Login
Walt Disney built his company's reputation on re-imagining classic fairy tales. Sometimes in his features that meant cutting much of the sexuality and toning down on the on-screen violence, or, often in the case of his shorts, substituting in his beloved staple of characters. "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is, possibly, the most famous example of this.
It's also one the best short films that the studio turned out.
Originally presented as part of Fun and Fancy Free, "Mickey and the Beanstalk" still works best in that context. If you keep the Edgar Bergen wrap-around segments and just separate it from "Bongo," then there shouldn't be a problem. But the film is often presented with animation done decades later and the heavily lined and cruder style stands in glaring contrast with the sophisticated, clean and smooth work done in 1947. Not only that, but most of the jokes work best and were timed and set-up for Bergen's narration.
But no matter how one gets to view the film, that may just be me being a stickler and elitist about it's presentation. The point is despite being 66 years old, "Mickey and the Beanstalk" holds up incredibly well. Still charming, funny, quick witted and gorgeously animated as ever. The warmth of the paints and fluidity of the drawings are still the mark of a group of artists working at the top of their game. The overnight growth of the beanstalk is one of the greatest marriages of sight-gags and sound effects the studio churned out. As the music swells and does odd little flourishes so does the beanstalk in perfect sync.
I remember watching this several times as a child, and it warms my heart to see that it still holds up after all this time. Willie the Giant's introduction alone is a practical guarantee for immortality as it demonstrates the animators tendency towards experimentation and surrealist imagery at the time, most notably in their feature-length films like Dumbo and Fantasia. "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is an exquisite miniature.
