Bongo

Bongo is an animated short of the segment of Fun and Fancy Free narrated by Dinah Shore. The short was released on its own as a featurette by Buena Vista Distribution on January 15, 1971.
==Synopsis==
Bongo is a circus bear who dreams of living in the wild. He gets his wish ... but then learns that he has to prove himself.
==Plot==
This is the story of a bear cub who lived in a circus named "Bongo". He was the star of the circus and as a circus performer, he could juggle great, walk on a tightrope, prove he is stronger than a bull at the county fair, lift heavy weights, and defeat tough champions. In the circus, Bongo performed many dangerous circus acts throughout performance but he never feels comfortable across traveling around the world via circus train. In fact, Bongo dreamed of living in the woods to find someone to fall in love with. Bongo continued his duty as a circus performer, but while on the train, all he could do is hear the voices in his mind calling him to follow his destiny. Exhausted and humiliated, Bongo manages to escape the circus and end up in the woods.
Having escaped the circus, Bongo was free with no one to make him participate during circus performances. Bongo tries to get used to his new life in the woods and encounters what he sees in the woods, but has a hard time climbing trees. Instead of climbing, Bongo decides to relax in the countryside around him. Bongo finds himself happy around the forest with no one to make him perform in the circus and until one night, Bongo has a hard time sleeping with all the noises he discovers in the forest alongside various obstacles he encounters until the noise becomes quiet.
The next day, Bongo has a hard time adapting to the forest and couldn't find any food. He attempts to catch a fish nearby, but has no luck in finding food. Bongo, however, encounters a female bear named "Lulubelle" in the forest as he follows her across the woods just as he falls in love with her. As Bongo and Lulubelle fall in love, numerous bears arrive towards the couple. However, one massive bear came and is the most feared by all the other bears. That bear was called "Lumpjaw" who was very unfriendly to all the bears of the forest. Lulubelle, Bongo's love interest, stops him from replacing Bongo, accidentally slapping Lumpjaw causing him to fall in love with her much to Bongo's sadness when he could not find someone else to fall in love with. Bongo, however, hears the bears showing their interests of love through slaps. Just as Bongo arrives, he confronts Lumpjaw for attempting to replace him as Lulubelle's love interest. Bongo gives Lulubelle the flowers, but Lumpjaw tries to stop him in order to woo Lulubelle and replace Bongo. Following a chase across the forest, Bongo and Lumpjaw end up at a cliff, causing the two to fall into a river. Bongo tries to escape a waterfall after falling off a log to which Bongo finds himself stuck on a branch just as Bongo manages to escape the waterfall to reunite with Lulubelle once again. With Lumpjaw defeated, Bongo finally finds the love interest he dreams of.
==Voice Cast==
*Dinah Shore - Narrator
*Jimmy MacDonald - Vocal Effects
==Gallery==
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1971-bongo-1.jpg|1971 reissue title card
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Bongo 1947 coyote.jpeg|The coyote in the film
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Circustraininbongo.png|The Circus Train
Disney 1973 program japan.jpg|Promo for the Japanese release in 1973, paired with a reissue of Alice In Wonderland and the Mickey Mouse cartoon Hawaiian Holiday
Alice 50 years promo jpn.jpg|A second Japanese promo from 1973
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==Trivia==
*When Fun and Fancy Free had further releases, this featurette version faded from existence, apparently because of the distributors of the Disney Studio felt that the featurette version of Mickey and the Beanstalk would be the appropriate segment to market for children, while Bongo would be considered an interest for the older crowd.
**However, the featurette version of this segment can be found on the "Mini Classics" collection VHS from 1989 and 1993, which are the only traces of its existence.
*In the 1948 Golden Storybook version of this segment, the mature concepts are reduced to make it appropriate for the younger readers, as instead of Bongo and Lulubelle are in love, they are explicitly implied as friends.
==Characters==
*Bongo
*Lulubelle
*Lumpjaw
ar:بونجو
es:Bongo (segmento)
Category:Animated shorts
Category:Fun and Fancy Free
Category:1947 shorts
Category:Fun and Fancy Free segments
Category:Featured shorts