Episode #9 Fun and Fancy Free
The next available movie on Disney+ streaming for the chronological movie list is Fun and Fancy Free. This skips Make Mine Music and Song of the South. We may backtrack and watch these as I know our mother owns Make Mine Music and I think Song of the South can be viewed online via the internet archive. We’ve been watching these movies remotely with each other via Disney+ Group Watch, however. So, this will be the next one we’re able to watch and give a review.
30 Word Disney Dash
Summary in 30 words or less:
Jiminy Cricket introduces Bongo. Circus bear escapes. Falls in love with Lulubelle over Lumpjaw. Party with puppets tells Mickey and the Beanstalk story.
History & Fun Facts
This movie is an animated package film produced by Disney in 1947. It is the 9th animated feature film and the 4th package film produced in the 1940s as the studio tried to save money during WWII. The package films were important as they helped to fund subsequent films such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.
Fun & Fancy Free is a compilation of 2 stories: Bongo & Mickey and the Beanstalk. It was originally going to be 2 separate feature films. In the late 1930s, Mickey’s popularity fell behind other Disney characters. To boost his popularity shorter cartoons were created featuring Mickey. Disney ultimately felt the animation of these 2 stories to be not sophisticated enough for a feature film and decided to include the stories in package films. The production was a simple, low-budget film, but the animators’ strike and WWII put the production on hold. The script was nearly completed by Dec 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US military took control of the studio and commissioned Disney to produce propaganda films, further postponing production.
Bongo is hosted by Jiminy Cricket and narrated by Dinah Shore. It’s based on the tale Little Bear Bongo by Sinclair Lewis, telling the story of a circus bear who longs for freedom. Bongo escapes and falls in love with a wild female bear, Lulubelle. Bongo must prove himself to earn Lulubelle as his mate. This story was at first suggested to be a sequel to Dumbo, with some of the cast as supporting characters. In earlier drafts, Bongo had a chimpanzee friend named Chimpy. However, neither of these initial ideas made it to final drafts. The second story, Mickey & the Beanstalk, is narrated by Edgar Bergen and is the retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. They are peasants who discover the Giant’s castle in the sky and battle the giant to restore peace to the valley. There were a few deleted scenes in the making of the second story. In one, Mickey takes the cow to market and meets Honest John and Gideon from Pinocchio, who con him into trading his cow for the magic beans. In the final film, it isn’t told who the cow was sold to in order to get the beans.
Overall, the film is animated. However, it uses live-action segments to join the 2 stories together. This movie was the last time that Walt Disney himself voiced Mickey Mouse as he was too busy on other projects to continue. Sound effect artist Jimmy MacDonald replaced Disney. The film grossed $3,165,000 by the end of its theatrical run and rentals generated $2,040,000. The critics gave this movie mixed reviews. Some were kind and spoke to the fun stories and joy Disney brought to the screen. Others were more critical and pointed out the mediocrity of the animation and storylines. Consensus seemed to be that this movie has its enjoyable moments, but doesn’t live up to standards. The film was re-released as part of Gold Classic Collection in 2000 and again in a 2-movie collection with The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad in 2014.
Favorite Characters
Lily: Charlie and Mortimer. Their cheeky and witty jokes made me laugh out loud as Bergen narrated the Mickey and the Beanstalk story
Claire: Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. They were characters I recognized and I thought they were funny.
Favorite Scenes
Lily: I enjoyed the Mickey and the Beanstalk story the best. Not only do we have my favorite characters of Charlie and Mortimer with their jokes, but we also get some Disney classics: Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. It’s the retelling of a beloved children’s tale and I enjoyed some of the creativity the Disney animators and producers put into it to make it their own.
Claire: I liked the Mickey and the Beanstalk scene the best. I enjoyed the recognizable characters and the fairytale story. I liked how they portrayed the giant, making him not super scary and kid friendly.
Overall Thoughts
Lily: One thing I really enjoy about these older Disney movies and package films is the music. The old-timey trios or quartets singing jazzy songs are a favorite time of music of mine. I also got a kick out of the ventriloquist puppets during the live-action sequence with Edgar Bergen. They were quite the characters with cheeky jokes. Bongo was an enjoyable enough story to watch, as was Mickey and the Beanstalk. Sometimes Bongo felt a bit loud and flashy, and the animation was quite simple. I thought Lumpjaw looked like Pete. As I mentioned, the Mickey and the Beanstalk scene is my favorite as I enjoyed the classic children’s tale with a Disney twist.
My 5 Star Rating in the Disney Other Genre: *** (4/5)
Claire: It was similar to the other collection stories that we’ve seen. I liked it well enough, but wouldn’t choose to watch this one again. I liked the Bongo story and it did remind me a little bit of Dumbo. I liked how Bongo endured a challenge and became liked by everyone. It was entertaining enough. As I mentioned, the Mickey and the Beanstalk story was my favorite though as I like Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.
My 5 Star Rating in the Disney Other Genre: *** (3/5)
We hope you enjoyed our Disney movie review for Fun and Fancy Free! Have you seen this movie? Is it one you recall from childhood or something you’ve seen since Disney+ came about? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Until next time, happy viewing!
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