Mickey et le haricot magique

Just after WWII, Disney released a feature film ("Fun & Fancy Free") that was actually just two shorts strung very tenuously together. The same thing happened with "Make Mine Music" and "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad". And, for the most part, these shorter films were of lesser quality and don't stack up all that well with the best of the studio.

As for "Mickey and the Beanstalk", it is the film that makes up the second half of "Fun & Fancy Free". The first half is a very lame short, "Bongo"--and the less said about that dull cartoon the better! Because of that, I'd recommend seeing a copy of "Mickey and the Beanstalk" on its own--without the first portion. I've seen it marketed that way on several Disney DVDs and videotapes. The only major difference is that the live action portion that accompanies "Mickey and the Beanstalk" from "Fun & Fancy Free" is missing--though some of Edgar Bergen's narration is there--along with new narration by Sterling Holloway. While I miss the cute live action portions (Charlie McCarthy had some nice lines in it), it's just more compact and enjoyable on its own. Not a great short--but well made and entertaining--and a variation on the earlier Disney short "The Brave Little Tailor"--which, incidentally, is actually better than "Mickey and the Beanstalk".

'Jack and the Beanstalk' is a very familiar story and the Disney adaptation is a delight to watch. It starts with an old duck and his little friend Hermann talking about fairy tales. The duck explains how 'Cinderella, 'Pinocchio', 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Snow White' were fairy tales and therefor the story and the characters were made up. With this talking we see the actual images from those Disney-movies.

Than the duck tells his own fairy tale version of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and we see Mickey, Donald and Goofy as the three Jacks climbing the beanstalk and meeting the giant. With lots of funny moments and nice things that can only happen with animation this is a another great movie from Disney. When that beanstalk goes up I was amazed by what I saw.

Mickey, Donald and Goofy take on the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy-tale, starring as poor, starving farmers of Happy Valley who discovered a beanstalk that grew from the beans Mickey got after trading in their cow. They stumble upon the beautiful Golden Harp who after being kidnapped by the Giant lead to the decline of the once prosperous Happy Valley. As a result, the trio go on a daring mission to rescue the harp and restore prosperity to their valley.

It's a beautifully animated story with full in-character laughs from Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Mickey is his heroic self while Goofy tries hard not to blunder on things. Donald is hilarious as heck, from him going crazy while starving to him parodying an army sharp shooter. The giant was menacing, but goofy looking, and the Golden Harp was beautiful with her soothing singing voice.

There's plenty of adventures in this exciting rescue-the-harp plot. It's non-stop fun you would expect in a cartoon movie from beginning to end.

Grade A

In my opinion, this is the best short that Disney has ever done. A very good short for the whole family, with that humor that only Walt Disneuy could do. Highly recommend.

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.