Review of Fun and Fancy Free (1947) by Thomas P — 05 Jun 2013

Another year, another package film from Disney. In this film, Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio returns to present two stories.

The first, Bongo, which is told by Dinah Shore, tells the story about a circus bear named Bongo who is sick of his life in the circus. He escapes in order to enjoy a peaceful life as a regular bear, but soon finds out that being a bear is harder than it looks. Bongo meets a female bear and falls in love with her, but soon finds himself into some competition. The finale features a memorable bear slapping number that is pretty entertaining.

In the second half, Jiminy goes to a party hosted by ventriloquist legend Edgar Bergan who tells the story of Mickey and the Beanstalk. In it, a golden harp is abducted, causing the peaceful, happy valley to run dry. Three poor farmers, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy trade in the cow for some magic beans, and soon enough, the beans grow into a beanstalk which takes them to a mysterious castle. They come in and discover that the harp is held captive by an evil giant. The three plan to rescue the harp and defeat the giant once and for all.

Simply put, Fun and Fancy Free is a mixed bag. While I enjoyed seeing Jiminy Cricket in the film, I didn't think he was needed. For one thing, these two stories were meant to be two different movies, but the war going on hurt their plans. But it's not a terrible film though.

The Bongo story is possibly one of Disney's most boring stories ever to tell. I didn't care at all if a bear wanted to find peace. The narration was also boring, and the story was not that memorable, well, except for that bear slapping scene, which was pretty funny.

Mickey and the Beanstalk, however, was a more entertaining story. The animation was better, the humor was actually funny, and it is a treat to see Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in a film together. I wasn't particularly fond of the depiction of the giant, but for the most part, it was better than Bongo.

Also, what's up with the title? Fun and Fancy Free? What's that supposed to mean anyway? It probably would have been better to name this film The Adventures of Bongo and Mickey Mouse. Disney had a similar title with Ichabod and Mr. Toad, so why couldn't they do that with this title? Oh well...

Although I was more entertained in the second half of the film, Fun and Fancy Free is not one of my favorite Disney films and is definitely the worst of the package films. Well, I'm done with that review. Next film.