Fun & Fancy Free (1947)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Directors:

Jack Kinney
Hamilton Luske

Writers:

Homer Brightman (story) &
Harry Reeves (story) ...

Release Date:

27 September 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Music

Tagline:

It's Got That DISNEY MAGIC! (original print media ad - many caps)

Plot:

Jiminy Cricket hosts two Disney animated shorts: "Bongo," about a circus bear escaping to the wild, and "Mickey and the Beanstalk," a take on the famous fairy tale.

Plot Keywords:

Bear | Circus | Jiminy Cricket | Mickey Mouse | Mace

Cast

Edgar Bergen	...	Himself
Dinah Shore	...	(voice)
Charlie McCarthy	...	Himself
Mortimer Snerd	...	Himself
Luana Patten	...	Herself
Walt Disney	...	Mickey Mouse (voice) (as Mickey Mouse)
Anita Gordon	...	Singing Harp (voice)
Cliff Edwards	...	Jiminy Cricket (voice)
Billy Gilbert	...	Willie the Giant (voice)
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice)
The King's Men	...	Themselves (as The Kings Men)
The Dinning Sisters	...	Themselves
The Starlighters	...	Themselves

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Denmark:A (2003) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #12068, General Audience)

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

This is the fifth of seven "package films" released by Disney in the 1940s due to wartime budgetary constraints. They were called "package films" because they were feature-length films containing two or more short films tied together by surrounding material. In this canon, Fun & Fancy Free (1947) was preceded by The Reluctant Dragon (1941) , Saludos Amigos (1942) , The Three Caballeros (1944) , and Make Mine Music (1946) and followed by Melody Time (1948) and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) .

Quotes:

Mortimer Snerd: [referring to giant footprints] Oh, gosh! Who made them?
Charlie McCarthy: Well, it wasn't Cinderella.

Movie Connections:

Featured in DTV: Golden Oldies (1984) (V)

Soundtrack:

Fun and Fancy Free

A lovely and adorable film

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.