List of Fantasia (franchise) characters explained

The following are fictional characters from Disney's 1940 film Fantasia, its 1999 sequel Fantasia 2000 and the 2014 video game . Characters in this list are sorted by the film and segment in which they appear.

Notable and recurring characters

Notable recurring characters in Disney's Fantasia franchise.

Yen Sid

Yen Sid
Creator:Fred Moore
First:Fantasia (1940);
The Sorcerer's Apprentice segment
Voice:Michael Rye (The Wonderful World of Disney, "Disney on Parade")
Corey Burton (English)
Takashi Inagaki (Japanese)

Yen Sid ("Disney" spelled backward) is the powerful sorcerer in Fantasia, appearing as an old man with a long beard and robes that extended to the floor. In the segment, he executes a series of spells that are observed by his apprentice Mickey Mouse, then decides to take a rest, leaving his hat behind. Mickey takes the hat and uses its magic to bring a broom to life to finish the chore of bringing water in from the well. However, Mickey does not know how to stop the magic now that it has been activated and, after he falls asleep, the entire basement is flooded. Eventually, Yen Sid reappears and uses his magic to make the waters recede and undo the spell that caused the problem in the first place. From there, he takes back his hat and broom, and uses the broom to send Mickey back to finish his chores.

In later media

Decades after the film's release Yen Sid began appearing in media ranging from Disney theme parks to video games.

On the 1971 The Wonderful World of Disney episode "Disney on Parade", Yen Sid (referred to as Merlin and voiced by Michael Rye) makes a brief appearance to chastise Mickey as well as test his abilities.

Yen Sid is voiced by Corey Burton in the Disneyland attraction Mickey and the Magical Map in Anaheim, California. Burton also voices the character in the Disney/Square Enix video game series Kingdom Hearts, marking Yen Sid's first consistent speaking role. Burton voices Yen Sid in the Epic Mickey game series as both the narrator and as the creator of a pen-and-paper world for all of Disney's forgotten creations to reside, including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit before Mickey's unintentional actions turn it into the Wasteland.

Yen Sid also appears in where he employs the player as his new apprentice. Yen Sid appears in Disney Magical World as the creator of the primary world known as Castleton, the peaceful home of dozens of citizens and Disney characters. Aside from appearing in the opening cinematic for the game, Yen Sid also summons the player to seek help defeating an army of ghosts that have invaded the tranquil realm.

In the Once Upon a Time television series Yen Sid is shown to be the possible landlord of the house in Storybrooke where the Apprentice lives.[1]

In the Descendants prequel novel The Isle of the Lost, Yen Sid is living on the titular Isle, positioned at the Dragon Hall school and helping students adapt to life without magical recourse.

Donald Duck

See main article: Donald Duck.

Daisy Duck

See main article: Daisy Duck.

Chernabog

Chernabog
First:Fantasia (1940);
Night on Bald Mountain segment
Creator:Walt Disney Pictures
Species:Devil
Voice:Corey Burton

Chernabog is the massive nocturnal devil in Night on Bald Mountain, who can take people's hearts and holds power over various restless souls. His name is taken from Chernobog, an alleged deity of Slavic mythology; the name is Slavic for "black god".[2] While officially a pagan god, Chernabog might have originally been intended as a representation of Satan: when "Night on Bald Mountain" appeared on the original Wonderful World of Disney, Walt Disney referred to Chernabog as "Satan himself."[3] Deems Taylor also refers to Chernabog as "Satan" in the film.

Chernabog is first seen disguised as the spire on top of Bald Mountain until he spreads his draconic wings, revealing himself. It is Walpurgis Night, and he uses his dark supernatural powers to raise ghosts, monsters, fire women, a fleet of imps, blue satyrs, witches and demons from a nearby town with a cemetery. Ghosts of criminals pass through the noose a second time, while others rise from the moat surrounding the ruins of an abandoned ancient castle. He then also summons fire and makes the ghosts and the other creatures in his control dance and fly around, before he throws them into a volcanic pit and resurrects them as demons. Harpies fly around as the cavorting gets more chaotic, throwing unfortunate, deformed creatures into the multi-hued flames. Chernabog is at the height of his power, showing off in a display that sends a column of fire into the air, which returns to the chasm in a sheet of flame. An instant before continuing the demonic celebration, Chernabog hears the tolling of the Angelus Bell, signaling the coming of the dawn; he is then forced to cover himself with his wings as the demons leap back down the pit, the ghosts return to their graves, and the dark ceremony ceases as morning arrives.

In other media

Chernabog appears as one of the Disney Villains in both versions of the Fantasmic! nighttime spectacular at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and the Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. Here he is summoned by the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to fight Mickey Mouse. In both versions of Fantasmic! his role is similar to that in Fantasia, with him summoning ghosts. He has no spoken dialogue, but growls, cackles, and screams during his appearances in the show. In the end, Mickey defeats Chernabog along with the other villains with his imagination. He also previously appeared in the original version of World of Color at Disney California Adventure, but was replaced in 2011 with an extended Pirates of The Caribbean sequence. His sequence has not been restored. Before the premiere of World of Color, a large fountain effect was created so he could appear towering over the rest of the show. However, due to technical problems, the effect was ultimately removed before the show opened. He also appears in parade floats in Disney amusement parks.

Chernabog appeared in the Disney/Square Enix crossover game Kingdom Hearts as a surprise boss who rules over the "End of the World", serving as the fight before Ansem. Chernabog attacks by breathing fire, invoking an eruption from the mountain he stands in, summoning spirits to attack Sora, Donald and Goofy and flinging balls of fire. "Night on Bald Mountain" serves as the music during this boss battle in the North American, PAL and Final Mix version of the game, making him the only Disney villain in the game to have his own unique boss music. He returns in as a boss fight in Riku's story in the Symphony of Sorcery world based upon Fantasia.

Chernabog is also seen as a guest in House of Mouse where he is voiced by Corey Burton. Here, his legs can be seen. He is more than an actual villain. In one particular episode, he sheepishly admits to Clarabelle Cow that he is afraid of the dark and in another during a blackout, he admits that he is "kind of afraid of the dark". In one episode, he even reenacts a part of the Night on Bald Mountain segment before Pete tries to push him (and Bald Mountain) away with a bulldozer, which provokes the evil spirits that chase the selfish cat out of the club. In the direct-to-video Mickey's House of Villains, he is part of the villains that accompany Jafar to take over the club.

Chernabog makes an appearance in Disney at Dawn, the second book of the Kingdom Keepers series. Though he is mentioned numerous times throughout, his major role is at the end of the book, where it is revealed that he has been trapped by Disney Imagineers in the form of the Yeti in the Disney's Animal Kingdom attraction Expedition Everest. He is freed by Maleficent, and flies out of the mountain, before escaping capture and escaping from the park. In a cliffhanger ending, it is reported he and Maleficent have most likely taken shelter in MGM Studios.

During season 4 of the television series Once Upon a Time, the Chernabog is released in Storybrooke.

A painting of Chernabog can be seen in the Lonesome Manor Foyer in Epic Mickey and he also appears in the film reel segments based upon his segment in .

Chernabog makes two appearances in the 2013 Mickey Mouse series, in episodes "Touchdown and Out", where he is part of Pete's football team along with the Beagle Boys, and "The Scariest Story Ever", where he has a cameo at the beginning on the top of a mountain.

He is one of the several Walt Disney Animation Studios characters that have a cameo appearance in the short film Once Upon a Studio, where while the Dalmatian puppies from 101 Dalmatians watch the segment Night on Bald Mountain on the television, Chernabog comes out of the screen and scares them.[4]

Introduced in Fantasia (1940 film)

This section excludes Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, as no characters actually appear in that segment.

Nutcracker Suite

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Rite of Spring

Intermission/Meet the Soundtrack

The Pastoral Symphony

Dance of the Hours

Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria

Introduced in Fantasia 2000

This section excludes The Sorcerer's Apprentice as it was carried-over from the original film.

Symphony No. 5

Pines of Rome

Rhapsody in Blue

Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102

Carnival of the Animals, Finale

Noah's Ark (Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4)

Firebird Suite

Orchestral instruments

Leopold Stokowski and James Levine are the conductors in the films with the four families of musical instruments.

Woodwinds

Brass

Percussion

Strings

Fantasia: Music Evolved characters

Aside from Yen Sid, these characters appear exclusively in Music Evolved.

Notes and References

  1. https://41.media.tumblr.com/4531a6da2837449f63b3d9d93cbb0bfc/tumblr_nklj35u8BM1u63mrwo1_1280.jpg episode 4x12
  2. In some modern Slavic languages it can be reflected as: Bulgarian and Russian: Чернобог Russian: Chernobog, Macedonian and Crnobog, Црнобог, Polish: Czarnobóg, Černobůh.
  3. Web site: The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company. 2009 . Disney Archives, Chernabog Villains History . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110201011600/http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/villains/chernabog/chernabog.html . February 1, 2011 .
  4. Web site: Reif . Alex . Disney's "Once Upon a Studio" – List of Characters in Order of Appearance . Laughing Place . October 16, 2023.
  5. Book: Culhane, John . 1999 . Walt Disney's Fantasia . 163–164, 178 . Harry N. Abrams . 9780810980785 .
  6. Book: Taylor, Deems . 1940 . Walt Disney's Fantasia . 131 . Simon and Schuster .