Fun & Fancy Free Reviews

The closest thing I have encountered to a classic film in Disney’s package years, Fun and Fancy Free leans hard on the first word of that title, and is all the better for it. There’s a stronger sense of connection between the two shorts, and with only two different short films to tie together, the creators were able to give more time, care, and thought to crafting stronger cartoons. Fun and Fancy Free may not be an all-time great in the Disney canon, but it’s an entertaining way to spend seventy-some minutes.

The wraparound story finds Jiminy Cricket strumming his ukele and singing, stumbling upon some dolls and a record player. The record player just so happens to have “Bongo” ready to go, and narrated by Dinah Shore, after that short, Jiminy finds an invitation to a party at Edgar Bergen’s house for Luana Patten. He goes across the street to the party, and listens as Bergen tells Luana the story of “Mickey and the Beanstalk.” It’s a clever enough premise and works well, and it’s nice to reacquaint ourselves with Jiminy, who was the major beloved company mascot prior to Tinkerbell’s prominence.

The two shorts are well done, although for a variety of reasons “Mickey and the Beanstalk” is infinitely better. “Bongo” is a cute enough diversion, but it feels stuffed with too much padding and unnecessary bits. It’s hard to believe that this was once considered as a stand-alone feature before WWII and the animator’s strike hit the studio hard. There’s just not enough story to satisfactorily fill out the half hour, and the majority of musical numbers in Fun and Fancy Free occur during this segment. “Bongo” is cute, but that’s about all it is. On the plus side, Dinah Shore’s narration sounds like the coziest bedtime story the studio ever produced.

“Mickey and the Beanstalk” is the real reason to seek out Fun and Fancy Free. Long considered one of the most beloved Mickey and the gang cartoons, “Beanstalk” is a classic piece of animation. Bergen’s narration frequently interacts with the plot, setting up various punch lines and gags. This is a major boost to its overall effectiveness. Most of the package films featured narration that simply recited verbatim what was happening in the animation without commenting or interacting with it.

And that’s just the beginning, while “Bongo” felt too padded out with incident, “Mickey and the Beanstalk” moves through its story with an energetic pace. Not one second of story-telling is wasted on a musical number to fill out the running time, or a series of gags to extended a chase scene. Everything here is vital and live. No scene more than the overnight beanstalk growth, which finds Mickey, Donald, and Goofy sleeping through the destruction of their house and luckily happening upon leaves and growths which safely catch and cradle them. It’s one of the best pieces of animation from this era.

Taken as a whole, this is an immensely satisfying film from beginning to end. While these two sections were burnt off as a way to revitalize the studio in preparation for their grand return to form with Cinderella, Fun and Fancy Free is looser and more entertaining than that embalmed and too tasteful film. It’s slight, but also the closest thing to an essential viewing experience from this era in the studio’s output.