Independent Films, Film Profiles

Fun and Fancy Free

Fun and Fancy Free (first released on September 27, 1947) is a feature film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was one of the "package films" (feature-length compilations of shorter segments) that the studio produced in the 1940s. It is the ninth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, and it's the 4th package film by Disney following Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and Make Mine Music. As with the two segments in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the featurettes were originally planned to be made as full-length features, but because of the studio's circumstances at the time, they ended up becoming a part of the package films instead.This film features two stories:Jiminy Cricket of Pinocchio first appears inside a large house, exploring it and singing "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow" (originally written for the 1940 classic), until he happens upon a record player and some records, and sets it up to play the story of "Bongo", as told by Dinah Shore.In the second featurette, the story of "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is narrated by Edgar Bergen in live-action sequences, who, with the help of his ventriloquist's puppets Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, tells the tale to child actress Luana Patten at her birthday party.Mickey, Donald and Goofy live in a place called "Happy Valley" which is plagued by a severe drought, and they have nothing to eat except one loaf of bread; in a memorable scene the bread is cut into paper-thin slices. After Donald attempts to kill their cow with an axe, Mickey trades in their beloved animal for magic beans. Donald throws the beans in a fit of rage, and they fall through a hole in the floor. That night, the beanstalk sprouts and it carries their house upward as it grows. Climbing the gigantic beanstalk they enter a magical kingdom of equal scope, and entering the castle, Mickey, Donald and Goofy help themselves to a sumptuous feast. This rouses the ire of the giant named "Willie", who captures Donald and Goofy and locks them in a box. It's up to Mickey to find the keys and rescue them, with the help of a singing golden harp. The harp, in happier times, played a song that kept the land prosperous and fertile – until the giant stole her. Once freed, the hapless heroes return the golden harp to her rightful place and Happy Valley to its former glory.