Missing Only The Magic

By William Tynan

TITLE: DISNEY'S SYMPHONIC FANTASY

WHERE: METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY

THE BOTTOM LINE: A revue of songs from Disney movies is pleasant if uninspired.

The ever expanding Walt Disney Co., having announced plans for a West Coast Epcot Center and a Broadway Beauty and the Beast, has now unveiled a touring stage revue of songs from its animated movies. The show opened a two-week run last week at Manhattan's Metropolitan Opera House, no less, and will go on to play 17 amphitheaters, arts centers and state fairs through Aug. 22. A lavish affair, it is performed by a symphony orchestra, a 30-member chorus, and 44 players who impersonate more than 200 Disney characters. Alas, the title -- Disney's Symphonic Fantasy -- is only two-thirds accurate.

The Boston Pops treatment suits the Disney catalog, which boasts six Oscar winners, from When You Wish upon a Star (Pinocchio) through Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah (Song of the South) to A Whole New World (Aladdin). The costumes are meticulous, right down to the tiny red bow on Minnie Mouse's knickers. The oversize character heads bring coos of recognition from the littlest audience members. And the numbers are neatly sung and danced.

What the show lacks is fantasy, the magic of the movie originals. The two hours are pleasant enough, but the energetic staging -- all of it in a shallow strip in front of the orchestra -- is uninspired. Without distinctive personalities or any sense of drama, a sameness sets in.

The Met engagement is blessed, however, with the crisp, lush American Symphony Orchestra, founded by Leopold Stokowski, who conducted 1940's Fantasia. A different local symphony will play at each stop, one of the nicer goals of the enterprise being to increase appreciation for the nation's orchestras. Stoky would have liked that.