In the Bag

This was the last cartoon produced by Disney's shorts unit before it closed down (although afterwards, the studio's feature animators would make one or two shorts a year, when they had the time, at least until Walt Disney's death). It's fitting that it was made by the studio's greatest director, Jack Hannah. By Hannah's standards it's good but not outstanding - which means that by other standards it IS outstanding. It's only the second cartoon to star Humphrey B. Bear (incidentally, that name was later adopted by an insipid man-in-a-bear-suit fixture of Australian children's television, which is an insult - I don't know why Disney let them get away with it), a character Hannah introduced as a supporting player in the 1953 Donald Duck cartoon, "Rugged Bear". (Of the six cartoons in which Humphrey appears the first of them is the only one I haven't seen. It was nominated for an Oscar, not that that means anything.) Humphrey is an inspired character. Like all of Hannah's creations he has adult human intelligence, give or take, but is beast, not man, at heart. He is the greatest of all animated bears.

These days "In the Bag" is mainly used as a way of letting children know that they should tidy up after themselves, but put its dubious propaganda value to one side: it's a first-class, charmingly dotty, very funny piece of animation.

In this cartoon short, Humphrey the Bear gets to join his fellow bears to clean the park up of the trash that tourists have left behind. Ranger Woodlore enlists the bears to clean up by turning the task into a game and dance and awards those who have completed the clean-up with food. So, Humphrey gets into a mad dash to try to get rid of all the trash and get his deserved share of the food prize.

It's an interesting cartoon short with lots of unique singing and dancing, with colorful animation and jazzy-sounded music. It's a nice one from my childhood that I remember fondly of.

Grade B

I saw this when I was about 3 years old. This was the only way my mother could get me to pick up my toys. We'd do the whole song and dance every couple of hours. So very cool that they can use cartoons to send positive messages, like "Be neat and clean up after yourself." If you can, find a copy for yourself.

This is my absolute favorite Disney Character. In The Bag is one of a few Humphrey cartoons that I loved as a kid. Humphrey and friends,are hilarious!! The bear characters' expressive faces are incredibly funny. The idiotic look on the bears' faces when they come to the realization they've been duped by the ranger...Just priceless. This cartoon is really the first Road Runner/Wylie Cayote scenario. Humphrey is always after food (remember the honey and fish in the Donald Duck/Humphrey cartoon?), and is always starving. But Humphrey, ever on the verge of a feast, never gets to eat. Poor bear... I saw all of his cartoons as a kid and watched them again with my girls when they were little. They still sing the song... first you pick it up put it in the bag; bump, bump.

One of the best Humphrey Bear shorts along with Rugged Bear and it makes me sad how under-appreciated Humphrey is. If you love cute and funny characters, Humphrey is both to a tee, and the way he's treated makes you feel sympathy for him as well. In the Bag perfectly and naturally shows Humphrey's cute and funny traits and you also feel sympathetic towards him as well. The other bears deserve a mention too, their expressions and how they act are worth laughs of their own and they are done really expressively in the animation. Ranger Woodlore is a good foil and is very well and distinctively voiced by Bill Thompson but the bears steal the show here. Speaking of the animation, it was wonderful and very crisp and colourful throughout. There is much detail to be seen and the colours are quite rich here too. The music is very characterful and always matches the action very well, the orchestration lush without being syrupy. In the Bag is a hilarious short too which makes one forget the slightly formulaic story, the gags do revolve around one thing- Humphrey trying and struggling to clean up the park- but never are they repetitive and they do have variety. Thanks to Humphrey and the clever timing they are hilarious and is one of the more consistent Humphrey Bear shorts in this respect. There is a great amount of charm and warmth here as well. All in all, a winner in every way. 10/10 Bethany Cox