In the Bag

Release Date July 27, 1956

Timing 7:34

Synopsis

After the summer visitors have finally left, Ranger Woodlore sets upon a plan to get the bears to help him clean up the park. He gets them cleaning and dancing to a snappy worksong, but once the bears realize that it's a trick, he is forced to find another strategy.

Characters

Humphrey the Bear

Ranger Audubon J. Woodlore

Credits

Director : Jack Hannah

Animation

John Sibley

Bob Carlson

Al Coe

George Kreisl

Effects Animation : Dan MacManus

Story

Dave Detiege

Al Bertino

Layout : Yale Gracey

Background : Ray Huffine

Music : George Bruns

Bloopers

In one scene, Humphrey is seen sweeping the trash under a small bush. The denizen of the bush is then seen pushing the trash back out to Humphrey. However, the whole line of trash moves together, even the part which is past and should have been left behind. This only happens in the "full screen" version and not the Cinemascope version.

Cut Scenes

The scene featuring Smokey the Bear was snipped out at one time but has since been reinstated.

Videos

United States

Winnie the Pooh and Friends

Germany

Donald and Company

France

Donald et Compagnie

Laserdiscs

United States

Winnie the Pooh and Friends

Japan

Donald and Company

DVD

United States

Disney Treasures : Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts, 1920s - 1960s

Television

Walt Disney Presents : "The Ranger of Brownstone"

The Ink and Paint Club : #9 : "Woodlore and Humphrey"

Mickey's Mouse Tracks : Episode #38

Donald's Quack Attack : Episode #60

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Technicolor

Animation type : Standard animation

Sound mix : Mono

Aspect ration : 2.35 : 1 - Cinemascope

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by Buena Vista Pictures, Inc.

Comments

In fairness to Humphrey, I only have one small quibble with this short, At the beginning, each bear is given a small section of the park to clean up; what looks to be no bigger than about six square feet. By the end of it, however, it seems that poor Humphrey's section has expanded to include almost all of the park!

From Daniel Javerstone : Did anyone besides me notice that the geyser said "Old Fateful" on it?

From Patty : I have been singing the song to this cartoon since I was 10! My bowling buds and I sing it when we get a strike!

From Lisa : This has always been a family favorite, my younger sister and her best friend used to imitate the bears and sing the "Put it in the Bag" song, we have since lost her friend to Huntington's Disease and this when we see this short it always reminds us of our Jenny.

From Lee Suggs : As we know the last of the original Humphrey and Ranger Woodlore shorts. This short is interesting because it shows how Disney was already interested in issues like pollution in 1956; at least six years before the book "Silent Spring" and the birth of the modern environmental movement. Humphrey and the other bears have to clean up Brownstone Park if they want to eat. (Of course, its implied that the park patrons shouldn't have left such a mess.) Humphrey tries to cheat, of course, and ends up with nothing in the end. I agree with those who think Humphrey could have been a Classic Disney Shorts Star, if he didn't come along when the classic shorts were being phased out. I guess this was in fact the last theatrical short released by Disney for at least twenty five years. We know that the company did release other shorts after this, but for purposes other than just playing before a main feature. (An example would be "It's Tough to be a Bird" which was educational. It did, however, win an Academy Award.) Maybe Humphrey could be the mascot for the new Disney's California Adventure Park. He's a grizzly, he was extinct; just like the California Grizzly, the Golden State's official mascot.

From Calvin Daprice : I first saw this cartoon on a video when I was about 11 years old. I thought it was just hilarious. The funniest part about it was the fact that the ranger wanted the park to be cleaned so he tricked the bears into cleaning up because he was too lazy to do it himself. Later the bears realize that he's the only one who isn't helping and they get pretty upset and dump him in the trash can. (possibly considering him garbage.)

From Matt Vogel : Humphrey Bear is mine, my wife's, and one of my best friend's all time favorite Disney character. The song for this short stuck in our minds permanently. All of the Humphrey Bear shorts with Ranger Audubon and Donald Duck are hilarious. I just wish that the Humphrey Bear collection would be all put on one video. Funny thing, I think the only lines Humphrey ever had was his silly laugh ..."heheh"

From Jerry Edwards : I love this short, but - even as an adult - it always bothers me about how badly Humphrey is treated. The ranger should not have allowed the other bears to just pile their trash in his square. I just hated the unfairness of that. My youngest son just loved the "Put it in the bag, bump, bump" song and would often ask to see the short by singing the song.

From Emily : This has always been one of my favorites. My sister and I would rewind the "put it in the bag" song and watch it over and over again.

From Jill : My sister and I also LOVED this short as kids (we're both in our mid-20s now) -- we loved listening to the song and dancing like the bears did (smacking our butts/hips together in time to the music.) This is my all-time favorite Disney short. They just don't make them like this anymore...

From Craig McFly : This ties as my all time favorite Disney clip. "In the Bag" and Donald's "Bee on Guard" were the two shorts that I would watch religiously. As many others, the key song has been stuck in my head too since I was about 7. To this day I think there's something magical about it's timing, or melody, or maybe just the short. I don't think I'll ever get that song out of my head, and I don't want to. I'm glad to see that others feel the same connection, for the past 10 or 12 years I've been asking virtually every new friend I make whether they remember it or not, and all I've gotten was a few vague 'maybes.'

From Jenny : This short has always been in the back of my mind since first seeing it (I am now in my late twenties), only recently to have re-emerged on a grocery shopping trip while i was putting food "in the bag bomp bomp". My boyfriend laughed hilariously, if only at my silly rear-end bomp-bomping, as he has never seen the short. It has quickly become a regular song around the house, but i couldn't remember all the words and only had a fuzzy remembrance of the origination of the song, with the bears cleaning up trash at a ranger's insistence. I took a chance and searched Disney shorts and found this site. THANK YOU for this wonderful index, for helping me find the title to this short (thereby negating my supposed lunacy), and for posting the words to the song!! Now the dance routine is intact, as is this short's place in my own personal Disney history.

From Wendy Heritage : Truly entertaining material with a wonderful message for the environment. I was wondering, however, what the title of the "Put it in the Bag" song was and who wrote it? Yes, cartoons such as this one are truly missed.

From Carson Chism : I agree with Matt Vogel. They should put all of Humphrey's shorts on one video. I watched him in he mid 50's on Disneyland. I'm 55 and my daughter, who's now 26 was raised singing "In the Bag" on camping trips. Humphrey, you are the best!

From Brett Wolverton : My co-workers and I at Bob Evans in Saginaw, Mi have spent the last five days trying to remember Humphrey the Bear's name. We all knew this short, and were even singing the song while cleaning up, but couldn't remember the bear's name to save our lives. It was driving us crazy. A trip to the search engine online sent me here and the question was answered. Now I know and the crew and I can sleep easily.

From Scott : First of all, I think it's absolutely riotous that a Yahoo! search of "put it in the bag bomp bomp" results in ANY hits, let alone a description of the actual thing I was looking for. THANK YOU!

I, too, have the "In the Bag" song permanently etched into my brain and mentally sing it any time I put anything in any bag.

Bravo, Humphrey! Bravo!!

From Tarylyn : Growing up this was my all-time favorite cartoon. I too, still have this song etched in my brain. My sister and I used to bomp bottoms like the bears!

From John Treiber : This is one of my favorite cartoons of all time, among Disney, Warner Brothers, etc. I remember one time in the late 1980s watching it with a college buddy, laughing hysterically. We later had a delightful time deconstructing it -- I'll let you use your imagination as to what we came up with. Like the others who've left messages, the "Put it in the Bag" song keeps rolling around in my head to this day. Anyway, a classic!

From Jen : "In the Bag" was the first Humphrey short I ever saw, and for a while I thought it was the only one. I was thrilled when I saw the one with the bees (don't recall the name) and Donald Duck on House of Mouse the other day (I watch with my 5 year old brother). To add to my happiness, I discovered that the family I babysit for owns a copy of "In the Bag" and "Hooked Bear" that their sister taped from the TV, and they let me borrow it! I definitely agree with everybody saying that Disney needs to release all of the Humphrey cartoons one one video/DVD. J. Audubon Woodlore is probably my all-time favorite Disney character.

From Ryan : This would be the last Humphrey cartoon to be released. I find this to be a rather entertaining, but somewhat unfair cartoon. The tourists have left Brownstone National Park for the season and have littered the place. Ranger Woodlore, being too lazy to clean it up, tricks the bears into "playing a game." It works for awhile, but the bears soon discover his little trick and walk away. Ranger Woodlore then cooks up some chicken caccetori(not sure if this is the correct spelling)and tells them that they only get it if they clean up their section of the park. I find it unfair that they all leave it to Humphrey to clean up such a huge area. At the end, after the geyser erupts, the litter is splattered everywhere. I do, however, find the song to be quite catchy.

From Derek : I haven't seen this short in over 15 years, but when something sticks that vividly in a person's mind for that long,it's gotta be good. This is perhaps the funniest thing I had ever seen Walt Disney produce. The bears with the big rumps bumping each other all the time, the music, and the song itself is just a hoot. My entire family, including my elderly parents, just roll around laughing when we just talk about it, and I'm dying to know where I can get it on video cause I want to see it again.

From Sam : One of the most memorable of Disney shorts, this one stars one of my favorite characters, the very underapreciated Humphrey the Bear. The scene of the bears as they dance around picking up trash is priceless. That alone would have made it a great short, but the hilarity continues as we follow Humphrey as he attempts to clean up the park by himself. After several attempts (including one thwarted by another famous bear in a brilliant cameo appearance) our hero finally succeeds by shoving the trash into a gyzer, only to have it spew the trash back out and disperse it all across the park again. Inspired in every possible way, this is one of the best shorts ever made.

From Lainey Schallock : I've been trying to pin-point this short for years. I used to sing the song and do the bear butt shake but nobody got it. Now I see I'm not alone. Hooray!

From Rayi : I loved "In the Bag" and the other Humphrey the Bear shorts as a kid, and only recently learned that it's occasionally on the air on Mickey's House of Mouse. Ugh, I can't stand that show--I'll keep my eyes peeled for the videos though.

Humphrey the Bear is my absolute favorite Disney character of all time, and I'm glad he's not been entirely forgotten! If nothing else, it gets everyone in the house up and dancing along, which is opposite to TV's usual effect.

From Brian : This is a great clip. It was one of my favorites growing up. I just recently borrowed it from the public library to show my wife. Hope every else enjoys it as much as I did, and keep bumping along!

From William Lewis : I give it a 10. I was 19 years old and had taken my little brother to the video store and we happen to rent this bear cartoon I recalled but did not remember the name. It was sooooo funny I laughed till I cried, in fact rented this video again and laughed just as hard. Now I don't laugh unless its funny. The song killed me as well. So I am sitting with my two year old boy Wyatt and on comes "Disney's House of Mouse" and low and behold Humphrey Bear and the ranger where on the House of Mouse doing the bomp bomp song. I was so tickled that I started a search for this video because I would love to have Wyatt enjoy those moments as I did. Sadly I cannot find one anywhere. It is a shame; I had no idea it was Disney related. Perhaps if enough of us speak out Disney will release the collection. There isn't many and I was amazed to see how old the cartoon was that made me laugh so hard.

From Baruch Weiss : This is a great short but the title tune makes it worthwhile.

From SJ78 : My husband and I absolutely love Humphrey. I'm in my late 20s now and grew up doing the Humphrey Bump. I wish Humphrey (and Woodlore) got more recognition than they do. It was great when Disney still showed Ink and Paint club. We'd always get a dose of Humphrey. Biggest mistake Disney made was taking Ink and Paint club from the Disney line up. All of the old classic Disney cartoons are going to be lost particularly since they broadcast those teeny shows instead of true Disney cartoons. They really need to start showing the classics again and keeping them alive. If they're not, then they need to put them all on DVD. Humphrey will always be a part of our hearts bump bump.

From Donna Morris : This Disney Classic deserves above and beyond a "10." I have contacted the Disney Co. over the last couple of years about bringing back the Classics.... maybe even a Classic Disney Station. I want to watch the old Disney with my grandchildren. I tune in occasionally to see if I can catch a glimpse of my old favorites. All I can see is the new shows and they are shown 4 or 5 times a day, over and over! And they are not worth watching the first time ... give me a break! House of Mouse animation is the worst!

From Caleb Evans : Having watched this as a kid it brings back the memories as well as the timeless classic. When I read the script its more like the introduction of rhythm without me even knowing. "In the Bag" takes me back to childhood and I am only 20.

From Doug Crossen : This short with Humphrey has always been my favorite. Humphrey is the best underdog in the disney arsenal. I noticed, when I was a kid, about 30 or so years ago that the sign on said "Old Fateful". After spend 10 years working in Yellowstone Park, I can't get enough of Humphrey or his sidekick the awesome Ranger Woodlore.

From Jason : This is one of the greatest shorts of all time. I had an incredibly hard time even looking up the name, but finally managed to do so. I'm 18, and could still sing the tune for weeks on end.

From Zach : The all time greatest thing Disney ever made! The Ranger of Brownstone is the greatest!

From Tracy : When I was little I saw this cartoon, and we had a tape of it so I saw it often. My family thought it was hilarious.

Years later, in college, I would always ask friends if they had seen that cartoon with the bears pick up litter and dancing and bumping behinds. No one ever knew what I was talking about and they thought I was crazy. It stuck in my head, though, and finally I just had to know what the cartoon was. I googled bears and dancing and trash, and sure enough, up popped this website. Thank you, so much, for archiving all of this information. Had I not found it, I would have thought I was crazy. My mom, of course, remembered the cartoon, but doubted whether they still had the video. As I had seen that it was on a Winnie the Pooh and Friends tape, I had hope when I found a tape labeled Winnie the Pooh and Tigger cartoons. And it was on there! I had been heartbroken that no one on Ebay had the video, but I was lucky that my parents still had it.

This cartoon is really something special to have stuck with so many people. All of the comments from people are just as relieved and admiring as I feel. The makers of this cartoon can smile knowing that they really planted a seed in a lot of people. I really believe that this cartoon influenced my musical skill and taste at an early age, and I am sure it prevented a lot of litter and forest fires. I give this cartoon a 10, only because the ratings don't go any higher.

From John S. : I absolutely love this Cartoon. I use to manage a video store back in the late 80's and early 90's and we had the "Winnie the Pooh and Friends" tape and we almost wore it out playing "In the Bag" over and over again. We always hated when someone came into rent it because that meant that it we couldn't watch if for a few days, but it was great to see customers bring the tape back and they would be singing that tune. That is one short that just makes you happy. I am now on a quest to find it on tape (without paying an arm and a leg for it). I just have to get so my 10 year old step daughter can watch it. She thinks I am nuts walking around sing that tune all the time. The funny thing is that I haven't seen that cartoon in about 13 years. The good things just stay with you.

From Elaine Robinson : I found myself today singing this song and hadn't thought of it in years! In this day and age of DVD releases, I thought I would look it up to buy and am so excited another DVD will come out in December for purchase with "In the Bag." I can't wait! Thanks so much for helping me down memory lane!

From Carl H : I cannot believe that this will finally be available on DVD. I just found this site after doing a search on Google. I am so happy that this comes out in December and will be available for my son's 4th B-Day. My wife and I are looking forward to 'Bomp Bomp' around the house as a family in December. Hey, the Christmas wrapping paper clean up will be a hoot this year! Disney - Please oh please release all the Humphrey shorts on DVD!

From Larry C. : This has long been my favorite cartoon. My wife has never seen it, only me imitating Humphrey doing the "In the Bag" boom boom shuffle. Have long since been looking for a copy, and hopefully will have soon.

From Tadhg Christopher Bird : The song from this short is just infectious. It will sit in your mind and never leave. The upside is that you can't help but smile when this earworm presents itself. It was a pleasure to see this short again on the Disney Rarities DVD.

From Jesse Murray : This has been my sister and I's mantra since we were able to sing and dance. When ever we were asked to clean we would slide around in our pjs and bump our little behinds together. Twenty years later it still cracks us up as onlookers gaze in bewilderment!

From Mike Broder : It's sad that most of the people who work in the Disney Stores at Disney world have no idea who Humphrey is. I was looking for anything with Humphrey on it on my last trip to Disney world. The only thing I found was a letter holder totem pole with Humphrey and some of the other characters on it.

From Grace : I love this cartoon! I still think about it and I can't stop singing and dancing the song and it's stuck on my head. I give this short a 20! Highly recommended and it's funny.

From Christian : Like all classic Humphrey shorts, this is a great one. It's a shame some people have only seen it cut. One thing I don't understand though, is that when I taped it off Disney Channel, it had the scene in. I don't remember that ever happening with another cartoon I recorded. I was fortunate enough to see the uncut version the first time I saw the short. It's a shame Disney only made six classic Humphrey shorts.

From Stacey : I have such fond memories of this short! I now have small children of my own and am trying desperately to get my hands on a copy! It's too bad that they don't have a DVD of just Humphrey. It's so funny that after 2 decades I still remember the song vividly! BOMP BOMP! I love it!

Referenced Comments

Hooked Bear (1956)

First you stick a rag, put it in the bag, (bomp bomp) then you bend your back, put it in the sack, (bomp bomp) that's the way it's done, it's a lot of fun, (bomp bomp) cutting capers, putting papers in the bag.

Before there was Yogi Bear and Ranger Smith, there was Woodlore and Humphrey. As Woodlore appeared at the beginning of the film, he was complaining about how filthy his park was. Humphrey, who was residing in a nearby garbage can, was asked by Woodlore to call the rest of the bears over so Woodlore can lead a game. Of course the pure intention was to clean up the park, more than thirty years before the dawn of recycling. Woodlore then draws up the playing boundaries and the cleanup begins.

As Woodlore conducts the dance, the bears follow along and have a total blast, dancing arm in arm on several occasions. After a while of Woodlore going totally bonkers (and smashing lids of tin cans as cymbals), he decides to sneak off and take a nap behind the bears' back. Eventually the bears notice Woodlore singing while he naps, so Humphrey picks Woodlore up and puts him in the trash can. Woodlore tries to remotivate the bears but the bears stick out their injured rear ends to him instead.

With that, Woodlore plays psychologist and announces that there is food, so all the bears come by and get a whiff of the chicken cacciatore being cooked. The ranger pulls out the rulebook and announces that "he who does not clean up his section of the park does not get any supper." It was not every bear for himself because all the bears put their trash in Humphrey's square! Go figure. The bears get their food after all.

Humphrey struggles with the trash. Strike one comes when his bag gets stuck on a branch and rips, so he re-cleans after Woodlore gave him another bag. Strike two was when Humphrey tries to hide the trash under some bushes, and as he was coming to get his dinner, a rabbit shoves the garbage right on out of there. At this point, this poor bear does not know what to do, so he tries to hide the garbage behind some other bushes before lighting a match (prompting the Smokey The Bear public service announcement). Humphrey quickly takes the garbage at this point and stuffs all of it in a hole. Finally, he had succeeded in getting rid of the trash and pompously dances to get his food. Little did anyone know that this "hole" was a geyser in Old Fateful. Humphrey charges to jump on the geyser to prevent it from exploding, but the pressure was too much and it rained an enormous amount of paper and skyrocketed Humphrey into oblivion, eventually crash-landing in front of Woodlore's feet.

Woodlore apologized to Humphrey for everything that happened, but he also said, "remember the rules!" This distraught bear goes back to dancing (in dire frustration) and getting the trash as the cartoon closes.

This clearly was the last of the "classic" Disney short subjects. I could only wish that they made more cartoons because the stuff that was put together the previous 28 years has some of the greatest moments of the silver screen. These "no-name" third-string characters, who previously affiliated with a few Donald Duck cartoons, put together, in my opinion, one of the most famous Disney cartoons of all time.

--- Tom Wilkins

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