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 (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 | storytelling | farmer | dust | lullaby | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

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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Quotes

Crow Chorus: [singin as they fly toward a scarecrow, then dance on one of his arms] Never knew such bliss, never read of this in a book or plaaaaaay, what a lovely daaaaaay! What a great big gorgeous, sumptious, thumping, bumptious, hum-galumptious, simply scruptious!
[all fall off the scarecrow's arm, then fly vertically above then back down to the scarecrow's arm]
Crow Chorus: Oh my, oh my, what a haaaaap-py daaaaaay!
[all laugh]

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Alternate Versions

Edgar Bergen narrates the film in live-action sequences in the version featured in Fun and 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 The New 3 Stooges: Three Jacks and a Beanstalk (1965)

User Reviews

One of the best screen versions of the Beanstalk story

Originally part of Fun & Fancy Free, this cartoon was released on its own later. It's arguably the best animated version of the Jack and the Beanstalk story, and some might even say it's better than the film versions. It's narrated by Sterling Holloway, replacing the narration from Fun & Fancy Free by ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. I'm not sure the reason for the change but I would never complain about hearing Holloway's distinctive voice. Nice animation and voice work. Really just a fun cartoon all around.

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 Feature Animation - 500 S. 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