Fun and Fancy Free

Release Date: September 27, 1947

Since 1928, Walt Disney had provided the voice for Mickey Mouse. But by 1946, Walt had grown very busy running the studio, and he realized he did not have the time to keep voicing the beloved character he brought to life. One day Walt asked Jim Macdonald to do a test recording of Mickey's voice. Jim already worked in the sound effects department and Walt knew he could expertly recreate all kinds of sounds and voices. Honored by Walt's request, Jim provided the recording. Walt gave it his stamp of approval, and with one exception, Walt never voiced Mickey Mouse again.

The big debut for Jim Macdonald as the new voice for Mickey Mouse was in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" short in the movie Fun and Fancy Free. This movie continues the trend at the time for the Walt Disney Company to release a collection of shorts as a full-length movie. This particular movie features two shorts: "Bongo," and the previously mentioned "Mickey and the Beanstalk."

Fun and Fancy Free opens with Jiminy Cricket singing a song about his own fun and fancy free attitude. He introduces us to the first story, told by Dinah Shore. You may recall she previously provided her voice for a segment of Make Mine Music. In this movie, she tells the story of Bongo, an abused circus bear who escapes the circus train and learns to live in the wild. At first the going is rough, until he meets Lulubelle and they instantly fall in love. However, Bongo has competition with a brute of a bear, and it's only by using circus tricks that he is able to overcome his rival.

After the story ends, Jiminy Cricket spies an invitation to a party at the house across the street. He shows up to the party, where he finds Edgar Bergen, with his dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, entertaining a young Luana Patten at a birthday party. Edgar Bergen tells the story of "Mickey and the Beanstalk," with Charlie and Mortimer interrupting the story with their comments.

Interestingly, the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" short has been re-done a couple other times with the narration performed by other people. The two most popular alternate editions have Sterling Holloway and Ludwig von Drake narrating the story. I'm not sure why Edgar Bergen was replaced. Walt clearly enjoyed him because he was invited back to the studio for other projects.

The different narrations of this short cartoon speak to how much it has been loved and enjoyed throughout the years. "Bongo" has not enjoyed the same popularity, and has been forgotten for the most part. "Mickey and the Beanstalk," on the other hand, has been re-released multiple times on television shows, video cassettes of Mickey Mouse cartoons, and even as a bonus feature on some DVD releases. These re-issues are responsible for my familiarity with the short.

That being said, I highly recommend watching Fun and Fancy Free to see how the short was originally intended to be seen. Not only that, it is fun to experience some of the talent of that era in both cartoon shorts. I think Edgar Bergen's act with Charlie and Mortimer (and young Luana) enhance the story in a way that is never quite duplicated with any alternate version.