In Popular Culture
The chapter in the animated film Fantasia 2000 based on Stravinsky's piece uses an abridged version (this can be evidenced by a shortened Infernal Dance) of the 1919 suite to tell the story of a spring sprite and her companion elk. After a long winter the sprite attempts to restore life to a forest but accidentally wakes the "Firebird" spirit of a nearby volcano. Angered, the Firebird proceeds to destroy the forest and seemingly the sprite. She survives, but is initially despondent. With the Elk to comfort her, she quickly regains her confidence and restores the forest to its prior glory. The Fantasia 2000 Firebird chapter is considered an exercise in the theme of life-death-rebirth deities; the depiction of the Firebird in it as a violent, flaming volcanic spirit is not related to Stravinsky's original theme.
The chapter "The Princesses' Khorovod and The Infernal Dance of King Katscheï" was used in Bruno Bozzetto's animated film Allegro Non Troppo. The segment visualizes a variant of the Adam and Eve story.
Graeme Murphy and The Australian Ballet collaborated in 2009 on a new Firebird with set and costume designs by the young designer Leon Krasenstein.
Read more about this topic: The Firebird
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