Rating: 
Summary: Fun and Fancy Free Gold Collection DVD
Review: "Fun and Fancy Free", is a very good movie. However, the problem with this package feature is that it's first story, "Bongo", seems to outstays it's welcome. The story is well written, but it just seems to last forever sometimes. "Bongo" was actually going to be one of Disney's full length features by it's self (and possibly a follow-up to "Dumbo"), uh, Im glad it wasn't."Mickey & The Beanstalk" is really what makes this movie really great. The animation is really terrific, Donald provides his outrageous humor, as always, and the narration has some laughs in it to. Also, the fact that Walt Disney is voicing Mickey, is an added bonus. The short featurette on the DVD, "The Story Behind Fun And Fancy Free", is very brief, but provides great insight.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Fancy Free Gold Collection DVD
Review: "Fun and Fancy Free", is a very good movie. However, the problem with this package feature is that it's first story, "Bongo", seems to outstays it's welcome. The story is well written, but it just seems to last forever sometimes. "Bongo" was actually going to be one of Disney's full length features by it's self (and possibly a follow-up to "Dumbo"), uh, Im glad it wasn't. "Mickey & The Beanstalk" is really what makes this movie really great. The animation is really terrific, Donald provides his outrageous humor, as always, and the narration has some laughs in it to. Also, the fact that Walt Disney is voicing Mickey, is an added bonus. The short featurette on the DVD, "The Story Behind Fun And Fancy Free", is very brief, but provides great insight.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Disney's most under-rated classics.
Review: Actually, unknown might be a better word to use. This movie is rollicking fun from beginning to end, and features some wonderful animated moments. This is the original home of the featurettes "Mickey and the Beanstalk" and "Bongo", which are presented in their entirety. If you're looking for something a little different... an alternative to the animated Broadway musical... this is it. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good but not Great.
Review: Fun and Fancy Free is a pairing of two short animations, a forgettable one about a circus bear called Bongo and the much better 'Mickey and the Beanstalk'. Now, having said that Bongo is forgettable I should say that he has proved a great hit with my two young (3 and 4 year old) daughters. Whilst Bongo is something of a throwback to pre-war animation style, 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' is bang up to date (for the time) despite being very much a folk tale. The scene where Mickey and co are so poor they ration out their bread by cutting it into slices so thin they're transparent particularly engauged the attention of my older kid, who immediately wanted me to do it! Both animations have evidentally been cleaned up and are pretty much flawless, both visually and aurally. There is none of the scratchiness associated with originals of this era. Colours are both vibrant and consistent and the sound quality particularly good and full of body. Disney animation releases on DVD have been improving (painfully slowly) and this one includes a (very) few welcome extras. The most important extra (for me) is the documentary on the making of F&FF. The kids though prefer the read-along stories that are also included. The Disney archives are massive (I've seen them), one day perhaps they'll see fit to include more related material (stills, deleted scenes, background character info., etc.) on the DVDs. There's certainly plenty of room and since so many of Disneys customers (aka cast) are aficionados, it would do sales no harm at all. There are still a couple of features I'm not keen on though. Why do Disney releases start with an FBI warning? None of my other DVDs do. Also, why has the ability to skip past the adverts at the beginning been disabled and the adverts not just been placed as a menu option? People will look at them there occasionally but don't need them in their face every time. The DVD has been bought and paid for, so it's not like the adverts are subsidising the price or anything. Still, over all this is a resonably good package and well worth buying for either Disney fans or young children.
Rating: 
Summary: forced to watch commercials
Review: i'm with vince o'sullivan. disney FORCES you to watch their stinking commercials BEFORE you can watch your movie because they're a bunch greedy suits.
Rating:
Summary: Might not be the version you remember...
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: One of Disneys most whimsical films.
Review: In this film Disney dishes out two more stories that are very charming. In feature one you meet lovesick Bongo the Bear, and in the second feature Mickey fills Jack's shoes and climbs the beanstalk with Donald and Goofy behind him. The animation is good, and the music is great. A definate must see. I reccomend this film.
Rating:
Summary: One of Disneys most whimsical films.
Review: In this film Disney dishes out two more stories that are very charming. In feature one you meet lovesick Bongo the Bear, and in the second feature Mickey fills Jack's shoes and climbs the beanstalk with Donald and Goofy behind him. The animation is good, and the music is great. A definate must see. I reccomend this film.
Rating:
Summary: The Fancy may be Free, but it's not all Fun
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Fancy may be Free, but it's not all Fun
Review: 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.
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