The Bad:This film is divided up into two animated segments, with live-action intermission, so it doesn't feel like a full-length feature. The first animated piece, staring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk. The second, an original story about a dancing bear, Bongo, that discovers the wilds of nature. The live animation pieces are down right awful. It is a birthday 'party' consisting of two children and an adult who is a ventriloquist. First, ventriloquism is not an act that translates well to a TV medium. Especially when you can see the human's mouth move. Second, these live-action scenes feel heavy-handed, not natural and certainly not funny or enjoyable. If you bought this video, you'd probably end up fast forwarding past these parts every viewing to get to the animation. Which brings me to the animated parts. The first one is decent (I'll get to that in a minute), but the second one, centering around Bongo is especially cringe- worthy. Over the course of the short, Bongo discovers a female bear, falls in love, and learns that the best way to show love to someone is to slap them. Wow. What a lesson. There's even a whole song dedicated to showing someone you love them "with a slap". Can I just take a moment to wonder what the script writer was thinking here? The Good:The saving grace of this film is the first animated segment. Mickey and pals go on a semi-epic quest, and it's honestly fun and humorous, and enjoyable. If I were rating just this part of this video, I'd give it a solid 7 or 8 stars.The Mom View:Two-thirds of this movie is not worth watching, but I really like the Mickey and the Beanstalk part. That makes this a tough one for me. For just that one animated segment, I'd say this is appropriate for pre-schoolers and up and that it's certainly a recommended show. However, since that cartoon comes attached to the rest, I can't recommend anything more than a rental (or perhaps YouTube). That's what I'm planning with my kids – try to stream it somewhere and skip everything that's not Mickey and the Beanstalk.

Yet another Disney film that tried to hold them aloft after the war years. A short film collection, like all the rest, though this time we only get a two segments and a framing story featuring Jiminy Cricket.Of these two segment, Bongo, the first one, is pure boredom. It's nothing but this circus bear escaping his confinement and gallivanting around in the forest. And you already know how it goes. At first he's thrilled, then the actual, you know, nature rears its ugly head, he meets other animals, gets into trouble, rinse and repeat ad nauseam. Granted, the animation is pretty good, some of physical stunts are pretty humorous and the music could be worse, but it's simply so uninteresting. Nothing of value happens, the main character barely has a personality and... boring! Mickey and the Beanstalk, on the other hand, is a born classic. This is an incredible segment, featuring Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck as medieval farmers living in an enchanted valley, ruled by a magic harp (it's not as weird as you think), who unfortunately has now gone missing and thus everyone hungers. And you know the story. Mickey goes to sell their cow, buys some "magic" beans, and the rest is story telling history. It's action-packed, the three make for a hilarious comedic trio, the animation is impressive, the story thrilling and it's just a great deal of fun.I also have to mention that the framing story is beyond creepy, especially the ending. Jiminy Cricket is fine, he's one of Disney's finest as always, but they decided to hire a famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen to play himself in the framing story, and his puppets are simply put pure horror. Who decided this was appropriate for little kids? So yeah, Mickey and the Beanstalk is a really good segment, but it has since been re-released on its own so many times that there's really no reason to see its actual origins film. Watch this if you want to say you've seen them all.

Fun And Fancy Free contains two animated featurettes linked by live action of Edgar Bergen entertaining young Luana Patten with his ventriloquism.Going into the 1940s, Disney found that the demand for animated features far exceeded the studio's ability to produce them. The lead time for a full-length feature was much greater than that for a shorter film, so it was possible to put together a feature-length movie comprising several shorter pieces much more quickly than a single coherent story, hence the arrival of a number of films which were made up of two or more different elements.FAFF contains two animated sections, both of which are enjoyable without being exceptional, and an adequate linking section. That is why this is not one of the Disney films which is well remembered.

This package film from the Disney studio is simple but just irresistible as it features two colorful and cute cartoons interwoven with Edger Bergen and his famous dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.The first segment is "Bongo" based on a short story by Sinclair Lewis. With the exception of narrator Dinah Shore, the whole thing is dialog free and although it moves along at a leisurely pace, it is good enough for the kids but adults will most certainly squirm.The next segment is "Mickey and the Beanstalk" which has Bergan doing the narration of the classic fairy tale starring Mickey, Donald and Goofy as they face Willie the Giant (voiced amusingly by Billy Gilbert). Although the cartoon is cute and amusing, Bergen and his dummies along with the adorable Luana Patten provide the bulk of the laughs. I can't help but compare the approach in this segment to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" because of the good-natured riffing done by Charlie and Mortimer. It makes you wish that Walt Disney had used this formula for other films like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Cinderella." It goes without saying that Charlie's riffing on Bergen's storytelling is a particular highlight.I say see this film. It'll warm your heart and keep you amused. Plus, it doesn't have the blatant pop culture jokes you get in contemporary animated films.