The Spring Sprite is the protagonist of The Firebird Suite segment of Fantasia 2000.
Background[]
Personality[]
The Spring Sprite is a benevolent force of life and creation. She loves the forest and its creatures, and is happy to bring spring every year. As a force of creation, she has a creative and artistic side, seen when she forms a flower, has a second thought, and then turns it into a dazzling sight, and revitalizes a barren tree with gorgeous blossoms.
The Sprite displayed a distinct sense of curiosity, as she was puzzled as to why she could not make flora grow on a volcano, and investigated, only to unintentionally unleash her polar opposite, the Firebird, a living primal force of destruction, and horrified by the destruction that followed.
Once the disaster ceased, she was crippled with grief at the loss of so much life and guilt-ridden for causing it by awakening the Firebird. Her friend, the Elk, however, was able to cheer her up and give her hope when she saw her tears began to heal the land, and rejoiced when she was able to do so.
All in all, the Spring Sprite is truly a loving being of creation and life, and found strength and hope in realizing that no matter how much is lost to Destruction, Creation is limitless, as is the constant renewal of Life.
Physical appearance[]
The Spring Sprite is an attractive young woman-like creature. In her most common form, she has light green skin and long bushy hair of the same color. Her eyes have the color that stands between yellow and light orange, and above them are thick black eyebrows. She is slender. Sometimes, between her hips and arms is a kind of curtain made of leather, that she uses to make flight easier, but she can remove it if she wants. Her size varies, but she usually the size of a young girl. Considering she is a nature spirit, she has no clothing and walks around naked.
Depending on her surroundings, she can take on various forms and colors; in water/ice/rain form, she is blue, in natural form, which is her most commonly used form, she is green/lighter green, and in ash form, she is dark gray. When she's in ash form, there are more colors than one. When smoke is around, she is brown, when the fire is around, she is red, and after the forest is destroyed, she is cool gray.
Powers and Abilities[]
The Spring Sprite has all sorts of abilities, all mammals and human beings can do. For examples, when in the water, she can swim just like fish and mermaids. When in the air, she can fly afloat just like birds. Like human beings, she can walk or run. Like squirrels, she can climb up walls and trees. However, she has different abilities of magic. While spreading her curtain connected to her arms and hips, she can make layers of flora and grass grow. She can grow plants like flowers, trees, and lots of others. Depending on her surroundings, she changes colors. Her tears can heal the forest that was burned to ashes. Having to restore the forest, she makes huge showers of rain from her curtain. And she can communicate with insects. Huge and long twigs of leaves can mostly grow on her hair.
Role in the film[]
The Spring Sprite first appears in the sequence where melted snow drips down in a hidden pool. In the form of a Water Sprite, she emerges from it to meet the Elk who leads her out of the hidden alcove, and she gets to work, her body turning green and melting the snow away for the coming of spring, covering the forest in fresh foliage. Going up a nearby volcano, though, her abilities are not following her up the slope. Curious as to what's going on, she looks inside its massive crater at a small volcanic stone. Touching it, it awakens the Firebird, who rises from the ash, smoke, and magma and attacks her. Racing down the slope, she is pursued by the Firebird in his lava form, the Elk watching from afar in horror as the Firebird remorselessly destroys everything in his path while chasing the terrified Sprite.
Running for dear life from the flames and lava flows, the Sprite only has a moment to be horrified by the destruction the Firebird has caused to her beautiful forest before she is chased up a tree until she's trapped and has no escape, over which the Firebird rises and towers above. With a roar, he charges and seemingly destroys her.
In the aftermath, where the landscape has turned grey and gotten ash-covered, the Elk finds the burned out and gray Sprite in ash form. He helps her up and gives her a ride on his antlers as she cries over the destruction she unwittingly unleashed. She soon realizes her tears are healing the land and takes back to the sky in rain form, bringing a healing shower down upon the valley. Continuing her work, she brings the plant life back to the forest, restores the trees, and finally covers the volcano in a fresh layer of grass, her confidence fully restored.
Disney Parks[]
Disneyland Resort[]
The Spring Sprite has a role in the World of Color show at Disney California Adventure where she begins the "Colors of Earth" sequence, where she drops into the lagoon, begins creating flowers before eventually creating an entire forest that leads into a sequence based on "Just Around The Riverbend" and appears as part of the character curtain call at the finale.
The Spring Sprite also appeared in Wondrous Journeys among the butterflies scenes at the opening segment, as well as the beginning of the finale segment.
Tokyo Disney Resort[]
The Spring Sprite also appears in the Tokyo Disneyland parade Jubilation! as part of the Forest Friends float.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The original ending of the sequence had the Spring Sprite taking on a sun form and shining over the valley.
- The Spring Sprite behaves in ways similar to animals by the various ways she moves. Sometimes she soars like a bird, floats like a fish, climbs like a squirrel, runs upright like a human, and even moves in a flowing motion akin to water.
v - e - d | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|