Review of Fun and Fancy Free (1947) by Wendy B — 13 Apr 2009

Not one of Disney's best works and I wouldn't recommend seeing it. The film opens up with a nice introduction by Jiminy Cricket, followed by two narrated shorts: Bongo, about a lovestruck former circus bear, and Mickey and the Beanstalk, which retells Jack and the Beanstalk with the characters of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and a goofy giant named Willie. The stories are perfectly passable, although play more like good Disney short-length cartoons and don't fit well on the big-screen. Some nice visual thrills and sight gags, particularly during a romantic segment in Bongo, with exceptional animation for this period.

The first story is narrated by star of that era Dinah Shore, who is fine in this role. During the break between the shorts, notable ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, two of his puppets, and child actress Luana Patten are shown for a lengthy period of time talking and finally leading into Mickey and the Beanstalk. Some people love the scene of dialogue and subsequent narration by Bergen and Patten, but I hate it. It's annoying, cheesy, takes away from the actual film, and doesn't hold up well over 60 years later. Strong ending to wrap things up though, and it was decent for a package film, but it can't compare to some of the better animated features of the 1940s.