Fun and Fancy Free 1947

Disney Classics Marathon :pound_symbol:9

"Fun and Fancy Free" is one of the package era movies I remembered most previous to rewatching it and one that had a fond place in my memory.

Well, it had a fond place. While "Make Mine Music" was surprisingly more entertaining than expected, "Fun and Fancy Free" fell kinda flat.

That being said, I don’t dislike it. I just don’t really care about it. It’s the shoulder shrug version of a movie.

The film is split into two short stories, "Bongo" and the more famous "Mickey and the Beanstalk."

Jiminy Cricket serves as the narrator who guides the audience through the film and it fits his character really well. Cliff Edwards (who again provides the voice for Jiminy) also gets to sing the opening number, the absurdly catchy "Fun and Fancy Free" (yes, same title as the movie).

Bongo tells the story of a circus bear named, well you guessed it, Bongo. He grew up in captivity but longs for freedom in the wilderness and eventually escapes his golden cage. Bongo enjoys his time outside in the woods and soon falls in love with a female bear named Lulubelle who reciprocates his feelings. He also has to face a romantic rival in Lumpjaw, a giant bear who accidentally believes Lulubelle has chosen him as a mate.

The story is narrated by singer and actress Dinah Shore who does an overall lovely job. The animation is fine and Bongo is positively cute. His first moment in freedom is a particularly adorable scene. Still, despite being a short film, "Bongo" just drags after a while and is not very interesting to watch. Again, I don’t dislike it, I just don’t really care and quickly lost interest.

"Mickey and the Beanstalk" is one of Disney‘s most famous early short films and sees Mickey, Donald and Goofy thrown into the fairy tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk" with Mickey substituting for the protagonist.

The story is set in Happy Valley, and as the name very subtlety suggests, it’s a place of beauty and joy and everybody is happy. That is all thanks to a beautifully singing magic Harp, until one day she is kidnapped by Willie the Giant and misery befalls the land. As in the original tale, Mickey and friends accidentally end up in the realm of the giant, via magic beanstalk and face off against him.

It’s easy to tell why this part of the movie is more famous than "Bongo." It stares Disney‘s most famous characters (with Walt providing the voice for Mickey himself), is based on a popular fairy tale and overall just more interesting.

Despite the best efforts to guide through the story, both films just don’t fit together thematically and throwing them together to make a feature length movie just feels very random here.

Before "Mickey and the Beanstalk" there’s also a live action sequence, starring ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who tells the story to child actress Luana Patten with help of his two creepy dummies.

I said it before, I say it now, Disney‘s early attempts to mash animation and live action were clumsy and sometimes unsettling and far off from the magic that would become "Mary Poppins" (yes, I know everything has to start somewhere). The sequence just sticks out like a sore, unfitting thumb.

Usually when it comes to Disney films and animation in general, I‘m of the opinion that they are made for all age groups and that "animation is just for kids" is one of the biggest prejudices and misguided viewpoints when it comes film and television, but in this case, even as I‘m biting my tongue, I gotta admit, it’s a nice entertainment for children but there is just not much for adults to be invested in here.

Favorite Segment: "Mickey and the Beanstalk“

Favorite Moment: The beanstalk spreading through the house with the great score playing in the background.

Favorite Song: The super catchy opening number, "Fun and Fancy Free."

5 out of 10 stars.