"Little Bear Bongo" is a children's story written by

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American writer and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States (and the first from the Americas) to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was ...

, first published in the September 1930 issue of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' magazine, with illustrations by Josep Segrelles (under the name José Segrelles).

Synopsis

Bongo, a young

Kamchatka brown bear The Kamchatka brown bear (''Ursus arctos beringianus''), also known as the "Far Eastern brown bear", or in russian: Камчатский бурый медведь, Kamchatsky bury medved, is a subspecies of brown bear. Description The Kamch ...

trained to do acrobatics and other tricks mimicking humans, is content with his life as the star and main breadwinner of a circus teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. When the

circus train A circus train is a method of conveyance for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the Ba ...

attempts a journey through the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, an accident jars Bongo's cage loose. Terrified by the noises, he flees into the wilderness and eventually into a clearing inhabited by many wild black bears. For the next year, Bongo attempts to befriend the wild bears, who find his civilized behavior annoying and continuously shun him. After he learns to hunt wild animals and defend himself, he is still too peaceful for wild bear approval, and his attempts to mate with the she-bear Silver Ear lead him to fail dismally in competing for her affection with a surly, violent he-bear named Lump Jaw. After his first hibernation, Bongo discovers that Silver Ear had Lump Jaw's cubs, and she viciously drives him away. A brokenhearted Bongo leaves the clearing and travels west, where he comes across the town of Conquistadore. It is hosting another circus, which immediately attracts Bongo. Heedless of the citizens' panic, he rushes into the big top and prostrates himself before the ringmaster. Recognizing an already-trained bear, the circus accepts him once again into a lap of luxury, with its other bear – a similarly civilized and pacifistic female – as his mate.

Adaptations

The story was acquired by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

in 1940 for a possible feature film.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

sidetracked those plans until 1947. Disney adapted the story as part of its feature ''

Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy package film produced by Walt Disney and released on September 27, 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the ninth Disney animated feature film and the fourth of the package films th ...

'' and is narrated by

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

. Major differences include having Bongo purposefully escape his confines due to his mistreatment in the circus and desire to feel free. The character of Silver Ear and the civilized female bear at the end are combined into a new character named "Lulubelle" who immediately falls for Bongo and rejects the bullying Lumpjaw. The ending makes Bongo more heroic by defeating Lumpjaw and living his life in the woods with Lulubelle.

References

External links

''Cosmopolitan'' Volume 89, Issue 3, September 1930
on

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

*
"Nobody Ever Talks About 'Bongo'"

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955, in New York City) is an American animation historian, author, blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including '' The 50 Greates ...

, Cartoon Research (blog), April 29, 2013
Bongo Bear
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on March 6, 2015. Short stories set in circuses 1930 short stories Fables Books about bears Works originally published in Cosmopolitan (magazine) Short stories by Sinclair Lewis Short stories adapted into films {{1930s-child-story-stub