A Halloween tradition for me is watching "Night on Bald Mountain," a segment from Disney's FANTASIA. It's spooky as all fuck, but also incredibly sad. I missed it this year because I was busy getting drunk instead, but I watched it the next day.
I'm sure a lot of you can understand why I get such a kick out of this thing. It's a great party of ghosts and demons, and the orchestra of chaos and madness is a sight to behold. It's so unusual for something like this to exist from the time it was created. One would think it would have been banned for being Satanic.
But the demons dancing and the ghosts swirling aren't the reasons I truly enjoy this piece. My favorite part comes when the monster, who is probably the Devil, is excited to continue his insane party but is prevented by the dawning sun and the toll of the church bells. The demons skulk away to the shadows, and the ghosts drift back down to their graves, banished for yet another year.
And the monster, yearning for so much more, reaches mournfully to the brightening sky before folding himself back into Bald Mountain. As his arms fall, and the wings tighten around him, that's when I feel the saddest.
Until next year . . .
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