I'm No Fool Having Fun

Cliff Edwards shows up in the form of Jiminy Cricket to urge the audience to be safe, sensible, and obey all the rules established for your own protection.

Sounds rather dull, and I gnash my teeth while listening to the instructions, but that's just human cussedness causing that. Disney was cutting down on cartoon shorts. In fact, production was minimal, although he kept his staff busy with feature-length cartoons and fillers for the TV show.

One of a series(I gather) of safety films done by Disney. This has Jiminy Cricket explaining how to not be reckless when relaxing. Some is sung, and all is animated with examples of where to be(and where most definitely not to), what to do and the like, and how to be smart about it all. I personally didn't find anything in this particularly funny, but I could see children disagreeing with my opinion on that. The medium and nature of cartoons are toyed with some, with nice results(and not *too* terribly much repetition... for something of a length of 8 minutes...). This is featured on the recently released DVD of Pinocchio(for fairly obvious reasons), I could imagine that it's by now difficult to come by apart from that. Parents may want to look into this, and it does do fine on pointing out dangers, without being overly graphic or intimidating. I'm not a fan of the method of mocking kids to get them to not do what they otherwise might(while I do fully realize and acknowledge that just plain telling or asking is not going to do the trick in an overwhelming percentage of cases), but hey, to each their own. I recommend this to parents(to show to their offspring, that is... at least, one would hope so) who in general approve of Disney. 7/10

A Walt Disney I'M NO FOOL Cartoon.

I'M NO FOOL HAVING FUN when I keep my body relaxed, but my mind on alert.

This is one of a short series of little television films in which Disney helped to inform viewers about basic safety concerns and the foolish ways in which lackadaisical folks can hurt themselves. The story of man's need for recreation & relaxation is discussed, and several important safety tips are reviewed. Jiminy Cricket, as voiced by the inimitable Cliff Edwards, is the perfect pedagogue.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a blizzard of doomsayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that simplicity of message and lots of hard work will always pay off.