Toon Thursday: How Disney’s “Mickey and the Beanstalk” went from being a full length film to an animated featurette

Jim Hill

14 years ago

Nancy and I were just watching “The Purdum Reel.” Which is
this Special Feature on the Blu-ray version of the Diamond Edition of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Which hits store shelves yesterday.

Concept art from the Richard
Purdum version of “Beauty and the Beast.”
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

Anyway … After getting an exclusive look at the earlier,
darker, non-singing version of this animated feature that English director
Richard Purdum tried to make for the Mouse … Well, it made me think about some
of the other feature length projects that Walt Disney Animation Studios has worked
on over the years which changed significantly during the production process.

Take – for example – Mickey abd the Beanstalk
. Which — as
any good Disney animation history buff will tell you – is the second half of a “package
film” that the Studio released back in September of 1947.

But that wasn’t always the plan for this project. As is
demonstrated by the model sheet that I’ve reproduced below, Mickey and the
Beanstalk was originally designed to be a full-length animated film. The “Mickey
Feature,” if you will, that was supposed to have built on the momentum that had
been created by Mr. Mouse’s star turn in “Fantasia” ‘s “Sorcerer Apprentice”
sequence.

Seriously. Even though “Fantasia” wouldn’t open in theaters ’til
November of 1940, Walt was so confident that his “Concert Feature” would be
this smash hit that – in May of that same year-he actually put animators& artists
to work on new sequences that could eventually be folded into this animated
feature. Of the many pieces that were
proposed for this “Fantasia” follow-up, animation was only completed on two of
these: “Claude DeBussy’s “Clair de Lune” (which – after it was recut &
rescored – wound up in 1946’s “Make Mine Music
” as that film’s “Blue Bayou”
sequence) and Sergei Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” (which also wound up
being shoehorned into Disney’s 1946 “package film”).

Animation that was originally created for the “Clare de Lune” sequence
which was to have been folded into to a freshened up version of
“Fantasia” sometime
in the early 1940s. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

May of 1940 was also when Walt convened the very first story
meetings for that feature length version of Mickey and the Beanstalk. Which –
at one point, anyway – was supposed to have been this all-star production. With
characters from all manner of Disney shorts & feature film popping up in
this picture. With Clara Cluck playing the part of the hen who laid the golden
egg …

… while J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon from “Pinocchio“
were originally supposed to have played the two scoundrels who swindled Mickey
out of his cow.

Over time, Walt and his team came to refine this story point.
Opting instead to have an innocent misunderstanding between Mickey and Minnie
(who – in the feature length version of Mickey and the Beanstalk – was to have
played the Queen of Happy Valley) result in that cow being swapped for a box
full of magic beans.

Development of the Mickey Feature went fairly smoothly. With
Disney’s Character Model Department quickly coming up with an appropriate fairytale
look for Mickey, Donald and Goofy …

… Whereas coming up with a suitable design for Willy the
Giant (who had to be both silly & scary over the course of this animated feature)
took a little while longer.

Things seemed to be going great with “The Legend of Happy
Valley” (which was one of the many titles that the Studio considered for this
Mickey Feature). Disney’s artists had settled on an overall look & style for
this motion picture …

… And Walt seemed pleased enough with the way that the
script for Mickey and the Beanstalk was coming together that he actually recorded
much of the Mouse’s dialogue for this movie in the Spring of 1941.

But then on May 29, 1941, members of the Screen Cartoonists Guild declared a
strike against Walt Disney Studios. And given that it would take until
September 14^thof that same year before this labor issue could be
resolved … Well, all work halted on Mickey and the Beanstalk so the minimum
crew that was willing to cross those picket lines could then concentrate on
completing “Dumbo.”

And then on December 7, 1941, following the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army commandered Disney Studio’s only soundstage. So
that this structure can then be used to help defend the nearby Lockheed
Aircraft plant. Which meant that – at least for the next few years – Walt Disney
would have to table his once-ambitious plans for producing two new full length
animated features every year and concentrate instead on government work. Which
would not only support the war effort but also help keep the lights on at Walt
Disney Studios ’til the Fall of 1945.

This is an actual illustration
from a Walt Disney Productions
employee handbook circa 1943. Which reminded all artists
& animators that – due to the sensitive nature of some of the
military
training films that they were working on at this time
– they’d actually need
signed security passes to get on and
off the Lot. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

Then following VJ Day (August 15, 1945), Walt – as part of a
concerted effort to get some new cartoons in Hollywood’s distribution pipeline,
which could then start making some money for his seriously cash-strapped studio
– took a long hard look at all of the projects that Walt Disney Productions had
had in development prior to the start of World War II. And one of the easiest
things to turn the key on was Mickey and the Beanstalk.

Mind you, this was a seriously stripped down version of this
animated feature that Walt rushed into production. So where once Willie the Giant -during the
second verse of his “Fee Fie Fo Fum” song – turned himself first into a walrus …

… and then into a three headed dragon … Well, now that
Mickey and the Beanstalk was being pared down so that it could then paired with
Sinclair Lewis’ Bongo as part of “Fun and Fancy Free,” there was now only
enough time for a single verse of Willie’s “Fee Fie Fo Fum” song.

Another sequence that got cut out of this animated feature
was when Mickey, Donald and Goofy accidentally woke up Willie’s baby boy. Who –
after tumbling out of his crib …

… — then began pursuing this trio of toons. Thinking that
they must be the coolest wind-up toys ever.

Yeah, in order to accommodate Mickey and the Beanstalk’s new
29 minute-long running time, a number of characters & plot devices that
Walt and his team originally dreamed up back in May of 1940 wound up on the
cutting room floor. Among them any scenes with Queen Minnie and/or Clara Cluck
(i.e. the hen that laid the golden eggs). A potentially funny button for this
film (in which – because Willie has somehow forgotten the magic words which allowed
him to transform into all sorts of creatures – this giant now winds up as the
world’s shortest midget …

… who Queen Minnie then puts to work at the castle as a
footman) also got dropped in favor of a new tag gag. Where Willie the Giant,
after literally crashing Luana Patten‘s birthday at Edgar Bergen’s house,
quickly exits through Hollywood. Whereupon – after spying the Brown Derby
restaurant at the corner of Wilshire & Alexandria – Willie places this
hat-shaped building on his head and then heads off for the Hollywood hills.

Which is a funny way to cap “Fun and Fancy Free.” But that
said, one can’t help but wonder how much better the full-length version of Mickey
and the Beanstalk would have been. Especially if Walt had been able to follow
his original plan for that Mickey Feature. Which would have seen this film got
into full-blown production in late 1941 / early 1942 and then be released in
theaters in late 1942 / early 1943.

FYI: Much of the artwork featured in today’s article came
from the Fall 2010 catalog for S/R Laboratories‘ animation art auction. Which
will be held on October 25^th & 26^th. If you’d like to
learn more about this auction and/or are looking to purchase your own copy of
this 52 page full-color catalog, please click on this link.

Your thoughts?