Pomp and Circumstance

"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 one minute and fifty-two seconds of the closing credits but omitted Donald, Daisy, and the animals.
==Synopsis==
As the time of the Great Flood to wipe out all land draws near, Noah summons all species of animals from every corner of the globe. He instructs Donald Duck, after jumping out of his hammock in the middle of his relaxation, to ensure that all animals get onto the Ark in groups of two, a male and a female of each species. At first, Donald laughs at this skeptically, as there isn't a cloud in the sky, but then it suddenly starts to rain anyway, and Donald accepts the task and leaves Daisy Duck at their hut, promising he would meet her on board. At first, the animals refuse to get on at Donald's command, but after a bolt of lightning nearly strikes them, they frantically comply. The dragon, griffin, and unicorn sit idly by, laughing and mocking them (not knowing they were doomed). 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 coming onboard as he does. Suddenly, the Great Flood begins as a giant wave crashes 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.
40 days and nights later, after the rain lets up, 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, and seeing the animals lovingly cuddle with each other, Donald thinks of Daisy, realizing how much he misses her more and 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 up one year later after the flood began, Donald looks on as the animals - some of which had young offspring during the journey (for instance, the rabbits had at least 20 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 proceeded 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 provided several 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.http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2011/04/29/why-for-the-disney-princess-royal-processional-that-you-almost-got-to-see.aspx
Another variation, based on the previous version, was leaked online. This version was a procession where the Disney Princesses and their Princes were being bequeathed children by storks. The other Disney characters were still featured, with Donald now trying to deliver a pillow with tiny crowns on it to give to the newborns. (Ariel and Eric's daughter, Melody, would eventually officially debut in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, released several months after Fantasia 2000.)
"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".
"Pomp and Circumstance" along with "The Carnival of the Animals" and "Symphony No. 5" were recorded on April 25, 1994 by and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
==Trivia==
*The song is used as the national anthem of England in the United Kingdom, "Land of Hope and Glory" and it is also a traditional song played at school graduations in the United States as stated in the opening monologue of this segment.
*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 porcupines resemble the porcupine from The Fox and the Hound, two lions resemble Mufasa and Sarabi, two gorillas resemble Kerchak and Kala, two hippos resemble the ones from Dumbo, two eagles resemble Marahute, two vultures resemble the Vultures (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), an owl resembling Owl, two skunks in the beginning resemble Flower and Petunia, and two frilled lizards resemble Frank.
*Among the animals featured are: platypus, koala, red kangaroo, African elephant, long-nosed armadillo, aye-aye, spider monkey, gibbon, silverback gorilla, rabbit, North American porcupine, squirrel, North American beaver, house mouse, mole, spotted hyena, African lion, cheetah, gray wolf, red fox, polar bear, giant panda bear, walrus, skunk, raccoon, river otter, domestic horse, zebra, black rhinoceros, camel, dromedary, llama, domestic pig, common warthog, hippopotamus, giraffe, mule, white-tailed deer, moose, domestic cattle, yak, African buffalo, American bison, domestic goat, domestic sheep, muskox, gazelle, wildebeest, little brown bat, desert tortoise, chameleon, frilled lizard, Burmese python, Nile crocodile, ostrich, Canadian goose, non-anthropomorphic duck (much to Donald's humorous confusion), swan, domestic chicken, peacock, flamingo, rock dove, seagull, emperor penguin, egret, pelican, bald eagle, griffon vulture, great horned owl, quetzal, toucan, pileated woodpecker, peregrine falcon, scarlet macaw, sulphur-crested cockatoo, raven, nightingale, common bullfrog, 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.
*The flood from the segment (labeled as "Noah's Flood") was among the most prominent props in the prop storage in House of Mouse, appearing in the episodes "Donald's Lamp Trade" and "Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation".
==Video==
Fantasia 2000 - Disney Princess "Pomp and Circumstance" Deleted Scene - LMB Archive
==References==
==See also==
*Father Noah's Ark
Category:Fantasia segments
Category:Donald Duck shorts
Category:Daisy Duck shorts
Category:Non-Disney songs
Category:Instrumental songs
Category:Fantasia
Category:Animated shorts
Category:Films
Category:Music
Category:The Muppets songs