The title/story is based on the English fairy tale of "Jack and the Beanstalk", first published anonymously in London by Benjamin Tabart in 1807 as The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk.
"Mickey and the Beanstalk" is the only separate segment from Coquin de printemps (1947) to be marketed on DVD as the distributors of the Disney Studio felt this featurette would be more appropriate for the younger audiences, completely ignoring "Bongo" as the lone segment for having some mature references involving relationships, especially the number "Say It with A Slap" which had some certain sexual undertones in the lyrics.
It is never explained where Mickey gets the magic beans from. One draft featured Honest John Foulfellow, the villainous fox from Pinocchio (1940) as a swindler who sold Mickey the magic beans. Another version had Mickey giving the cow to the Queen of Happy Valley (played by Minnie Mouse) in exchange for them.
The Golden Harp slightly resembles Cinderella, at least sharing a hairstyle with Cinderella's hairdo for the ball.