Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

In the early 40s, the Disney Studio had a number of features in planning stages, but these would not see the light of day until the post-war years. Two of these were Bongo and The Legend Of Happy Valley. Work began as early as early as 1940, but were shelved due to several setbacks.Like every feature that the studio produced in the immediate post-war years, this was a compilation of unrelated stories or visuals. Both stories were cut down in length to accommodate a feature length, much like The Wind And The Willows was. I've wanted to see what the studio's vision was for these stories as feature films.Disney had largely moved away from frightening sequences by this point. They still had occasional dark moments but it was toned down to a dramatic atmosphere. What you'll see here is a very lighthearted feel good film. Bongo doesn't really offer much story wise, but Dinah Shore's narration and singing interludes make it a very enjoyable segment. Mickey And The Beanstalk as narrated by Edgar Bergan makes for an interesting period piece. This is the best Mickey, Donald, and Goofy outting. This time they function as a team working through many perilous obstacles and comical situations. The Singing Harp almost anticipates Cinderella (different voice actress though).While Disney's package films are not well remembered and were panned by the studio staff, they do present a lot of light hearted and enjoyable moments. This film is a prelude to the studio's Silver Age of the 1950's.

After WWII, the Walt Disney company released a couple feature films that were actually nothing more than a few long cartoons strung together to feature length. The result were movies like this one as well as "Make Mine Music" and "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" which are essentially movies that seem a bit disjoint, as the theme that links the shorts is tenuous at best. Here, "Fun and Fancy Free" is a vague term and really has nothing to do with the cartoons. In addition, the quality of the two cartoons is quite different.The first cartoon, "Bongo", frankly is awfully lame. Despite having some nice splashy colors, the story is weak and should have supported an 8-10 minute film--not a short running over a half hour. Plus, so much of the film seemed like filler--with LOTS and LOTS of singing from Dinah Shore and others. It's the story of a miserable circus bear who longs to be free. But, when a chance opportunity occurs and he escapes, life in the wild isn't as easy as he expected. Apart from a few cute characters (including a girl bear--you can tell because she has a flower growing out of her head), there isn't much to recommend it. I assume kids of the day really were bored by the cartoon and its watchability is not great. I'd score this one a 4---mostly because the animation is pretty good.The final cartoon is the one kids will love, as it features Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Oddly, however, unlike the first cartoon, this one features a lot of live-action--with Edgar Bergen and his puppets entertaining a cute little girl with a Disney-fied version of "Jack and the Beanstalk". In this version, the three heroes take on the mean giant--wonderfully brought to life by the voice of Billy Gilbert. While it's clearly a variation of an earlier Disney film ("The Brave Little Tailor"), it still is very watchable and cute. Not a brilliant film, nevertheless it actually makes "Fun and Fancy Free" worth seeing. Plus, fans of Edgar Bergen will enjoy seeing him and his characters. I particularly enjoyed Charlie's 'Udder failure' comment. I'd give this one an 8.Overall, it's a highly uneven and odd hodgepodge that, frankly, is not especially great viewing. However, the accompanying documentary about this, "The Story Behind Walt Disney's Fun & Fancy Free" is a lot more interesting than the film itself--so if you get the DVD, be sure to watch this in the special features.

This package film from the Disney studio is simple but just irresistible as it features two colorful and cute cartoons interwoven with Edger Bergen and his famous dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.The first segment is "Bongo" based on a short story by Sinclair Lewis. With the exception of narrator Dinah Shore, the whole thing is dialog free and although it moves along at a leisurely pace, it is good enough for the kids but adults will most certainly squirm.The next segment is "Mickey and the Beanstalk" which has Bergan doing the narration of the classic fairy tale starring Mickey, Donald and Goofy as they face Willie the Giant (voiced amusingly by Billy Gilbert). Although the cartoon is cute and amusing, Bergen and his dummies along with the adorable Luana Patten provide the bulk of the laughs. I can't help but compare the approach in this segment to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" because of the good-natured riffing done by Charlie and Mortimer. It makes you wish that Walt Disney had used this formula for other films like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Cinderella." It goes without saying that Charlie's riffing on Bergen's storytelling is a particular highlight.I say see this film. It'll warm your heart and keep you amused. Plus, it doesn't have the blatant pop culture jokes you get in contemporary animated films.

This is yet another short story combination from Walt Disney which is pretty much a commonplace with the likes of "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros" but it is still good fun and will take you to see a different twist to your fairy tale you grew up with. Here, Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket takes centre stage as he hops though a bunch of records and comes across "Bongo", a story about a little bear who runs away from the circus and finds the girls of his dreams then bounces over to a nearby house to see real life people (Walt Disney was into having real life scenes at this stage of the Disney era) telling the story of "Mickey and the Beanstalk" where (you guess it) Mickey, Donald and Goofy climb up the beanstalk that tells the classic fairy tale the Disney way. I find this inferior to "Make Mine Music" which came out before it but this is a great way to past 70 minutes and if there's nothing on T.V then this will be a good alternative.7/10