Fun and Fancy Free (1947) User Reviews (52)

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

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 1 October 2009]

Fun and Fancy Free is for me one of Disney's lesser efforts, but is still very charming, simple and enjoyable. I did think the live action sequences were dated though, and the film is quite short. Out of all the characters, the only character I didn't care for that much was the puppet. Apart from the hilarious "well she used to be a good milker, but now... she is an udder failure" he didn't really make an impact on me. Maybe it was because the ventriloquism was rather substandard.

However, I really enjoyed this on the whole. The introduction with Jiminy Cricket- voiced by the one and only Cliff Edwards- in the library was very effective, as was a vast majority of the script. The animation is stunning, and by far the best aspect of the movie, and I hope I am not the only person who found the songs beautiful and memorable, my favourite being "My what a happy day".

There are two mini-classics here, Bongo and Mickey and the Beanstalk. Both are wonderful gems, but I will admit I do prefer the latter. Bongo tells the rather simple story of the adorable Bongo and his endeavour into a world he has never known before, after being the star attraction of a circus. It is very sweet and well meaning, and the narration isn't so bad either. Mickey and the Beanstalk is a favourite of mine. Wonderful voice acting, terrific animation especially for the beanstalk and nice music made this memorable for me.

Other things that impressed were one Jiminy Cricket of course, well how can he not impress, he is a classic character in the history of animation? Two, I thought Edgar Bergen was very entertaining in this film asides from the ventriloquism, and also child actress Luana Patten was impressive.

All in all, one of Disney's lesser efforts, but has undeniable charm due to the animated segments and Cricket himself. 7/10 Bethany Cox

tiny treasure

[ryangilmer007 · 7/10 · 25 January 1999]

This is a good combination of two animated stories/shorts: Bongo and Micky and the Beanstalk. while watching a mixture of stories and a mixture of animation and live action was a little awkward, Jiminy Cricket held it together. This film's latest release on video gives everyone the opportunity to see this tiny treasure for the first time. While, it doesn't rank up with the Best of Disney's animation, it is still worth seeing, if nothing else for Walt Disney's last film as the voice of Mickey.

A highly uneven and odd hodgepodge.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 8 January 2011]

After WWII, the Walt Disney company released a couple feature films that were actually nothing more than a few long cartoons strung together to feature length. The result were movies like this one as well as "Make Mine Music" and "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" which are essentially movies that seem a bit disjoint, as the theme that links the shorts is tenuous at best. Here, "Fun and Fancy Free" is a vague term and really has nothing to do with the cartoons. In addition, the quality of the two cartoons is quite different.

The first cartoon, "Bongo", frankly is awfully lame. Despite having some nice splashy colors, the story is weak and should have supported an 8-10 minute film--not a short running over a half hour. Plus, so much of the film seemed like filler--with LOTS and LOTS of singing from Dinah Shore and others. It's the story of a miserable circus bear who longs to be free. But, when a chance opportunity occurs and he escapes, life in the wild isn't as easy as he expected. Apart from a few cute characters (including a girl bear--you can tell because she has a flower growing out of her head), there isn't much to recommend it. I assume kids of the day really were bored by the cartoon and its watchability is not great. I'd score this one a 4---mostly because the animation is pretty good.

The final cartoon is the one kids will love, as it features Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Oddly, however, unlike the first cartoon, this one features a lot of live-action--with Edgar Bergen and his puppets entertaining a cute little girl with a Disney-fied version of "Jack and the Beanstalk". In this version, the three heroes take on the mean giant--wonderfully brought to life by the voice of Billy Gilbert. While it's clearly a variation of an earlier Disney film ("The Brave Little Tailor"), it still is very watchable and cute. Not a brilliant film, nevertheless it actually makes "Fun and Fancy Free" worth seeing. Plus, fans of Edgar Bergen will enjoy seeing him and his characters. I particularly enjoyed Charlie's 'Udder failure' comment. I'd give this one an 8.

Overall, it's a highly uneven and odd hodgepodge that, frankly, is not especially great viewing. However, the accompanying documentary about this, "The Story Behind Walt Disney's Fun & Fancy Free" is a lot more interesting than the film itself--so if you get the DVD, be sure to watch this in the special features.

Not Disney's best, but has its interest points

[Atreyu_II · 6/10 · 16 November 2008]

The 9th animated Disney classic is something I have mixed feelings about, in similarity to what happens with "The Three Caballeros".

It's a curious cartoon with some to offer, yet not one of Disney's finest creations.

For one thing, I like its introduction. I was surprised when I heard a familiar singing voice. I thought «This voice sounds like Jiminy Cricket». And in the next moment, Jiminy Cricket appears, voiced by the same Cliff Edwards. Another interesting fact is that Jiminy Cricket is the narrator of the story in some parts. He introduces us the first of the two stories, "Bongo": it is the story of a little circus bear that runs away from the circus and discovers what it's like to be free.

I liked the story of Bongo and the character itself. He's a cute and adorable little bear. This is, without a doubt, the best segment of this motion picture. It is, however, narrated by Dinah Shore.

As for the second and final segment, "Mickey and the Beanstalk", it is narrated by Edgar Bergen, but before that there are a few live-action scenes where Edgar Bergen is working as a ventriloquist and tells the tale to child actress Luana Patten. After the end of the story, there are a few more live-action scenes like this and Jiminy Cricket appears in both.

As for the segment itself, needless to say it is based on "Jack and the Beanstalk". It's not a bad segment, but honestly I found it nothing special. It features, however, well known cartoons like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. It also features Willie, the famous temperamental giant from some Disney tales. Mickey Mouse is voiced by Walt Disney himself, while Donald Duck is voiced by the inimitable Clarence Nash.

Disney Animated Fun-Fun-Fun & Fancy Free Adventure

[strong-122-478885 · 6/10 · 11 December 2016]

This "Fun and Fancy Free" DVD (cheerfully brought to you by Disney Studios) contains two, enjoyable, 35-minute animated films from 1947.

Hosted by everyone's favourite insect - Jiminy Cricket - These 2 tales of fun-fun-fun and fancy-free adventure also feature several musical numbers as an added bonus.

Story #1 is all about Bongo, the circus bear, who desperately wants to get himself back to the forest, like, pronto.

Story #2 has Mickey Mouse (taking the place of Jack), along with Donald Duck and Goofy, climbing the beanstalk all the way up to the nasty giant's fantastic castle in the sky - "Fee-Fye-Foe-Fum!"

*Note* - Mickey Mouse was voiced by Walt Disney, himself.

Fun stuff

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 18 September 2017]

Fun Disney picture with two stories. The first is Bongo, a cute story about a little bear falling in love and having to fight a bigger bear for his lady. Flimsy story but it moves along quickly enough. It's over a half-hour long but I didn't even really think about how long it was until after it was over so I certainly can't complain about the pacing. This story was narrated by Dinah Shore, who also sings. Lovely voice. Modern viewers, particularly those with a dark sense of humor, might see a domestic violence message in this one. Bongo was something of a 'gangsta.'

The second story is the Mickey Mouse version of Jack and the Beanstalk. I know I saw this one many times as a kid but, for the life of me, I don't remember seeing Bongo before today. So perhaps this was released on a VHS collection or something back in the day, separate from this film. This one is narrated by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who also appears in a live action segment doing his puppet routine in what appears to be a private birthday party for a little girl who I hoped was his daughter but turns out it was Disney child star Luana Patten. A little creepy but different times.

Jiminy Cricket also appears in the beginning and in a linking segment from the first story to the second. As always with classic Disney, the animation is excellent, with beautiful drawings and rich colors. Love the music, as well. This is far from my favorite Disney movie, even limited to the compilation ones. But I do enjoy it a lot and I can't imagine most Disney fans not liking it.

Good (Not Great) Vintage Disney.

[tvnutboy · 7/10 · 4 August 2006]

I was almost tempted to put in a spoiler for this one, (A Key one, not the minor ones I have in here) but Somebody was kind enough to go into more than great detail about "Bongo" and anyone who was a kid once already knows the story of "Jack & The Beanstalk", so going over the plot of "Mickey & The Beanstalk" would seem a little frivolous. So instead, I will say that this was just an OK Disney film for the era which it came from.

I do have a soft spot for Bongo, 'cause we could use a sweet story during times like these. The only downfall is that sometimes it gets so sweet, I need one of those OneTouch machines to keep track of my insulin levels. One such example (MINOR SPOILER) is when Bongo meets Lulubelle and they go into this whole sequence where just about every single love cliché/device/gimmick is being shown. Which begs me to wonder how much sugar the animators had in their coffee during the making of it. Otherwise, it's a cute story that goes beyond cute.

Afterwards, The live action stuff with Edgar (Candace's Father) Bergen boosts the film a little. Albeit, it's filler when you stop to think about it. Also, not a lot of people this day and age knows who he and his dummy co-horts are unless you did a little researching. Apparently, they were huge back in the day.

Enter Mickey & The Beanstalk and it's essentially the same story as the one we read as kids (CONTINUITY SPOILER). Only there's three heroes instead of just one, and A Golden Harp, but no goose that lays golden eggs. Other than that, nothing to write home about.

All in all, it's a crowd pleaser at best. No "Shooting Through the Roof" deal, but still just OK for a 1940s Disney Animated film.

This movie made me "Fun and Fancy Free!"

[sethn172 · 10/10 · 30 July 2006]

The duo of Disney and RKO continue the magic onto 1947 with this flick, "Fun and Fancy Free." In it are a couple of wonderful and terrific stories: "Bongo," and "Mickey and the Beanstalk." Again, this movie has everything that you would expect in a Disney classic. Also, look out for more great Disney friends, like Jiminy Cricket!!!!!

One interesting fact: did you know that Walt Disney, the man who created Mickey, was the voice of Mickey Mouse? In "Mickey and the Beanstalk," Walt Disney himself voiced as Mickey Mouse, and that would end up being his last cartoon to do so.

So, this shows that movies like this just aren't made anymore. (sniff) But still, watch this movie with your children, enjoy it, and have a whole lot of fun with "Fun and Fancy Free!!!!!" 10 out of 10 stars.

Charming creation

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 3 September 2019]

Fun&Fancy Free features the combining of two mixed live action and animated tales. The story of Bongo features Dinah Shore as it tells the bear love triangle story of Bongo the circus bear who did not mix much with his fellow bears of the wild. But he hears the call of nature and there's female bear Lily and a rough tough bear named Lumpjaw who is interested too.

All I'll say is that Bongo's education has been sadly neglected. But it all works out to the songs that Dinah Shore sings to help the story along.

The second half has Edgar Bergen and his wooden friends telling Luana Patten the story of Mickey and the Beanstalk with Mickey Mouse taking over the role of Jack. Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy do the beanstalk climb with the familiar encounter with the giant voiced Billy Gilbert.

Fun&Fancy Free is a charming Disney creation absolutely timeless.

Fun and Fancy Free (1947)

[fntstcplnt · 5/10 · 5 September 2019]

Directed by Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts & William Morgan. Starring Edgar Bergen, voices of Dinah Shore, Cliff Edwards, Walt Disney, Clarence Nash, Billy Gilbert, Pinto Colvig, Anita Gordon.

One of the Disney package films assembled between "Bambi" (1942) and "Cinderella" (1950) (when the company was low on funds due to the war effort), largely forgotten today. Features two individual stories linked together by filler material featuring Jiminy Cricket (still voiced wonderfully by Edwards, but not nearly as enchanting here as he was in "Pinnochio"), as well as Edgar Bergen in live-action cutaways that will test the patience of anyone who isn't utterly enamored with ventriloquism. The first segment is innocuous and inconsequential and a bit of a bore, featuring a circus bear named Bongo who escapes into the wild, meets a cute girl bear, and learns that nothing says, "I love you," quite as well as giving your sweetie a rough slap to the kisser (you read that right). The second is a loose retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk" with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy; it's a treat to see the three of them together, but too much time is spent with Willie the giant, a big galoot who is neither amusing nor menacing. Not much to recommend here to anyone who isn't a "treasures from the Disney vault" buff, but the traditional, painstaking hand-drawn animation is always nice to look at, even if it's not quite up to the level of the bigger-budget productions of the early '40s.

48/100

It's Party Time!

[chrisbishop5000 · 10/10 · 7 September 2008]

If you ask me, I think Walt Disney put into this movie more of his cheerful, laid-back nature than any other and I haven't even seen a possible making-of featurette to prove because, currently, I only have this on video which is at least 7 years old now. I think it's fair to say that "Fun and Fancy Free" is exactly what it says on the tin. It opens with a lively chorus singing the title song and I love how when the animations begins to start up the song follows onto Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards, died 1971, (I think) at 76) singing his own verses, a laid-back, cheerful happy fellow riding on a large leaf in what soon appears to be a vase. In order to cheer up a sad doll missing her mama and a moody teddy Jiminy puts on a vinyl record telling a story...

BONGO: The expressive, vivacious and energetic enthusiasm of narrator Dinah Shore is just unbelievable! Bongo, a former circus bear who had been mistreated by the ring-master, longs to be free and eventually gets his dream! He is befriended by all the forest animals and also falls in love - but will things go smoothly? Give you a clue; "Every deer and every dove has a way of making love but a bear likes to say it with a SLAP"

MICKEY AND THE BEANSTALK: Jiminy finds an invitation to a party across the way and here's who was there; Luana Patten (died 1996, just 57) the hilariously cheeky Charlie McCarthy, the dazed and absent-minded Mortimer Snerd and the man who threw the party Edgar Bergen (died 1978, 75). Edgar Bergen tries to tell a story (in spite of his frustration at Charlie's frequent interruptions and criticisms) of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy living in poverty leaving Mickey and Goofy miserable and Donald having some violent fits of psychotic rage. Bergen defends him to the end. What about the others? Mickey and Goofy went through it too and they didn't try to murder the family cow! The only way to bring happiness to their home is to fetch an enchanted harp from the castle of a selfish giant but it's an not easy mission because if you can fool Willie the giant you can fool anyone! Can they do it? Mortimer becomes upset at when finally became of the giant and as Edgar tries to comfort him the roof is suddenly torn off by... the giant. Not to eat them but to just pop in. This cartoon musical extravaganza truly did make history in animation; that eye-popping blend of art and live action has been done practically throughout the entire movie. And there's neither bad language nor sex scenes nor violence - just full of Fun and Fancy Free!

Mickey is the best

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 3 September 2019]

Jiminy Cricket hosts this Disney animated movie with two short stories. "Bongo" is an unhappy circus bear. The lock on his train car comes undone and he manages to escape into a forest where he encounters other bears. Edgar Bergen does his ventriloquism with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. The second story is "Mickey and the Beanstalk" which is a new take on the classic fairy tale.

Little Bear Bongo didn't get much traction. I don't see him as that charismatic. He's a bit of a sad sack. Quite frankly, I've never heard of him before this movie. The songs aren't that catchy. Bongo defeating the mean bear is expected although I expect the battle to be more imaginative. It's not much. I have similar feelings about Charlie McCarthy. He may be a childhood classic for a generation but that generation isn't my generation. On the other hand, Mickey Beanstalk is a classic. It is iconic. It's not as bright or sharp as I remember and it's also chopped up by going back to Edgar Bergen. I would be giving a ten to Mickey but the rest pulls it down.

Fun and Fancy Boredom, Hilarity and Creepiness

[Vartiainen · 5/10 · 24 June 2015]

Yet another Disney film that tried to hold them aloft after the war years. A short film collection, like all the rest, though this time we only get a two segments and a framing story featuring Jiminy Cricket.

Of these two segment, Bongo, the first one, is pure boredom. It's nothing but this circus bear escaping his confinement and gallivanting around in the forest. And you already know how it goes. At first he's thrilled, then the actual, you know, nature rears its ugly head, he meets other animals, gets into trouble, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. Granted, the animation is pretty good, some of physical stunts are pretty humorous and the music could be worse, but it's simply so uninteresting. Nothing of value happens, the main character barely has a personality and... boring!

Mickey and the Beanstalk, on the other hand, is a born classic. This is an incredible segment, featuring Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck as medieval farmers living in an enchanted valley, ruled by a magic harp (it's not as weird as you think), who unfortunately has now gone missing and thus everyone hungers. And you know the story. Mickey goes to sell their cow, buys some "magic" beans, and the rest is story telling history. It's action-packed, the three make for a hilarious comedic trio, the animation is impressive, the story thrilling and it's just a great deal of fun.

I also have to mention that the framing story is beyond creepy, especially the ending. Jiminy Cricket is fine, he's one of Disney's finest as always, but they decided to hire a famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen to play himself in the framing story, and his puppets are simply put pure horror. Who decided this was appropriate for little kids?

So yeah, Mickey and the Beanstalk is a really good segment, but it has since been re-released on its own so many times that there's really no reason to see its actual origins film. Watch this if you want to say you've seen them all.

Historical curiosity? Disney doesn't get more historically curious than this

[Spleen · 10 October 2000]

"Bambi" (1942) was the last REAL animated feature the Disney studio released in the 1940s. Until 1950, there would only be shorts - which in general weren't as good either as the innovative ones made in the 1930s, or Jack Hannah's comic masterpieces of the 1950s - and compilation features: "The Reluctant Dragon" (1941), "Saludos Amigos" (1943), "The Three Caballeros" (1945), "Make Mine Music" (1946), "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947), "Melody Time" (1948), "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (1949). You're unlikely to have seen ANY of these. All of them were stripped apart into their component pieces long ago, largely because, with the exception of "The Three Caballeros", there's no reason to keep any of them in one piece. ("Fantasia" is another exception, so much so that I've left it off the list altogether - it's a completely different kind of endeavour.)

I say this even though "The Three Caballeros" is the only one I'VE seen. I have seen most of the material that went into these movies, though, and trust me: it's uneven, and there's no coherent way of gluing most of it together. -"Fun and Fancy Free", in any event, consists of just two extended shorts: "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk". I'm writing mainly to defend the latter. People are much too hard on it. There's a marked similarity between it and the winning short cartoon "The Brave Little Tailor" (1938), another fairytale with Disney characters taking the lead roles, and while "Beanstalk" lacks the earlier short's freshness, it has the advantage of having Donald and Goofy in it, two terribly under-rated cartoon stars who, although capable of sustaining shorts on their own, play off well against one another. (That's why it's impossible to make a Mickey/Donald/Goofy cartoon that's a TOTAL failure.) "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is one of the few post-war cartoons to recapture the spirit of Disney's depression-era stuff.

"Bongo" is of almost no interest - a vapid, directionless account of a circus bear who must adapt to life in the wild, complete with songs. People interested in the history of animation should see every Disney production they can get their eyes on; there's no other reason to see this one. The sheer POINTLESSNESS of pairing "Bongo" with "Mickey and the Beanstalk" makes this Disney's most bizarre compilation feature of the decade. -I wish I'd seen the linking segments. They can't possibly JUSTIFY the film's arbitrary nature, but it might be entertaining to see them try.

Clichéd but still fun and entertaining with that nice little sparkle of Disney Magic!

[ian-1211 · 7/10 · 6 May 2007]

This is yet another short story combination from Walt Disney which is pretty much a commonplace with the likes of "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros" but it is still good fun and will take you to see a different twist to your fairy tale you grew up with. Here, Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket takes centre stage as he hops though a bunch of records and comes across "Bongo", a story about a little bear who runs away from the circus and finds the girls of his dreams then bounces over to a nearby house to see real life people (Walt Disney was into having real life scenes at this stage of the Disney era) telling the story of "Mickey and the Beanstalk" where (you guess it) Mickey, Donald and Goofy climb up the beanstalk that tells the classic fairy tale the Disney way. I find this inferior to "Make Mine Music" which came out before it but this is a great way to past 70 minutes and if there's nothing on T.V then this will be a good alternative.

7/10

Very cute, worth seeing

[gio_cira · 6/10 · 19 June 2023]

Finally, in my opinion, after some small falls, Disney has made a nice nice classic with two nice plots. It's a very nice classic with these two not bad stories: personally I preferred the second part, that is the one with Mickey, Donald and Goofy. One thing I liked a lot is the character of Charlie: a super nice puppet who makes sarcasm on the story told. Super suitable for children too, I would recommend this classic because it is really very light and super cute. If you have some spare time and want to see some old disney classics, rather than Saludos Amigos or The Three Caballeros, I highly recommend Fun and Fancy Free.

First short is ugly, second is memorable

[andromaro · 6/10 · 4 October 2022]

It's an improvement in the package movie era, but still subpar for Disney standards. What's better is the 2-segments formula, much more enjoyable than the random bunch of shorts of the previous package movies. There is more time to develop a proper plot, but unfortunately the chance is not taken with the first half, Bongo. It's uninspired and dragged on, exaggerated and boring for the most part except for the cute ending. It doesn't even look or feel like Disney.

Much more iconic is Mickey and the Beanstalk, which is the reason why this movie should not be forgotten. It is a beautifully told story, awe inspiring and visually striking. Fortunately Disney decided to separate the two parts in subsequent releases, saving the second segment from oblivion.

A lovely and adorable film

[Herbest8 · 10/10 · 5 October 2009]

This package film from the Disney studio is simple but just irresistible as it features two colorful and cute cartoons interwoven with Edger Bergen and his famous dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.

The first segment is "Bongo" based on a short story by Sinclair Lewis. With the exception of narrator Dinah Shore, the whole thing is dialog free and although it moves along at a leisurely pace, it is good enough for the kids but adults will most certainly squirm.

The next segment is "Mickey and the Beanstalk" which has Bergan doing the narration of the classic fairy tale starring Mickey, Donald and Goofy as they face Willie the Giant (voiced amusingly by Billy Gilbert). Although the cartoon is cute and amusing, Bergen and his dummies along with the adorable Luana Patten provide the bulk of the laughs. I can't help but compare the approach in this segment to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" because of the good-natured riffing done by Charlie and Mortimer. It makes you wish that Walt Disney had used this formula for other films like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Cinderella." It goes without saying that Charlie's riffing on Bergen's storytelling is a particular highlight.

I say see this film. It'll warm your heart and keep you amused. Plus, it doesn't have the blatant pop culture jokes you get in contemporary animated films.

Luana and the ventriloquist puppets, the best of the movie, adorable...

[RosanaBotafogo · 7/10 · 6 June 2021]

Cute, like every Disney movie, I loved the little girl Luana and the ventriloquist puppets, the best of the movie, adorable... Cute, like every Disney movie, I loved the little girl Luana and the ventriloquist puppets, the best of the movie, adorable...

Boring with lousy songs

[preppy-3 · 3/10 · 4 July 2009]

Two shorts strung together with material involving Jiminy Cricket and Edgar Bergen and his dummies. The two stories are--"Bongo" about a circus bear escaping and his "comic" misadventures in the wilderness and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy recreating "Jack and the Beanstalk". The animation is great (that's why this gets three stars) but the stories are trite, padded and downright boring! They're also full of songs so unmemorable, bland and sweet that you'll be thinking cutting off your ears! To make matters unendurable Edgar Bergen has got to be the world's worst ventriloquist! His lips are plainly moving when his dummies "talk". A sleep-inducing mess. VERY patient young kids might go for it.

Nostalgic

[zanegoldy · 10/10 · 8 April 2012]

I watched this as a kid and every time I see it I just get taken back to when everything was more simple,and beautiful. Great animation, and message. Thank you Disney you made my childhood what it is today.It really should be respected higher. It is classic. The songs, the characters. Even still toady I still sing Goofy's song. And Bongo the circus bear. So much character and nothing said at all. One of Disney's best and should be on IMDb's top 250. And the ending with the Giant and coming through the roof I was so terrified of that when I saw that as a child. The ventriloquism was great to, that little girl was good as well I wonder who she was.... 10/10

Enjoyable if unremarkable

[briancham1994 · 6/10 · 2 June 2020]

Even though the short films comprising Fun & Fancy Free have nothing to do with each other and with the title, they are still both good. Bongo is really cute while Mickey and the Beanstalk has all the classic Disney characters. I think either of them could have been a full feature length film.

Watch it for the animation, but don't expect that much else.

[Animany94 · 5/10 · 7 September 2019]

While Fun & Fancy Free wasn't terrible, I think it is the weakest of the package movies from the war time era of Disney.

It's a collection of two segments joined together by Jiminy Cricket taking us to two different locations which are a bedroom and a livingroom. The first one being the place where the story of Bongo the circus bear begins. A simple story about Bongo longing to be in the wild after serving his entire life in a circus. He doesn't know the wild so he goes through some trials to learn how to be in the wild while he finds love. I may be among the few people who put this much though into a cartoon, but the way the bears show affection was a little disturbing to me. Judge it for yourself, though.

The latter is in a livingroom where Jiminy watches this birthday party or something where the vetriloquist tells Mickey and the Beanstalk which is pretty much Jack and the Beanstalk without much change put into it. The animated part was good, but the one puppet, Charlie, gets annoying very quickly when constantly interrupts the narration to make stupid comments. Again, the animated parts are really nice in both segments, but the live action parts are kind of dated. The end is pretty funny, though, and was the part that made me laugh the most.

Fun & Fabcy Free is among the weaker Disney efforts, but can be a delight for the little ones. Not a recommendation from me, but isn't one to be left out.

Lovely

[FKDZ · 7/10 · 9 March 2022]

Bongo the Bear and Mickey and the Beanstalk are the two featured stories here and both are equally good I'd say. J Cricket is a great introductionary character and his song is lovely, eerily applicable to current times but that was obviously the point being made as well. The animation is top notch, much better than I expected. My favorite out of the two was definitely Bong's story, mainly due to the catchy music, art and animation.

I didn't expect to see puppetry here and what I saw in the trivia that the one who was doing it was a famous ventriloquist. For being famous, he wasn't very good at hiding the movement of his lips. That said I liked the little characters, Charlie made me laugh with his comments like suggesting the little kid to smoke a cigar and just overal cynical takes on things. The other one was your typical dumb character but not that funny, I did like his segment where he tried to imagine the story and how that was animated.

In general though both stories were simple and lighthearted, none of them every tried to have too much depth which is fine but the animations won't leave that much of an impact on me as a result. The art is what I will remember most I think, especially the pink clouds and waterfall scene in Bongo's story.

Overall the music and animation here is something not to be missed. It's still really good and engaging, timeless really. I enjoyed it!