the first film until they decided on "The Pastoral Symphony".
- "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg. This piece sounds like it's tailor made for some kind of goofy animated short, frankly. Just imagine a thief trying to sneak through a palace in the opening part, and slowly drawing more attention to himself as the song gets louder and louder. Not to mention the title literally references royalty.
- "The Planets" by Gustav Holst. This one is long, so they'd have to remix it. But it could be a great fit for a Space Opera segment. And given that John Williams was inspired by Holst, Star Wars references would be perfectly natural.
- Something from Richard Wagner's The Ring Cycle showing a Disneyfied version of Norse mythology. Maybe even with some Frozen references.
- "Flight of The Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. A typically cute Disney segment about a sweet little bee who gets separated from his hive.
- "O Fortuna." This could be used for the inevitable Nightmare Fuel segment.
Chernabog is not really Satan..
Chernabog is only a demon of a high rank, but he is not Satan himself. Of course this is far from being a good thing, just imagine how scary the true Satan would be, if Chernabog were a simple Demon Lord.