September 27 - Fun and Fancy Free

On this day, in 1947, Walt Disney Pictures ninth animated feature, Fun and Fancy Free, debuted in theaters. Fun was the fourth of the so called package features Disney cobbled together during and after World War II in order to cut down on costs.

The film consists of two animated sections, both of which had originally been in development as feature length projects, joined by a live action segment, all hosted by Jiminy Cricket. The first animated part is called Bongo and is based on the short story "Little Bear Bongo" by Sinclair Lewis, best known for his novel Elmer Gantry. Since it takes place in a circus, Bongo was planned as a quasi-sequel to Dumbo, with some of the minor characters showing up in both to bridge the story. That plan, like so many plans at the onset of the war, fell through. Bongo's story was trimmed down, cutting out any references to Dumbo, and, to make it appeal to a wider audience, Dinah Shore was brought on board to narrate the story. The plot of Bongo centers around a circus bear that manages to escape, finds a girl bear in the forest and sets about winning her heart. You know, basic boy meets girl stuff, just with more fur.

The second animated section is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. The idea for the beanstalk segment was first pitched to Walt in 1940. He loved the pitch but declined to make the movie as it would, in his words, "murder his characters." The animators persisted with the idea and eventually Walt gave in, green lighting a project named The Legend of Happy Valley. More than 50 minutes of Valley had already been produced when the combination of the war and an animators strike derailed the film.

When the era of package films came along, Walt planned on pairing Beanstalk with Wind in the Willows for a film called Two Fabulous Characters. Eventually, Willows would be paired with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and Beanstalk would become part of Fun and Fancy Free. The most important aspect of Beanstalk is probably that it's the first time Mickey's second official voice, special effects wizard Jimmy MacDonald, would be heard (Walt had already recorded a good chunk of the dialog so technically Mickey duties were shared this time around). Again, to get more butts in the seats, Edgar Bergen was hired to narrate this section. Edgar was also tapped to do the live action segment between Bongo and Beanstalk.

The reception of Fun and Fancy Free was decidedly mixed. The film did reap a box office of over three million dollars, but the critics weren't particularly kind. Most praised the technical aspects of the animation and declared the stories to be lackluster at best. Still, Fun provided the revenue for the studio to get back on its feet after the war and get to work on new masterpieces like Cinderella. My personal opinion: Fun is mildly entertaining but not destined to become a favorite.