#9 Fun and Fancy Free

Title: Fun and Fancy Free

Release Date: September 27th, 1947

Voice Cast: Edgar Bergen, Cliff Edwards, Walt Disney, Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig, Dinah Shore

Plot: The fourth of six Disney package films released in the 1940s is divided into two parts: the first about a circus bear who escapes to the woods and falls in love; the second, a retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk" featuring Mickey, Goofy, and Donald.

Review: So, technically speaking, Fun and Fancy Free is two films. In fact, that was Disney's original plan with these, but the runtime for each was not long enough. Thus, Fun and Fancy Free was born, nearly ten years after Disney's first film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Jiminy Cricket actually does the intro (as well as the intersequence later on). His presence, along with what looks like Cleo and Figaro, is somewhat settling. The beginning is very reminiscent of Pinocchio in style, too, though it's nothing special.

First up is a self-proclaimed different "Three Bears" story, concerning a circus bear named Bongo who is desperate for freedom. He escapes, runs off to the forest, and after a rocky start learning how to be a forest bear, he meets a female and falls in love. (If you want a mental image of this premise so far, just take Dumbo and Bambi and mash them together-- which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) This half is narrated by Dinah Shore, whose voice is warmingly soothing both in speech and song. Of course, one of Disney's greatest talents is creating love stories. In this case, Shore's voice could not be more appropriate.

Afterwards, there's an initially odd intersequence... with puppets. Yeah. Puppets. I felt like I tripped into Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for a moment. But then, the puppeteer and his puppets begin to tell a story. And I have to say, these puppets are wildly funny narrators. However, their comedy seems drier than most Disney movies, which I suppose a small child wouldn't latch onto. But I, being a teenager, found them hilarious.

This story that they tell is Disney's adaptation of "Jack and the Beanstalk", starring Disney's most universal characters: Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Of course, this reveals another one of the studio's greatest talents: retelling classic stories with a creative spin. Nowhere in this ~30 minutes can you take your eyes away from these three, as well as the menacing dunce of giant.

To make it short, Fun and Fancy Free strikes the same note as Make Mine Music. Oh, and it includes convincing and enthralling live action segments, FINALLY. On with the ratings, already!

Under the Sea (Darling, It's Better...)