Joe Carioca wrote:"Bongo" doensn't have a lot of story to tell, and it soon wears off.
I think that "Bongo" is quite charming! (And "Say It With a Slap" is genius, IMO.
) I mean, it's not meant to be a fast-paced circus romp or anything, really...just a simple story of a bear.
Joe Carioca wrote:"Mickey and the Beanstalk" is a much better segment, but I think the live-action interstitials harm it a bit. I mean, I do like Edgar Bergen's dummies (Charlie, specially, is a riot) but the story never gets the fully development it deserves. I don't know if there is enough story to justify a full-lenght sized story as it was planned, but I am sure there was more room for story than we see here.
I can agree with this. I grew up with "Mickey and the Beanstalk"...I don't know if it was taped off of TV or what, but just the featurette, not all of
Fun and Fancy Free, and I kjnow that it was a long time ago, but I don't remember the live-action bits. I mean, it's just storytime for the kids, I guess, and I don't necessarily care about why they're all there, but it can get in the way...like, was it really necessary? Although people back then knew of Charlie McCarthy and Mr. Bergen because they were popular/famous back then, so it's not the same for modern audiences, I guess.
DisneyFanatic wrote:I don't remember seeing the live action when I first saw it on tv as a child.
Okay, so I'm not the only one...that's good to know!
Chicky Mouse wrote:Let's talk about Disney and political correctness with that wonderful spousal abuse song from Bongo. If you love someone, say it with a SLAP!!!
I never, ever thought of the song in a spousal abuse kind of way...I hope others haven't...I still think the song is genius, but you're making me feel a little guilty about that now.
ichabod wrote:After all How can anyone hate a film that promotes domestic violence with a catchy little tune?!
Wow, am I the only one who never put 2 and 2 together?!?
Trivia time:
http://www.tcmuk.tv/movie_database_resu ... e&id=75826
According to April and August 1941 Hollywood Reporter news items, Disney originally intended to produce "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk" as separate, feature-length cartoons. The "Mickey Mouse feature" was called Legend of Happy Valley by a August 15, 1941 Daily Variety item. The Daily Variety item stated that Disney had signed Lee Sweetland, "a baritone for NBC," to do narration for the picture, but he did not contribute to the completed picture.
A "behind-the scenes" documentary about the picture, which accompanied its 1997 video release, asserted that originally, the studio contemplated using some of the settings and supporting characters from its 1941 film Dumbo for the "Bongo" segment. The plan was dropped, however, and no characters from Dumbo appear in the completed picture. The documentary also reveals that when story development on "Mickey and the Beanstalk" began in May 1940, the inclusion of "J. Worthington Foulfellow" and "Gideon" from Pinocchio was considered, as well as the "casting" of "Minnie Mouse" as a queen who induces "Mickey" to trade his cow for the magic beans. The three characters do not appear in the completed segment, however.
A October 24, 1945 Hollywood Reporter news item reported that narrator Dinah Shore would be appearing "before the camera" as well as offscreen, but in the finished film, she does not appear onscreen, except in a photograph on the cover of the "Bongo" record album.
According to modern sources, "Jiminy Cricket's" opening song, "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow," was originally recorded for the 1939 Disney feature Pinocchio but not used.
(Obviously they meant 1940, not 1939.
)