It’s Friday! It’s movie time! It’s time to party! This light-hearted film stars some popular Disney characters and is one of my childhood favorites. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
Jiminy Cricket is relaxing in a beautiful home when he tries to help a sad looking doll and bear cheer up by playing a record. Specifically, “Bongo”, a love story about three bears that is told and sung by Dinah Shore! After the story ends, he discovers an invitation to a party hosted by Edgar Bergan. Upon arriving, he finds Edgar entertaining Luana Patten, Charlie McCarthy, and Mortimer Snerd. Mr. Bergan tells the story of Mickey and the Beanstalk, with Luana’s help to provide the imagination needed to bring the story to life. Includes a unicycle, a talking hand, and a furry, pink bunny.
What works
- It’s nice to have Jiminy Cricket back. Similar to Donald Duck’s appearance in The Three Caballeros, Jiminy brings a sense of familiar to the new picture and he helps connect ‘Bongo’ and ‘Mickey and the Beanstalk’ in a way that feels natural (albeit weird, I mean, Jiminy, come on! You can’t just sneak into other peoples’ parties!*)
- Bongo
- This was a really good short, a solid story. It had a hero, a heroine, a villain, a love story, a chase scene that led to a battle (of a sorts) scene. Dinah Shore sang/spoke the narration
- There’s a night-time scene in Bongo with a storm and I just have to compare it to Bambi. Bambi’s scene, aside from having “Little April Showers” play, was gentle compared to Bongo’s scene. Even though both Bambi and Bongo are getting used to the forest, Bongo had a scary night at the Snow White level and Bambi got to snuggle closer to his mom.
- After the Bongo short ended, Jiminy was getting ready to leave the house (still unknown whose house it is) when what? An invitation? for Luana Patton (Song of the South)? Obviously, that’s the place to go!*
- Mickey and the Beanstalk
- The ‘Mickey and the Beanstalk’ short was a lot of fun because it was shown through IMAGINATION. Rather than read from a storybook or shown on film (like in The Three Caballeros), Edgar Bergan (along with Charlie and Mortimer) tells the tale to Luana Patton who sees the story (and allows the audience to see it as well) in her imagination. It was really entertaining to watch because Charlie kept making snarky and sarcastic remarks (definitely my kind of humor) and Mortimer would ask questions or say the wrong (but sweet) thing.
- Like during the “Bongo” short, Bergan narrates “Mickey and the Beanstalk”, though this time, each character has its own individual voice. As much as I loved listening to Dinah Shore narrate what all the characters said in “Bongo”, that wouldn’t have worked in this short.
- The movie moves surprisingly fast. I don’t know if it is because it is a ‘package feature’, but at least the beginning portion leading up to the ‘Bongo’ short doesn’t really waste time. Even all the cuts back and forth between the live-action party and the Beanstalk short kept in rhythm, pushing forward at a steady pace until, oh my goodness, it’s over.
Honorable Mentions
- The only film to star Jiminy Cricket, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy
- Let’s just talk about how Jiminy breaks into random folks’ homes. Granted, I’ve had bugs get into my house before, so should I blame him? Ehhh…
- Bongo carries a promotional file all about himself. I love it.
- One of my personal fears is “crazy eyes” so the scene where Donald goes crazy over the lack of food and sees the ax? Yeah…scary stuff.
- Shout out to Willie who was basically Mother Gothel before Mother Gothel existed.
- Also shout out to Willie for finding the coolest hat in all of Hollywood: The Brown Derby!
Side Questions
- What happened to the scarecrow?
Can a scarecrow die?I mean, he couldn’t have walked out on his own but only Mickey, Donald, Goofy and the cow seemed to be left after the harp was stolen. - Having rescued the magic harp, would Mickey and Friends move into the castle? They quite possibly need to protect her from any future attacks from any future villains.
What I learned from watching this film
- I really liked the differences in how each story was told. “Bongo” with Dinah Shore was so relaxed. There were fun moments, some good energy moments, but because it was a ‘recording’, there wasn’t anything really out of the blue. Now, “Mickey and the Beanstalk”? Between Mr. Bergan, Charlie and Mortimer, there were jokes cracked, questions asked and I, as an audience member, felt more a part of the party because it felt more natural.
- I wonder what written stories exist that read in a similar way to how “Mickey and the Beanstalk” was told. If they do exist, and they probably do, I’d really like to see how they’re told because I want to tell a story like that, but on paper, not on the screen.
*as I have mentioned above, it’s not the most polite thing to invite yourself to someone else’s party. Unless you’re a cricket. Then it might be okay. I don’t know cricket society rules.
If you’ve seen Fun and Fancy Free, what did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Rewind to the beginning of the Disney Film Project
Skip back to the previous film with Song of the South
Fast Forward to the next film with Melody Time
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