"Here, just look at the morning paper. Turn to any page. You'll find the whole world worryin' about some future age. But why get so excited? What's gonna be is gonna be. The end of the world's been comin' since 1903. That's, uh, B.C., of course." - Jiminy Cricket (yeah, he's in this movie. And the world IS ending, btw...)
Initial thoughts before viewing: Thanks to the featured art from Disney+, I knew this was the package film that featured the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" cartoon. I knew I had seen this at some point in my childhood, but I wasn't sure what else this movie contained. Oh, little did I know what awaited me.
Fun and Fancy Free has a run time of about 73 minutes and consists of 2 segments: "Bongo", the story of a circus bear who runs away into the wild, and the aforementioned "Micky and the Beanstalk" segment. If you've never seen this movie or need a refresher, here is a link to the movie's Disney Wiki page where you can read the entire plot summary.
Highlight:
Fe fi fo fum, he hi ho hum! "Mickey and the Beanstalk"
I mean, it's a classic cartoon. It's fairly rare to get Disney story that has the 3 major players: Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. It's a fun watch, and the "Fe fi fo fum" diddy sung by Willie the Giant is catchy as heck. I've been singing it all week!
[takes a deep breath] Okay, brace yourselves for what's coming next.
Disliked: WHAT. IS. THIS. AND. WHY.
The second half of the movie has these truly bizarre live-action sequences featuring a man named Edgar Bergen and his mouthy ventriloquists's puppets. The setting is a birthday party that Edgar is throwing for his neighbor, a little girl named Luana.
Why is a grown man throwing a party for a little girl at his home at night?
Why are no other adults (or children) at this party?
Why is Edgar talking with his hand and a napkin?
Why are these puppets so terrifying?
Why is the little girl Luana not terrified?
Why does Edgar keep asking Luana if she wants more cake, ice cream, or candy? (DON'T EAT ANYTHING HE GIVES YOU, LUANA!)
I wonder if this whole thing was well received in 1947, because it has not aged well. It's so strange and downright creepy. I did laugh a lot here (but not for the intended reasons.)
Closing Thoughts: Forgettable. Other than the scary puppet scenes (which I will never forget), this feature is pretty unremarkable. I scored it slightly higher than Make Mine Music, however, because it did incorporate beloved established characters (including Jiminy Cricket, who sort of hopped around from house to house in an attempt to thread together the 2 animated segments).
Jiminy (aka the"cricket" that doesn't look at all like a cricket) spends a lot of time in the beginning of the movie trying to convince the viewer to adopt a laissez-faire attitude towards life. "Just learn to smile, and in a while, you'll find trouble's a bubble of air," he sings. As a viewer in 2020, this message does not go down well. Sorry, Jiminy, but the world IS going crazy, and smiling won't change that.
I won't be rewatching this anytime soon, unless it's to show someone just how bizarre the live-action parts are.
My Rating: 2.5/10
Next up, Melody Time!
My Rating Scale/System:
10 - Masterpiece / Award Worthy š¤©
9 - Almost perfect / Exceptional š„°
8 - Great / Well-crafted š
7 - Good / Noteworthy š
6 - Above average / Memorable š
5 - Solidly average š
4 - Mixed feelings / Mediocre š
3 - Uninteresting / Struggle bus š„±
2 - Barely watchable š”
1 - Failure / Why is this a thing? š©
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