"Pomp and Circumstance" is the seventh and penultimate segment from Fantasia 2000, set to the composition of the same name by Edward Elgar. Based on the story of Noah's Ark from the Book of Genesis in the Bible, it stars Donald Duck in the role of Noah's first mate, as well as Daisy Duck. During the segment, Donald musters the animals to the Ark and misses, but later reunites with Daisy in the process. The segment was also used in the final 1 minute and 52 seconds of the closing credits but omitted Donald, Daisy, and the animals.
As the time of the Great Flood to wipe out all land draws near, Noah rounds up pairs of animals from every corner of the globe and instructs Donald Duck to ensure that they all get onto the Ark. After jumping out of his hammock in the middle of his relaxation, Donald accepts the task and leaves Daisy Duck at their hut expecting to meet her on board. The animals refuse to get on at first at Donald's command, but after a bolt of lightning nearly strikes them, they frantically comply. The dragon, griffin, and unicorn sit by, laughing and mocking them. While Donald is checking them off on his list, he realizes that Daisy has not yet come aboard. He rushes back to their hut to get her, not seeing her get on as he does. Suddenly, The Great Flood begins as a giant wave crash over their hut, washing it away. Daisy, who is watching from the Ark's window, doesn't see Donald rush back to the Ark in time and thinks he got washed away too. Similarly, Donald thinks the same thing about her as he failed to notice she wasn't still in the hut, and both are saddened by the apparent loss of one another.
After the rain stops, Donald sends out a male dove to check for land, angrily pulling him away from his mate, whom he refuses to leave in the process. Upon seeing the female dove cry because her mate is gone, Donald realizes that he is missing Daisy more. Elsewhere on the Ark, Daisy looks at a picture of her and Donald that she keeps in a locket and begins to feel the same way. Throughout the voyage, neither duck knows that the other is there.
The male dove soon returns with a twig from an olive tree. When the Ark lands and the water dries out forty days after the rain starts, Donald looks on as the animals - some of which have young during the journey (for instance, the rabbits had at least twenty bunnies) - climb off. As Noah and his family are leaving, he ruffles Donald's head feathers affectionately to congratulate him for a job well done, but Donald continues to feel sad about the apparent loss of Daisy. Elsewhere, Daisy is walking down the gangplank when she realizes that her locket has fallen off its chain. Going back to look for it, she finds it and bends down to pick it up. Donald, having noticed the locket as he stepped out to sweep up some dirt, reaches down to pick it up at the same time. They both see one another and are overjoyed that the other is alive. Daisy kisses Donald and they walk together holding hands, to admire their new home under a beautiful rainbow.
Lyrics[]
Land of hope and glory
Mother of the free
How shall we extol thee
Who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider
Shall thy bounds be set
God who made thee mighty
Make thee mightier yet
God who made thee mighty
Make thee mightier yet
Development[]
"Pomp and Circumstance" was a piece selected for Fantasia 2000 at the suggestion of Michael Eisner, who was inspired by attending his son's college graduation, saying "Pomp and Circumstance' probably has more pleasant associations in people's minds than any other piece of music, because it is always being played when you or someone you love are achieving something".
Before the Noah's Ark storyline was chosen, Eisner and the executives wanted the sequence to feature as many Disney characters as possible and was centered on a procession of the Disney Princesses, accompanied by their Princes and children, from Snow White up to Princess Jasmine. Numerous Disney characters in the audience could be seen watching this parade, but a certain set of characters were not invited: the Disney Villains, who proceed to crash the party. Donald Duck was present in this story and tried to send the villains back by using the Sorcerer's Hat, though his efforts to retrieve it provide a number of comedic gags. Eisner had hoped to invite many of the surviving members of the Nine Old Men to come back to animate their characters, but upon a screening of the story reel, they immediately rejected the proposal and called the sequence one of the most terrible things they had ever seen.[1]
"Pomp and Circumstance" eventually shifted to a Noah's Ark storyline, though with a dove in the role of Noah's assistant instead of Donald. Additionally, an alternative Donald Duck sequence was pitched in the form of an Icarus story set to Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" and bumblebee story set to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee".
Many of the animals seen in the segment are visually inspired by past Disney animal characters. Two elephants resemble Colonel Hathi and Winifred, two penguins resemble the Penguin Waiters, two beavers resemble Mr. Busy, two crocodiles resemble Brutus and Nero, two hippos resemble the ones from Dumbo, two eagles resemble Marahute, two vultures resemble Vultures, two skunks in the beginning resemble Flower and Petunia, and two frilled lizards resemble Frank.
Among the animals featured are: platypus, koala, kangaroo, African elephant, nine-banded armadillo, aye-aye, spider monkey, gibbon, gorilla, rabbit, North American porcupine, squirrel, beaver, house mouse, mole, spotted hyena, lion, cheetah, wolf, red fox, polar bear, panda, walrus, skunk, raccoon, otter, domestic horse, zebra, black rhinoceros, dromedary, llama, domestic pig, warthog, hippopotamus, giraffe, mule deer, moose, domestic cattle, yak, African buffalo, bison, domestic goat, domestic sheep, muskox, impala, wildebeest, little brown bat, desert tortoise, chameleon, frilled lizard, python, crocodile, ostrich, goose, mallard, swan, domestic chicken, peafowl, flamingo, rock dove, emperor penguin, egret, pelican, bald eagle, griffon vulture, horned owl, quetzal, toucan, Pileated woodpecker, falcon, macaw, cockatoo, raven, nightingale, common frog, firefly, and garden snail.
A unicorn, a dragon, and a griffin were briefly seen laughing and mocking at the animals boarding the ark, referencing why they don't exist in real life.