Fun and Fancy Free

This DVD does not bring many bonuses, like all the other Gold Collection titles, so for a package and no really celebrated title like this one, I suppose it is pretty decent. Just a little trivia game, an interactive storybook and a song is all that's included.


Mickey's Second Time On The Big Screen   January 23, 2004
Disney Reviewer (Disneyland)
The Disney Studios didn't have much money at the time of this release, so Disney made two short films, "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk," and packaged them together with in between animation featuring Jiminy Cricket, Figaro, and Cleo from "Pinocchio." This formula works if your a fan of the old Mickey Mouse cartoons. If you aren't, I don't recomend that you buy this film. The picture and sound isn't much better than the home video release.


The Fancy may be Free, but it's not all Fun   December 14, 2003
Bruce Gray (Shenandoah Valley, VA, USA)
In this, the ninth feature animation film of Disney's Canon classics, we are treated again to two featurettes - "Bongo" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk".

"Bongo", with narration by Doris Day (a rather unusual choice for this story) is the story of a circus bear who dreams of life in the wild. But when he finally gets his wish, he finds he is unprepared for that life. The story of how he adapts to his new situation is priceless. This is a story that, even though made in 1947 has relevance today.

The version of "Bongo" that I remember best is the one from "The Wonderful World of Disney", which, if I can remember that far back, did not have Doris Day doing the narrating chores, and was a much better cartoon for it.

The other featurette, "Mickey and the Beanstalk", marks the final time that Walt Disney himself will create the voice of Mickey Mouse. The story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" retold in a Disney format, it stars Mickey, Donald, Goofy, the Magic Harp (with a wonderful singing voice!) and a wily magical giant named Willy. This is absolutely worth the price of admission. The DVD makes this Disney version of a timeless story watchable over and over again.

"Beanstalk" is also narrated, this time by Edgar Bergan and his cast of marionettes. This exact reproduction of the theatrical release is fun, but not as much fun as it would have been had it included the narrator I remember from showings of the featurette on "The Wonderful World of Disney".

Still a great addition to a collection of Disney classics.


Might not be the version you remember...   June 26, 2003
If like a lot of people you first saw "Mickey & the Beanstalk" not in theaters but on television (usually preceding a feature, like "Dumbo") you are in for a bit of a surprise.

This DVD contains the theatrical version, where the animation is interspersed with live-action footage of people at a party, who are "telling" the story. This also means the wonderfully soothing TV-version narration (provided by Sterling Halloway, also voice of Pooh) is gone. The end result is that the cartoon drags on unnecessarily as the action is constantly interrupted by the live-action segments. Additionally, the live actors tend to get a bit chatty with their narration, and some of the humor they try to inject hasn't aged well. With the capacity of the DVD medium, why couldn't the TV version be tacked on as an extra?

Still worth owning (the beautiful animation and music can't be derailed even by the mediocre live action footage)--but be warned.