Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

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my chicken is infected
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Post by my chicken is infected »

The 1997 video release was digitally remastered with a THX-certified transfer, so that's probably why it looks good on DVD. I'd love to own a copy of the DVD.

And now I have to be a bit nitpicky about the review. The reviewer...don't remember who it was...mentioned that Melody Time didn't make its home video debut until the Gold Collection video and DVD release:
Some of them - Saludos Amigos and Melody Time - hadn't even been released to home video until their 2000 Gold Collection debuts
The reviewer forgot the 50th Anniversary Masterpiece Collection video from 1998.

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Sorry to be so nitpicky. :oops:
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Post by Wonderlicious »

I've only seen Fun and Fancy Free properly once, and that was fairly recent. I saw the Mickey and the Beanstalk segment as a kid, but that was it, and in a way, it was pretty much an alternate version as it had Ludwig Von Drake instead of the guy with the freaky puppets. I hadn't seen the film as a whole until only recently, and I must say that I wasn't expecting greatness after the craptacular Melody Time. Yet what I saw was pretty charming material.

I have to say that the bears story was my favourite of the two, so I suppose I am in the minority. The animation was lovely, and the piece seems optimistic, like the title. The Beanstalk story is also fun, with equally nice animation and a heart.

Of course, the piece isn't perfect; some parts can drag such as the parts with Jiminy Cricket and there is some outdatedness, yet overall, whilst no Snow White or Pinocchio, it makes a good film. I actually saw this on video (shame on me, I guess :roll:), so I don't have the DVD. It doesn't scream "own me now!", yet no special edition is likely, so eventually, I'll go against my naysaying insticts and find the film.
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Post by Spongebob Squarepants »

I too enjoyed Fun and Fancy Free! Mine too like may others is Mickey And The Beanstalk! Actually the first time I saw Mickey And The Beanstalk was when in was released seperate on VHS. :)
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Post by ToyOtter »

Personally, I always preferred Sterling Holloway's narration to Edger Bergin.
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Post by Timon/Pumbaa fan »

Aside from the "Mickey and the Benstalk" segment, the movie was pretty boring. Not bad, but skippable
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Post by RJKD23 »

Okay, I think that if you grew up watching this as a kid, then you'd have a bigger appreciation of the movie as opposed to watching it when you're a teen or adult. That's only my opinion.

I liked the Bongo segment next to Mickey & the Beanstalk! It was so cute (in a weird way) how he figured that you had to slap the girl to show you like her. :p

Overall the DVD is fun to watch. Very happy themes. :)
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Post by Lazario »

I think Fun and Fancy Free is one of the most magical Disney films I have ever seen. I adore the Bongo segment, maybe a little more than the Mickey and the Beanstalk half. The Mickey half is very, very, VERY funny in parts. I prefer the romanticism of the Bongo part. But of course the two parts balance each other perfectly.

I don't know what else to say. I just REALLY love this movie. It's one of my top 5 favorite Disney films I think. I have my favorites rank list kept from an earlier post, somewhere. I'll have to find it.
Wonderlicious wrote:I have to say that the bears story was my favourite of the two, so I suppose I am in the minority. The animation was lovely, and the piece seems optimistic, like the title.
That's a great way to describe it.
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Post by DisneyFanatic »

I really love Fun and Fancy Free (but I mostly like mickey and beanstalk).

Mickey and the Beanstalk is so great! I especially love the part where they are singing on the table with all the food. The only thing I didn't really like was the live action mixed in, but, it's great to have it in the dvd. I don't remember seeing the live action when I first saw it on tv as a child.
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Post by dvdjunkie »

This another of the great 'package' films that Disney released during the 1940's. Along with "Melody Time", "Make Mine Music", "The Legend of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", "Fun and Fancy Free" was one of my favorites because it also included a very nice narrative with Edger Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. The telling of the story of "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is classic story telling at its best, and again Disney wowed us with the celebrity voice overs. Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket), Pinto Colvig (Goofy), Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse) and Clarence Nash (Donald Duck) along with Dinah Shore narrating and singing the songs in "Bongo" are movie-making at its best. This is one treasure that I owned all three VHS releases and own the DVD release, and recommend it very highly to all Disney collectors. This is another of those films who two segments I showed separately in the Mickey Mouse Theater in Fantasyland in Disneyland. I had forgotten that they were both from the same movie until the VHS tape was released. I also own the RCA Video Disc (CED) version of this film. I will give this a 7 because it does deserve to get a better treatment on DVD.

:roll:
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Post by MinnieMe »

Looks like it's Old-Thread-Bumpin Day!

Bought this one as a blind buy incredibly cheap from DMC. I want all the animated classics so I figured- why not? I had of course seen the Mickey and the Beanstalk before- always a great story and entertaining to watch. The Bongo segment was interesting. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. Was kind of taken aback by the "If you love someone say it with a SLAP!" Really cracked me up.

A kind of interesting sidenote:

When I was home over Christmas I was going through some old albums in my parents' extra bedroom. I found a notebook that my grandmother (on my dad's side) had made for my dad giving a history of his family (that she knew of anyway). It included pictures and a history of how his mom and dad got together. There was a picture from the 1940's of when my grandfather (who died before I was born) had first moved to this little town in Vermont. It was outside an old theater, and the only other distinguishable part of the picture was a movie poster for Fun and Fancy Free behind him!! It was really cool to see a picture of someone back when the movie was first released. Kind of put the movie in perspective for me.
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Post by blackcauldron85 »

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. :thumb:) 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!!!
:lol: 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. :p
ichabod wrote:After all How can anyone hate a film that promotes domestic violence with a catchy little tune?! ;)
:lol: 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. :p)
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Post by blackcauldron85 »

Toon Thursday: How Disney's "Mickey and the Beanstalk" went from being a full length film to an animated featurette
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief ... rette.aspx

I really like the harp, so I'm glad that she's in the film, and I guess with The Three Musketeers, we have Queen Minnie (or is she a princess there...?), but I think as a whole, the film probably would have been better as a full-length movie...
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by blackcauldron85 »

Bumpity-bump-bump-bump

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief ... -past.aspx
In addition to the amazing imagery, there are some never-before-told tales in "The Walt Disney Film Archives" that are just going to amaze animation fans. Take - for example - this story that Berlin-based film journalist Katja Lüthge shares about the development of 1947's "Fun and Fancy Free." Believe it or not, the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" portion of this package feature came about because ...
... in an early story conference, Walt Disney wanted to motivate Mickey's appearance in a feature film with, of all things, a studio strike. On May 2, 1940, he spontaneously shared his idea: "We could use the opening business where Mickey, Don and the Goof are protesting - they're going on strike - they want to work in features. Have (these) ... characters (carry signs which read) "Disney Unfair to Short-Subject Actors" ...
Now when you consider that - almost exactly one year later (on May 29, 1941 to be exact) - 334 Disney Studio employees went out on strike and almost immediately began picketing their place of work. Carrying virtually identical signs (i.e., "Disney Unfair to His Artists") to the ones that Walt once proposed that Mickey, Donald & Goofy carry in their feature film debut ... Well, you honestly can't get much more ironic than that.
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by Disney Duster »

Woah. Now that is an amazing coincidence. Or perhaps they took some of Walt's idea for their strike and signs on purpose.
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by Sotiris »

Did You Know? 10 Fascinating Facts about Fun and Fancy Free
https://d23.com/know-10-fascinating-fac ... 4aff1591fd
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by Sotiris »

The movie is getting an 'Art of' book! :shock: Details in the link below.

http://disneybooks.blogspot.com/2019/08 ... -expo.html
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by D82 »

^That's great! I'm really glad but also surprised that this movie is getting so much attention from Disney right now with this book and the panel at the D23 Expo.
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by JeanGreyForever »

Surprised to hear this but pleasantly surprised. I'll definitely pick this up and I can't wait to see what the next volume will be!
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Re: Fun And Fancy Free Discussion

Post by Clindor »

This was indeed unexpected, and what a pleasant surprise that a movie as ‘Fun and Fancy Free’ gets a little bit of attention from the company! :up:
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