Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

Directed by Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Hamilton Luske, and William Morgan
Written by Homer Brightman, Eldon Dedini, Lance Nolley, Tom Oreb, Harry Reeves, and Ted Sears. Based on "Little Bear Bongo" written by Sinclair Lewis and English fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk".
Premiered September 17, 1947
73 minutes
Rated G

Synopsis
Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards) takes us on a journey to hear two stories, the first called "Bongo", narrated by singer Dinah Shore. Bongo is a circus bear who escapes into the wilderness and discovers it's much harder than life in the limelight. Things become more complicated when he falls in love with Lulubelle who big bully Lockjaw has his eye on. In the second half, Jiminy attends a party for child actress Luana Patten hosted by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Edgar tells the story of "Mickey and the Beanstalk" featuring Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney), Donald Duck (Clarence Nash), and Goofy (Pinto Colvig).

Before We Begin
Oh boy. Package film #4 is a little different from the others in that it only has two segments instead of seven or more like we've seen with The Three Caballeros, Melody Time, and the Fantasias. There's also a lot of live action in this one too. A lot of live action. A lot of strange live action.

The theory goes that morale was low while Fun and Fancy Free was in production. I imagine the animators and story men digging into their more successful past by bringing Jiminy Cricket (who had only appeared in Pinocchio thus far) into the same film as Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Classic characters! We can't go wrong! We can't let them forget who we once were! We will rise again! We will be powerful again! But until then, let's use all our old characters because that war sure left us creatively bankrupt.

At one point, both "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" were meant to be full length films on their own.

Mötley Müsings
• So here's Jiminy trying to cheer us up and all I want to know is where's Pinocchio? I know this isn't a prequel because he's wearing his new Blue Fairy given clothes. So what's he up to? How are he and Geppetto getting along?

• Dude, I just want to watch Pinocchio now.

• Cleo!? What are you doing here? How did you guys get out of Italy? Is this a sequel? (Some audience members of the time might be wondering.)

• Human Race Going Crazy Claims Savant

• But that cat ain't Figaro.

• Wow, this VHS actually looks pretty okay.

• That doll has total 40s hair.

• "A musical story sung by Dinah Shore"

• Let's see...things I know about Dinah Shore: She is a female singer. She is Jewish.

• So "Bongo" is based on a short story by Sinclair Lewis who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930. And it originally appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine back when it featured short stories about animals and not 101 Hot Sex Tips or How to Tighten Your Booty.

• Bongo is basically the Chuck Norris of circus bears; he can do all.

• But fame is a chore.

• With the success of Dumbo, a film about a circus elephant, you can see how they thought a movie about a non-speaking circus bear might be profitable. Dumbo. Bongo. Oh God. I just got that.

• "Lazy Countryside" is one of the most boring Disney songs ever.

• Yes. Bongo is in the woods. He is discovering. Uh huh. We get it.

• Bunnies!

• This scene of Bongo suffering to get a good night's rest is repeated in The Fox and the Hound.

• I know I already said it, but I am really impressed by this video's quality.

• This is surprisingly dull. I'm going to assume the original plan was to have dialogue instead of having a woman--who's singing voice is lovely in that pre-rock 'n' roll way--narrate with her otherwise bland speaking voice.

• Bongo meets Lulubelle. She's drawn very...womanly for a bear. Much like Thumper's mate in Bambi.

• This fantasy sequence inspired the whole Care Bears universe. Why hasn't that made a comeback? Or been revamped ala My Little Pony?

• Lockjaw is Gaston. (I always want to write Lumpjaw. What's up with that?)

• Dude, Bongo is getting the shit kicked out of him.

• Yeah...this movie is troubling. So Lulubelle just smacked Bongo. He is (naturally) perplexed by this sudden domestic abuse. When he doesn't smack her back, Lulubelle takes it as romantic rejection and Lockjaw takes his claim.

• There's a whole song about this. "Say it With a Slap"

• Is there any factual basis to this? Or is this the invention of Sinclair Lewis? Or Disney?

• Why are Lulubelle and Bongo so small compared to the other bears? Are they teenagers?

• Fight. Bongo wins. Then slaps Lulubelle. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

• With this and Brother Bear, Disney should avoid the animal unless they're chubby little cubbies stuffed with fluff.

• Onto the second part. Sort of...

• LIVE ACTION. Allow me to set the scene. A grown man, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, is hosting a party for nine year old child actress Luana Patten. There are no other people in attendance at this party, just Bergen's creepy dummies. He tells her stories, offers her cake...it's an SVU episode that writes itself. But since it's the 1940s no impropriety is implied. No, this is made out to be totally normal. Where are her parents!?

• Fact: Edgar Bergen is Candace Bergen's father.

• Fact: Edgar Bergen is not a good ventriloquist.

• "I wish I could enjoy my first childhood as much as he enjoys his second."

• "How would you like to go down to the city dump and watch me slug rats?"

• Charlie McCarthy's sarcasm really cuts through the treacle. And it is oddly dark.

• Onto the story...it's Jack and the Beanstalk with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all playing the part of Jack.

• "No longer was the valley happy, for without the magic of the harp, all was misery, misery, misery."
"Just like the eighth grade."

• "Well, she used to be a good milker, but now..."
"She's an udder failure."

• No character introduction. We are supposed to know these characters so there's no need for it. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are...room mates? They're going crazy with starvation, especially Donald.

• Mickey shows up with some "magic beans". We don't see it happen. We don't see who trades with him.

• I know they're being all showy with the animation--the beanstalk growing and carrying the guys to the top while they sleep, but they are making them even more passive. Climbing the beanstalk is a huge deal!

• Cinderella reference!

• Are these dragonflies some kind of WWII reference?

• They sneak into the castle, feast on the table.

• Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is funnier than someone's pants falling down.

• Yes, a giant. Have you guys never heard this story before? He stole the golden harp that made Happy Valley so happy.

• Fuck Willie the Giant. FUCK HIM. Big, borderline retarded, fuckety fuck fuckhead. I HATE WILLIE THE GIANT. Most annoying Disney villain. Hands down. I would take Gurgi (from The Black Cauldron and not a villain) over this dipshit.

• FINALLY, something interesting. Mickey is trying to trick the giant by getting him to turn into a fly.

• I've seen better versions of this.

• "You're even better than the old fashioned sleeping pill."

• Willie puts on the Brown Derby. EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

• All this forced merriment has made me sour.

Final Thoughts
After much deliberation, I've decided to name Fun and Fancy Free as the worst of the package films. While I personally dislike The Three Caballeros more (and always will), it's at least interesting. And we mustn't forget Pablo. "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" are just bland and lacking. The framing device(s) with Jiminy Cricket and Edgar Bergen & co. remind one of a day at Chuck E. Cheese. You ready to have FUN kids!?

"Bongo" is "Bongo" and you can't fix something that's already dull. (My apologies to Sinclair Lewis.) Adapting "Jack and the Beanstalk", however, has much potential. Disney and fairy tales are like peanut butter and chocolate. But when you are foisting the story onto already established characters (and static characters at that) it's just going to be unsatisfying.

I should mention Gigantic, Disney's latest fairy tale adaptation with a one word adjective title. Apparently, it's going to be a version of "Jack and the Beanstalk" although who the hell knows considering when Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" was put into the Disney machine, it squeezed out Frozen.

But we'll get to that.

I have high hopes for Gigantic. It can't be worse than "Mickey and the Beanstalk". Wasted potential is damning when I am your critic.

Favorite Character

The Golden Harp

Favorite Moment -- Goofy's pants falling down.
Favorite Song -- "My Favorite Dream" performed by Anita Gordon