To close the film , Disney wanted a piece that was " emotionally equivalent " to the '' Night on Bald Mountain '' and '' Ave Maria '' segments that closed '' Fantasia '' . Disney chose '' The Firebird '' as the piece to use after " half a dozen " others were scrapped , including Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven and the " Hallelujah Chorus " from '' Messiah '' by Handel . Disney thought of the idea of the Earth 's destruction and renewal after passing Mount St. Helens following its eruption in 1980 . French twins Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi from Disney 's Paris studio were hired to direct the segment . The Sprite is a Dryad-like creature from Greek mythology . Her form changes six times ; she is introduced as a Water Sprite who plants flowers as a Flower Sprite . She becomes a Neutral Sprite where her growth trail stops and an Ash Sprite when the forest has been destroyed . The segment ends with her as a Rain-Wave Sprite , followed by the Grass Sprite . The segment originally ended with the Sprite in the form of a flowing river that rises up into the sky and transforms into a Sun Sprite , but this was abandoned . The elk 's antlers were produced by CGI and placed on top of its body that was drawn traditionally . The segment was produced using Houdini animation software
eruption in 1980
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens
Fantasia 2000