Day 9: Fun and Fancy Free

Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

Starring: Cliff Edwards, Edgar Bergen, Luana Patten, Dinah Shore, Walt Disney, Jimmy MacDonald, Clarence "Ducky" Nash, Pinto Colvig, Billy Gilbert, Anita Gordon, Candy Candido

Songs: "Fun and Fancy Free," "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow," "Too Good to be True," "Lazy Countryside," "Say it With a Slap," "My, What a Happy Day," "Eat Until I Die," "Fee Fi Fo Fum," "My Favorite Dream"

Fun and Fancy Free is the fourth package film produced by Disney.  Unlike earlier package features, this one only has two segments, and each segment was originally planned to be a standalone feature on its own.  But due to the war and the fact that neither story had enough material to reach feature length, they were combined into this one feature.  The frame story in this one features Jiminy Cricket.

• The first segment is "Bongo," based on the 1930 short story "Little Bear Bongo" by Sinclair Lewis.  Bongo is a circus bear who longs to live in the wild.  He breaks out of the circus, but because he was raised in captivity, he doesn't know how to act around other bears -- even Lulubelle, the female bear he falls in love with.  This segment is narrated and sung by Dinah Shore.  This is a really cute story and very enjoyable.  The animation, however, is a bit simplistic.  Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but simple.  
• The second segment is "Mickey and the Beanstalk," a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy.  This is narrated by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, with help from his dummies (and popular personalities) Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, and child actress Luana Patten.  

This movie is a lot of fun.  Both segments are really cute, and I think combining them into this package feature was the way to go.  While unrelated, they work well together.  It's worth noting that this movie is the last time Walt Disney voiced Mickey Mouse regularly (until briefly reprising the role in 1955 for the Mickey Mouse Club).  And also, in the early stages of planning "Bongo," they considered making it something of a prequel to Dumbo, having it set at the same circus and reusing some of the same characters.

This actually was one of my favorite movies as a kid.  I would probably have placed it in my top 5 as a child.  I still really love it and feel quite sentimentally attached to it.  And funnily enough, because I do like it so much, I feel like I have very little to say right now!

What I Liked: The falling in love sequence in "Bongo."  A lot of Charlie McCarthy's one liners.  Donald freaking out because of his hunger and eating plates and silverware.

What I Disliked: Honestly, nothing immediately springs to mind.

Favorite Segment: This is totally unfair because there's only two and one of them stars Mickey Mouse, so...

Least Favorite Segment: I mean, I know I designed the questions, but I didn't consider what I'd have to say for this movie.  But really though, I loved both segments.

Should You Watch This Movie: Yes.  Do it now.  Right now.