Fun and Fancy Free - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Fun and Fancy Free or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Fun and Fancy Free

[darrell]

Earlier drafts for Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947) featured both a wife and a baby for Willie the Giant, the latter of whom Mickey, Donald and Goofy would've attempted to take care of.

[russell]

The concept of "Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947)" was conceived by animators William Cottrell and T. Hee in 1940. They had some trouble convincing Walt Disney to approve of their idea. He reportedly found their concepts for the film project hilariously funny, but unsuitable to the characters.

[kenneth]

Billy Gilbert voiced Willie the Giant. He was a well known radio comic whose best-known gag was a comic sneeze. He also voiced Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

[gerald]

Willie the Giant had a second major appearance in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), where he plays the Ghost of Christmas Present.

[beth]

Willie the Giant was adapted into the Disney Comics in the 1940s. While never a major star, he has had several appearances over the years. He has been featured in stories starring Chip and Dale, Dumbo, Santa Claus, and the Seven Dwarfs. He also appears in crowd scenes in crossover stories with massive casts.

[eli]

In some versions of Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947), the hen who laid the golden eggs from the original story was also present.

[jesus]

Whether the protagonist of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" is supposed to be seen as a hero or a villain is disputed. The story depicts Jack gaining the sympathy of a man's wife, hiding in his house, robbing, and finally killing him. While some versions of the story depict this as the justified killing of a villainous giant, others are more ambiguous.

[toni]

One of the reasons behind the creation of the "Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947)" was an effort to boost the popularity of Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was Disney's most popular character from 1928 to the mid-1930s. By the late 1930s, both the studio staff and the audience were losing interest in him. He was increasingly overshadowed by Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. To address the problem, Walt Disney ordered the production of some Mickey-centric film projects such as Brave Little Tailor (1938) and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (1940).

[tom]

Story development for "Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947)" started in May, 1940, but the film project was delayed for several years.

[maureen]

The original Bongo short story, "Little Bear Bongo" (1930) by Sinclair Lewis, was still under copyright when the film was produced. Walt Disney secured the rights to the story in 1940.

[lonnie]

Lumpjaw, Bongo's enemy, was adapted to the Disney Comics in the 1940s. Besides Bongo-related stories, Lumpjaw has appeared as a villain is stories starring Chip and Dale. He was a regular in their series until 1986.

[brent]

Charlie McCarthy, featured in the film, was Edgar Bergen's most popular character. He was a top hat and monocle-wearing womanizer with known for his snappy dialogue.

[mathew]

The famous phrase "Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman" from the "Jack and the Beanstalk" story seems to be much older than the known versions of the story. Variations of it appear in earlier works such as "Have with You to Saffron-Walden" (1596) by Thomas Nashe (1567-c. 1601), "King Lear" (1605) by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and "Jack the Giant Killer" (1711).

[edgar]

In Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947), it is never explained where Mickey gets the 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.

[jesus]

Both segments were being produced independently as full length features, but when wartime shortages lost the studio resources, time and animators (who were drafted), Walt Disney made the decision to combine the two.

[bernice]

First Disney film to be dubbed into Norwegian.

[addison]

Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947) is notable for reuniting the trio of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. While they had co-starred in several animated shorts of the 1930s, the last of them was The Whalers (1938).

[chad]

One of the headlines in the newspaper Jiminy Cricket dances across reads "Oceans Will Gobble Earth Scientists Forecast" - in this film from 1947.

[jesse]

While the film employs the talents of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummies, it was a somewhat atypical performance for him. One reason for Bergen's success as a performer was that he incorporated double entendres and risque humor in his dialogue, elements that were considered daring and innovative for his time. This material could not be used in a Disney film.