Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Written by Homer Brightman, et al.
Directed by Jack Kinney, et al.
Fun and Fancy Free was one of the “package films” I was really looking forward to seeing, mostly because of the “Mickey and the Beanstalk” segment...I’d never seen it, but I seem to recall having a picture book following the segment when I was a child.
This film is just a mere two segments long, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of Jiminy Cricket as part of the framing device, especially for the first segment, “Bongo”.
“Bongo”
Another pair of twitter patted animals…
This segment was pretty generic: no major animation issues, but also nothing groundbreaking, either. The plot wasn’t the most original (a young bear, who’s grown up in the circus, finds himself out in the real wilderness), but it was still done in a cute way. All in all, it was a pretty standard segment.
And then the love slapping song.
Yes, according to the song that plays in the second half of this segment, bears slap each other to show their love for one another. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this isn’t a true fact, but even so...the very concept of it was so bizarre I had to watch it a second time. I get that it’s animated bears. It’s not serious. Or real. But...love taps? It just raised the weird factor of the segment by a couple notches.
Segment Grade: B-
“Mickey and the Beanstalk”
Trouble is brewing for our friend Mickey…
I feel the need to break this segment down into two pieces: the actual, animated segment, and the live-action framing device around it. The animated segment was exactly what I expected; it’s “Jack and the Beanstalk”, with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy taking the place of Jack. Cute, well animated, and, as a bonus, the final time that Walt himself would voice Mickey.
The framing device, however, was an entirely different matter. First, there’s a grown man throwing a party for a little girl across the street. Just her. So there’s that. Secondly, he has a few ventriloquist dummies, that seem to work EVEN WHEN HE ISN’T NEAR THEM. I’m not the biggest fan of ventriloquist dummies in general, but to have them be able to (allegedly) move and think on their own? Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Add to the fact that the dummies CONSTANTLY crack wise throughout the duration of the segment, and my nerves, they were got on.
Segment Grade: B-
Of the two segments, I think I preferred “Bongo” over “Beanstalk”, but honestly, it’s by the closest of margins. With the Studio trying to save money, there just isn’t anything groundbreaking or really new to comment on at this point in the animated classics line up.
FINAL GRADE: B-
