If you are feeling at all depressed or bored with psychological thrillers, this is just the film to brighten up your dark moments. It's not hilarious, it won't have you rolling about in hysterical laughter, but it will put a smile on your face and you may even manage a chortle or two. It's pure fantasy, the stuff that dreams are made of....Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius whose music forms the basis of this film would probably be amused at how their music has been interpreted.

While the black and white scenes of the compere, the conductor, the orchestra and the cartoonist are amusing enough, they seem a bit forced in their attempt at humour (the cartoonist is no Charlie Chaplin) and the transition from black and white to colour is never very smooth. Even the sound level is not constant.

Wherever did they get the old ladies to represent the orchestra? They looked as if they stepped straight out of a Fellini film. In a couple of farcical scenes one old girl while blowing a fanfare on her trumpet ran out of breath and fell over backwards. Another was knocked off the stage when she was struck by a cork propelled from an exploding bottle of champagne.

While the film lacks the technical quality of Disney's Fantasia, it still has some amusing and original ideas. To the sound of Ravel's Bolero, we see some sludge at the bottom of a bottle give way to primitive life and then follows in rapid succession the origin of the various species of life on earth. Even Darwin would have been fascinated by this interpretation of his theory of evolution.

Allegro Non Troppo is far more sexual than any of Disney's work. The faun is depicted as a lecherous old man, an interpretation never seen before in any of the great ballets. There are heart-tugging moments too, particularly to the beautiful music of Sibelius, when we see a starved cat searching for food, warmth and company amongst the ruins of a home.

When one ponders over the number of hours the artists worked on this film, one can only admire their competence and artistry. See it at your first opportunity.

I know Allegro Non Troppo has been suffering from, and probably still will be suffering from, inevitable comparisons to Disney's Fantasia. Some may consider it superior, others inferior. I put them on an equal level. Fantasia is a near-masterpiece, that was unique and imaginative then and still is now, with some of the best music there is and animation that matches magnificently with it as well as some timeless characters(ie. Chernabog). But it did have the visually interesting and beautifully played but rather overlong and on the dull side Rite of Spring segment(I'm also not a fan of that particular piece so that might have been part of the problem as well),which brought things down a notch.

Allegro Non Troppo does deserve to stand on its own, because it is a wonderful film in its own right. Like Fantasia, it isn't perfect, the live-action segments are not on the same level as the animated segments, some are not very funny too and are distracting instead, and they can jar as well. However, it shares the same virtues that Fantasia has. It has gorgeous animation, maybe not as technically impressive or unique as Fantasia but lavishly coloured and it blends beautifully with the music. What was also impressive about the animation was the varied art styles, it wasn't just one style, from the haunting Valse Triste and imaginatively surreal Bolero to the wonderfully goofy Slavonic dance and amusingly colourful Concerto in C, there was always something to see that was interesting.

The music here is also outstanding. Of the lot, the Sibelius(Valse Triste) is my favourite with the Debussy(Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune) a close second. And it was also Allegro Non Troppo that enabled me to appreciate Ravel's Bolero more than I did. I initially found it repetitive, but the animation here really makes it so much more interesting than I thought. The Dvorak and Vivaldi are a lot of fun as you would expect from these two composers. The Stravinsky piece The Firebird is one I much prefer, and while the piece was done to even better effect in Fantasia's sequel(worth checking out thought not as good) the satirical edge of the animation worked wonders. It helps also that the music is performed so beautifully and the conducting is sympathetic to the musicality and various moods of each piece.

Of the vignettes, the best for me was easily Valse Triste. It is so hauntingly affecting that I will guarantee it will leave you speechless afterwards. Enormously advantaged by Sibelius' powerfully understated music and the fact that the story of the piece is very sad anyway, the animation matches seamlessly, making it one of the most remarkable animated pieces I've seen from any film. Apart from The Nutcracker Suite(almost),I don't think Fantasia accomplished that sense of emotion in the way that Allegro Non Troppo with Valse Triste did. Prelude A L'Apres-Midi D'Un Faune is another great segment. Very erotic and melancholic, with a great titular character, one that both comic and tragic, which is an ideal match for the music. Bolero is very imaginatively animated, weird and surreal but done in a way that I have not seen done and very much liked.

The Firebird is suitably satirical- though I personally prefer Fantasia 2000's account of it- while the Concerto in C is hilarious. If I had to have a least favourite of the segments, it's probably the Dvorak, but that is still very good and raises great amusement at least. Overall, this is a really good, no scratch that, a great, near-perfect animated film that is deserving of a much higher regard than it does. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is a satirical takedown of Disney. The Presenter claims to be doing something new and original while fighting off Prisney from Hollywood. He rounds up a group of old ladies to be the orchestra. He releases The Animator (Maurizio Nichetti) from the dungeon to draw tales set to classical music. The live-action scenes are black and white. The animation is 70's adult outsider drawings with stories of a lustful satyr, militarism, evolution of leftover coke, and an Adam & Eve take. Nichetti is doing his mostly silent character. It's a satire of Fantasia. It has its humor, its adult content, and it's quirky fun. Like Fantasia, the animation vignettes don't connect which is a shame. I would like to follow the satyr in his aimless erotic adventures. I do love half of the animated vignettes and the other half are pretty fine.