Death, rebirth and beauty in Disney's Firebird Suite

This has been a year fraught with fear, uncertainty and violence. Far, far too much violence. While there has of course always been conflict and unavoidable tragedy in life, to many it feels like we have crossed a line somewhere. That now, the violence and tragedy within which we so often find ourselves seems to all have been entirely avoidable and yet, despite the same signs and the same warnings, these tragedies are allowed to occur again and again, with alarmingly increasing regularity. And every time one strikes, it feels like the world becomes a little more ugly, cold and lonely.

These thoughts crossed my mind while watching the closing segment from Disney’s mostly-forgotten Fantasia 2000. Set to Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, the animation charts the story of a playful nymph that brings a forest out of winter and into spring, only to cause its decimation by inadvertently awakening the destructive firebird through her celebrating.  Though from the turn of the millennium, it has a timeless feel, harking back to ancient Greek myths, as well as Disney’s own The Sorcerer’s Apprentice segment from the previous Fantasia, with its themes of discovery, hubris and the dire consequences of playing God. Like Pandora’s Box or the fables of Aesop, it functions as a parable, ‘Be careful what you mess with, because once the box is opened, you can never close it back up again.’

It is a beautiful piece of animation. Visually and musically, an absolute marvel, on par with anything from the original Fantasia or beyond. There is a sense of real life to it that very little animation truly manages to capture; very little art in general, for that matter.  Each frame bursts to life as if first appearing in the artist’s imagination. Perhaps that’s what’s so wonderful about it, that it has a power to touch us as if we are all experiencing it for the first time. Or maybe it’s just cos of how nice it’s painted. Either way, it is a wondrously untainted moment, and a gift, I think, that the animators give to us. It’s one that I cherish, in bad times and good.

Over 15 years later, this piece is still as touched with the joy of creativity as any great piece of art since the dawn of man. Its themes are eternal – death and rebirth, joy and fear, arrogance and shame. It shows us that no matter how high we fly, we have just as far to fall. But in turn, no matter how far we fall, we can always pick ourselves up from the ashes and fly again. The nymph sits in the ashes of what she has helped destroy, no longer able to see the beauty that she once helped create. With the help of her friend, the deer, she casts off her shame and looks to the future – to new life. There is beauty left in this world, after all, if we’re willing to see it and maybe, give it that little help it needs to flourish. I hope, in the face of everything, we can remember this.