Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947)

A mysterious thief has stolen the prosperous Happy Valley's most prized possession: the musical Singing Harp. Can Mickey, Donald, and Goofy find the answer in the irritable Willie the Giant's magnificent castle up in the blue sky?

Directors:

Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts

Writers:

Joe Rinaldi, Bill Peet

Stars:

Walt Disney, Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig

Cast

Credited cast:
Walt Disney	...	Mickey Mouse (voice)
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice)
Pinto Colvig	...	Goofy (voice)
Sterling Holloway	...	Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Frees	...	Ludwig Von Drake / Herman (voice)

Storyline

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy live in a land where everything is dried up and dead. The only food they have is one loaf of bread, even Donald's plans of killing their cow fail. So Mickey decides to trade in the cow and gets some magic beans. Donald angrily throws the beans into a hole in the floor and during the night, a giant beanstalk sprouts, carrying the house upward. The next morning, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy find themselves in a land with a huge castle. They enter the castle and find enormous foods. What they don't know is that Willie the Giant owns the castle and he does not like what he finds. So he captures Donald and Goofy and locks them in a box with the golden harp he had stolen earlier, which makes Happy Valley, the three friends' home land, dry up. Mickey steals the keys, rescues his friends and the singing harp, and they all escape before Willie catches them.

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Plot Keywords:

bean | insanity | storytelling | farmer | dust | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Legend of Happy Valley

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Golden Harp slightly resembles Cinderella, at least sharing a hairstyle with Cinderella's hairdo for the ball.

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Alternate Versions

Edgar Bergen narrates the film in live-action sequences in the version featured in Fun & Fancy Free. There exist two other versions of this short, each with a different narrator: Sterling Holloway in the first version and Paul Frees as Ludwig von Drake in the second.

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Connections

Version of Jack and the Beanstalk (1917)

User Reviews

This is veiled political metaphor - perhaps unintentionally

When I first viewed Mickey and the Beanstalk with my toddler son approximately 16 years ago, I saw it as more than a retelling of an old fairy tale. Later, while watching a documentary about the devastation wrought upon a real life "Happy Valley", the Owens River Valley, I was reminded of my initial impression of the back story of this short film - the drought and desolation in Happy Valley caused by the theft of the harp as a veiled metaphor for the appropriation of water resources by the GIANT burgeoning metropolis of Los Angeles under the direction of "Willie" Mulholland. Streams and brooks sing or are musical in their own way. Diversion of riparian resources can cause calamity. A giant municipality that diverts water for its own use can leave the former beneficiaries of those resources woefully lacking the wherewithal to prosper or even survive.

If the writers used the foundation for the plot of this short animated film as an opportunity for political protest or commentary, they may have done so secretly, fearing that their theme might be edited from the film or that they might suffer reprisal. I'd like to believe that Walt Disney, whom I believe had a social conscience, left the metaphor in the film but didn't publicize it so as not to cause undue controversy around a film that was intended as children's entertainment. I'd appreciate comments about this subject, especially from anyone who has knowledge of the intentions of the writers, directors, or producer.