Allegro Non Troppo

Classical music meets the tripped-out ‘70s in the wild animated cult classic Allegro Non Troppo, celebrating its 50th anniversary in a groovy new 2K restoration!  An enterprising and slightly mad producer believes he has hit upon a winning concept: a program of original animated shorts set to classical music.  Undeterred by warnings that this has already been done by an American named “Prisney,” he rallies an orchestra of geriatric women, a bullish conductor, and an animator that he keeps locked in a dungeon.  What could possibly go wrong?   A gleefully anarchic and mind-bending sendup of Walt Disney’s Fantasia comprised of six segments scored to tunes by Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Vivaldi, blending live-action slapstick with cheeky, psychedelic animation, Allegro Non Troppo is a one-of-a-kind creation as joyful and raunchy and it is thoughtful and cutting. (Dir. by Bruno Bozzetto, 1976, Italy, in Italian with English subtitles, 75 mins., Not Rated)