Plot summary

In the live-action frame story, the Presenter speaks to an unseen audience about the innovative idea of animation set to classical music. He disregards a complain that an American filmmaker already created such a film years ago (a reference to "Fantasia""). A brutish Orchestra Master gathers an orchestra consisting of little old ladies, and releases the Animator (the film's sole artist) from a dungeon.Throughout the film, the Animator keeps creating new characters and stories, while the Orchestra Master harshly criticizes his efforts and bullies him. The Animator is increasingly charmed with a pretty and youthful cleaning woman. He eventually transforms the woman into an animated princes, and then transforms himself into an animated prince. They duo fly away together, leaving the Animator's work unfinished.The first animated sequence is set to the tune of ""Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" (1894) by Claude Debussy. In the story, an elderly satyr deals with old-age problems and loneliness. As he is past his prime, none of the beautiful nymphs around him considers him a suitable romantic partner. He tries to regain his youth through using make-up, wigs, and elaborate disguises. But the nymphs see through them. During a failed attempt to grasp a fleeing nymph, he shrinks to ever smaller sizes. After giving up on ever finding a lover, the elderly satyr wanders alone through an unfamiliar countryside. He is unaware that he is walking over the body of a gigantic nymph.The second animated sequence is set to the tune of "Slavonic Dance No. 7, Op. 46" (1878) by Antonin Dvorak. The story begins with a large community of cave-dwellers. One of the cavemen wishes to break away from the community, and builds a hut for himself. Impressed with his innovation, the cavemen imitate him and build an entire town consisting of huts. The innovative caveman responds by building an elaborate stone house for himself, but the others respond by copying his architectural designs. Whenever the caveman comes up with a new innovative idea , everyone else copies him. He eventually finds himself living in a modern metropolis, surrounded by skyscrapers and never alone. Wishing to take revenge on his imitators, the caveman develops a revenge scheme. The following day, the caveman performs an eccentric dance in the city's streets. A crowd starts copying his dance moves. They keep following him until he jumps off a cliff (having prepared a safe landing for himself). He expects the crowd to imitate him and jump off the cliff to their deaths. But they have figured out his plan, and respond by mooning him.The third animated sequence is set to the tune of "Bolero" (1928) by Maurice Ravel. The story is set in an unnamed planet. A spaceship departs the planet, leaving behind a half-finished Coca-Cola bottle. A simple life-form develops within the bottle, and escapes the bottle to explore the planet. The story proceeds in a fanciful representation of evolution. New types of animals keep emerging, while jointly wandering the planet and trying to adapt to ever-changing climatic conditions, A recurring character is a brutal ape, who keeps killing other animals for food or for developing fur clothing. The animals starts wandering in a landscape containing artifacts representing human history, including the Egyptian pyramids and a Christian cross. Their endless journey ends when skyscrapers emerge from the ground and eradicate the natural environment. A scary-looking giant human gazes down on them. The giant's face is revealed to be a mere mask. Behind it is the same brutal ape, with his eyes glowing in the dark.The fourth animated sequence is set to the tune of "Valse triste" (1903) by Jean Sibelius. The story is set in the ruins of a large house. A solitary cat wanders the ruins, while repeatedly having visions of the humans and pets which once lived there. To the cat's confusion and disappointment, its visions keep fading away. The cat itself eventually fades away, indicating that it was a ghost from the house's distant past. Immediately after it disappears, a demolition crew starts demolishing the ruins.The fifth animated sequence is set to the tune of "Concerto in C major, RV 559" (740) by Antonio Vivaldi. In the story, a female anthropomorphic bee is preparing an elaborate meal for herself. A duo of human lovers arrive and start undressing. Their movements keep interrupting the bee's meal, and force her to constantly relocate. She eventually loses her patience with, and she stings the human male.The sixth animated sequence is set to the tune of "The Firebird" (1910) by Igor Stravinsky. The story begins with a creator deity who keeps trying to design a human, but its designs have major flaws (such as missing a head). It eventually creates two human beings, Adam and Eve. The Serpent of Eden tries to tempt the couple with an apple, but they are not interested in his offer. The frustrated Serpent decides to eat the apple. He proceeds to have an elaborate nightmare. Demons seem to transport him to a modern city, where the Serpent experiences hellish visions of life in the 20th century. Once allowed to return to the Garden of Eden, the Serpent hastily narrates his experiences to Adam and Eve. They do not understand him. The Serpent spits out the apple, and departs.In an epilogue animated sequence, the humanoid monster Franceschini is tasked with finding a finale for the film. He searches through archive footage of nonsensical stories, and is increasingly frustrated. He eventually finds a more interesting story. It starts with a pedestrian who accidentally causes a trash collector to trip and fall. This minor accident starts an escalating series of disasters, involving traffic accidents, falling airplanes, burning ships, burning skyscrapers, and panicking crowds. One of the accidents causes an unplanned missile strike. This single strike causes a nuclear war which ends with the complete destruction of planet Earth. Franceschini seems amused, until the Garden of Eden appears and bites him. The story (and the film) ends.