MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Star: Mickey Mouse Directors: Hendel Butoy, Francis Glebas and Paul Brizzi Rated: G Length: 75 min.

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

(Dec. 31, 1999) -- In 1940, when Walt Disney conceived "Fantasia" as a pet project that married animation and classical music, he planned for it to be expanded, altered or reworked every few years.

I bet he didn't have a 60-year wait in mind. Now, 33 years after Disney's death, his nephew Roy has finally produced the second "Fantasia."

"Fantasia 2000" clearly demonstrates the adage better late than never.

Disney's new animated feature -- the first-ever film created for the giant Imax screen -- giant-screen Imax process -- opens today at the Cinemark Imax. It can lay claim to the title: "first film of the new millennium."

Fortunately, it's also the first great film of the millennium -- a rousing blend of music, sound, uplifting themes, carefree humor, new-age animation and classic Disney craftsmanship.

It is, in every way, superior to its fabled predecessor. The original "Fantasia" has fondly remembered moments of brilliance, but it wasn't consistently imaginative and some parts haven't aged well.

It's easy for viewers to pick favorites from the original eight segments. Nearly everyone agrees, though, that "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Mickey Mouse was the highlight of the original. That sequence -- unchanged -- is joined in the new film by seven new segments.

That the new numbers are more clearly the equal of the beloved "Sorcerer's Apprentice" speaks to the overall rise in quality. It's more difficult to make favorites in the new film.

As in the original movie, various Disney animators have been assigned create animated visions to accompany familiar pieces of orchestral music. The result is compendium of wonderfully entertaining segments:

• An abstract celebration of movement and color, choreographed to Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5," with flocks of flying shapes that look vaguely like Origami butterflies and bats.

• A stunning vision of majestic whales who escape the boundaries of reality to soar in the skies above Arctic waters. The subject matter has nothing to do with the chosen music -- Ottorino Respighi's "Pines of Rome" -- but you'd never know it.

• A marvelous interpretation of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," with images of bustling New York City life, circa 1930, all drawn in the manner of the great illustrator Al Hirschfeld.

• Dmitri Shostakovich's "Piano Concerto No. 2" supports a version of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Steadfast Soldier," which had been originally conceived for an aborted Disney feature in the late 1940s.

• A quick blast of colorful humor as wacky flamingos cavort and toss yo-yos -- yes, yo-yos -- accompanied by a segment from Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals."

• Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" (best known as graduation music) used to accompany a charming, witty version of the story of Noah's Ark. Donald and Daisy Duck star, which means Donald finally gets to share "Fantasia" billing with Mickey.

• Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite," blended with a lyrical allegory about the death and rebirth in nature that's centered on a forest that fights back after being blackened by a volcano.

Since animation typically is in softer focus than live-action film, the giant-screen Imax sharpness factor isn't especially relevant here. However, seeing the images in such gigantic scope is breathtaking.

More importantly, the intricate and powerful Imax sound system brings the film's score to vibrant life.

"Fantasia 2000" is a visual feast and a sonic spectacle. It might have taken 60 years, but it's more than worth the wait.