Mickey and the Beanstealk is a Mickey Mouse cartoon originally released as the second half of Fun and Fancy Free.
Synopsis
This segment is an adaptation of the moralized version of Jack and the Beanstalk with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as peasants who discovered temperamental Willie the Giant's castle in the sky through the use of some magic beans.
Mickey and the Beanstalk was narrated by Edgar Bergen in live-action sequences, who, with the help of his ventriloquist's dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, told the tale to child actress Luana Patten at her birthday party.
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy lived in a place called "Happy Valley," which was plagued by a severe drought, after a golden harp who sang to make people happy, was stolen from a nearby castle in Happy Valley. The residents had nothing to eat except one loaf of bread; in a memorable scene the bread was cut into paper-thin slices. After Donald attempted to kill their cow with an axe, Mickey decides to trade the cow for money to buy food. Goofy and Donald are excited that they'll be able to eat until Mickey comes back and reveals he traded in their beloved bovine for magic beans. Thinking that Mickey got tricked, Donald furiously threw the beans and they fell through a hole in the floor. However, it turns out the beans were magic as later that night, a beanstalk sprouted and it carried their house upward as it grew. Climbing the gigantic beanstalk they entered a magical kingdom of equal scope, and entering the castle, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy helped themselves to a sumptuous feast. This roused the ire of Willie the Giant, who is able to transform himself into anything. When they were spotted by Willie, Mickey spotted a fly-swatter and asked Willie to demonstrate his powers, by turning into a fly. Willie initially suggested turning into a pink bunny, but when he agreed to their request, he turned into a pink bunny anyway, and spotted Mickey, Donald, and Goofy with the fly-swatter. Disappointed, Willie captured Mickey, Donald, and Goofy and locked them in a box. Mickey however escaped. It was up to Mickey to find the key and rescue them, with the help of the singing golden harp. Once freed, the hapless heroes returned the golden harp to her rightful place and Happy Valley to its former glory, killing the giant by chopping down the beanstalk.
The cartoon ends with Willie the Giant stomping through Hollywood looking for Mickey Mouse. Before the scene closes, Willie notices The Brown Derby restaurant and picks up the building looking for Mickey. Willie notices the restaurant looks like a hat, places it on his head, and stomps off with the HOLLYWOOD lights blinking in the background.
Characters
- Mickey Mouse
- Donald Duck
- Goofy
- Golden Harp
- Willie the Giant
- The Dragonfly
Trivia
- A level based on Mickey and the Beanstalk appears in the video game Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse.
- The first transitional level in Epic Mickey is themed to Mickey and the Beanstalk.
- There exist two other versions of this short, each with a different narrator. The first alternate narrator was that of Sterling Holloway while the second was narrated by Paul Frees as Ludwig von Drake.
- There was an alternate scene when the Harp was kidnapped. In the short itself, she doesn't scream. But in Fun and Fancy Free, she does.
Gallery
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