Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free

Yesterday afternoon I watched Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free. Although it sounds a little bit like a description of parents during back-to-school season, it’s actually a film. You may know it as Mickey and the Beanstalk, one of the two stories included in the feature. The second is Bongo. Together they make an odd and quirky little addition to the Disney archive. They also make a welcome distraction in a quiet house after school is back in session.

History

Let’s start with a little history. Disney released Fun and Fancy Free on September 27, 1947. It’s one of a surprising few number of films the company has ever released in the month of September. Maybe they really were thinking about back-to-school when they picked the title?

More likely the company was capturing the sentiment of the country after World War II. Disney devoted the majority of its studio resources to supporting the war effort throughout the 1940s. That means many stories, like those included in Fun and Fancy Free were delayed multiple times. After the war and in an effort to deliver films quickly and inexpensively, Disney combined several short stories into so-called package films. These stories were tied together by celebrity hosts, who were added to the films to boost appeal.

Although Bongo and Mickey and the Beanstalk were originally paired with other stories, Disney ultimately decided to place them together in Fun and Fancy Free.  They don’t have much in common really, other than being completed about the same time. Bongo is about a runaway circus bear. Mickey and the Beanstalk is about a poor farmer encountering a giant in the sky.

Together they make an awkward, yet entertaining glimpse into a important turning portion in Disney’s history.

Introduction

The movie begins with a brief narration by Jiminy Cricket of Pinocchio fame. It includes a peppy little song originally intended for Pinocchio called I’m a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow. It’s kind of like Jiminy Cricket’s theme song and adds an uplifting tone to the overall feel of the film.

“Don’t cross a bridge or peek around the corner until you’re there,” Jiminy sings with glee, “just learn to smile and in a while you’ll learn trouble is a bubble of air.” In other words, worry less, stay in the present and seek joy in your current situation.

Pretty good advice from a fictional cricket, don’t you think?

Then Jiminy switches gears a bit and introduces Bongo, the first story of the film.

Bongo

Bongo is a quirky little story about a bear who escapes the circus, hides in the woods and finds true love. It’s based on a short story written by Sinclair Lewis in 1930. Dinah Shore provides the narration.

The beginning of Bongo reminds me a lot of Disney’s Dumbo, which isn’t too surprising considering the close proximity of the two films’ release dates. Dumbo and Bongo both perform in a circus, don’t speak and have cute names that end with O. Maybe that last part is just a coincidence? Several of the animation sequences, such as the swaying circus tents, applauding crowds and speeding trains, look similar between the two films too.

That’s pretty much where the similarity ends though. Rather than learning to fly like Dumbo, Bongo escapes the circus and hides in the woods. He’s sad for a bit, because he realizes he doesn’t really know how to live like a bear in the wild.

Perhaps if he stopped riding his unicycle he would blend in more?

Just a thought.

Then he meets a female bear named Lulabelle and falls in love in true Disney fashion.

Unfortunately for Bongo, he also meets a giant bear named Lockjaw who is equally enamored with Lulabelle’s charms. Lockjaw falls for Lulabelle because she accidentally slaps him. Apparently that’s the universal sign of love among bears, at least in animated films from the 1940s.

Then a large group of bears sing an entire song about showing their love by slapping each other. (Music pictured above by Eliot Daniel.) I realize it was intended to be silly and light-hearted, but it felt uncomfortable to watch in 2018.

After all the um, slapping, was over, Bongo returns to challenge Lockjaw for Lulabelle’s hand (paw?). They fight, without slapping each other of course, and tumble over a waterfall. Lockjaw floats away but Bongo is saved by the strap on his circus hat that he’s inexplicably still wearing after an extended time in the woods.

Bongo rejoins Lulabelle. They slap each other a few times for good measure, and of course, live happily ever after.

Not my favorite Disney love story, but at least it’s unique.

Transitioning between the stories

Wondering how peppy little Jiminy Cricket was going to transition from the slap fest to the beanstalk, I kept watching. It wasn’t great. Jiminy stumbles upon an invitation laying on a desk and then takes us to the related birthday party for young actress Luana Patten. The film also switches from animation to live action. The birthday “party” which really doesn’t include any other guests is hosted by Edgar Bergen and his two ventriloquist dummies, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.

Say what now?

Edgar Bergan was a very popular performer in the 1940s. Audiences watching the film at the time were probably very familiar with Bergen and comfortable with his creepy loyal companions. Modern viewers may associate him more closely with his daughter, Candace Bergen. Theater goers in 1947 probably also recognized Luana Patten, who had just appeared in Disney’s Song of the South a year earlier. As mentioned previously, Disney added celebrity hosts to many films in the 1940s with the hopes of boosting audiences after the war. Bing Crosby lent his voice to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as part of another package film for the same reason.

The transition between stories is weak to put it mildly and the passing of time hasn’t helped. I suppose you can appreciate it as a little time capsule of the 1940s. Overall it felt like more of a distraction from the rest of the film than an enhancement. Disney apparently agreed. Ludwig Von Drake, an animated duck, replaced Bergen in later versions of the story. You can find that version on Netflix this month.

 Mickey and the Beanstalk

Despite the weird transition, Mickey and the Beanstalk is a much more familiar and likable story. It’s based on a fairy tale from the early 1800s written by Benjamin Tabart. The story begins with a beautiful shot of Happy Valley, a small village in which everybody is, well, happy. The source of this joy is a Singing Harp that lives and sings in the town’s castle. One day the harp mysteriously disappears, taking all of the town’s happiness with her.

The story then switches to Mickey, Donald and Goofy who are poor farmers struggling to survive in post-harp Happy Valley. Walt Disney provides the voice of Mickey. It’s one of the last films in which he did so before relinquishing the role to others.

The farming trio squabble over food scraps. Donald loses his temper to epic proportions. Not willing to see his friends suffer, Mickey travels to town and returns home with a pile of magical beans. His friends, who were busy singing lines like “I want to eat until I die” during Mickey’s absence, show their disappointment with their buddy’s choice. Mickey plants the seeds anyway and the friends go to bed hangry. (Hangry joined Merriam-Webster dictionary just this week, so I’m using it here with only a tinge of trepidation.)

The next sequence is the best animation in the film, in my opinion. The magic beans sprout into vines that swiftly twist and climb in the moonlight, lifting Mickey’s cottage and its deep-sleeping inhabitants into the sky. In the morning, the group finds a huge castle nestled in the clouds.

They enter the castle, enjoy some food and find Singing Harp trapped in a trunk. Unfortunately they also find Willie the Giant, who is not too pleased to have unexpected company. Mickey tries to trick Willie into becoming a fly so he can be swatted.

Apparently the big fellow has mad shape-shifting skills.

When Mickey’s plan fails, the Singing Harp uses her voice to cast a spell over the giant. It provides enough time for Mickey to rescue the harp and his friends and make it back down the beanstalk. Willie awakens and chases the group, but it’s too late. Donald and Goofy chop down the beanstalk and Willie tumbles from the sky.

I guess that’s a tad like Bongo now that I think about it, since both villains end up falling from high places.

Apparently the fall isn’t enough to hurt Willie though. He appears one more time in the film, peeling back the roof of the home where Edger Bergen is telling this story to his young friend. We then see the giant clamoring off through Hollywood, snatching the sign from the Brown Derby to wear as a hat during his departure.

It kind of made me wish I was back at Hollywood Studios.

Finale

Despite the odd storylines and less-than-smooth transitions, there are some things to like about Fun and Fancy Free. For one, it let me procrastinate some of those back-to-school activities parents get saddled with each fall.

More importantly, it gave me a few moments to savor a quiet house and enjoy some vintage Disney. I appreciated Jiminy Cricket’s helpful advice about living in the present, particularly at a time of year when we tend to worry about the school year ahead. I also enjoyed hearing Walt Disney’s voice as Mickey and imagining what he must have looked like speaking into a microphone at the studio. Watching Donald lose his temper also made me smile because, well, sometimes life is frustrating and Donald shows us just how ridiculous our outrage looks to others.

I hope today’s post added a little fun or at least a touch of quirkiness to your day too.

Add a little (vintage) magic to your world!