Mickey Mouse in "Giantland" (1933)

The Jack and the Beanstalk story was popular among makers of classic cartoons. The reason for this is very understandable, it is a simple story that nearly everyone was already familiar with and one that offered a never ending supply of gag possibilities. Giantland was Mickey Mouse's first foray into the famous fairy tale. He would return to Jack and the Beanstalk in a segment of the feature film Fun and Fancy Free (1947). Giantland was a much smaller scale telling than the mouse's return to the story, but it has more than enough fast paced gags to be an excellent cartoon in its own right. It is worth noting that at the tine this was a big adventure for the mouse, who had begun to move away from the simple barnyard settings and gags he was first known for into more adventurous stories. In their book, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History. J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein state, "Giantland was the most extravagant yet." 

This cartoon understands how completely familiar this story was to movie audiences. The film wastes no time with the story before the beanstalk grew. After the opening where Mickey is reading the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to his nephews (their first animated appearance, though they had appeared in Floyd Gottfredson's  Mickey Mouse comic strip a year earlier), the cartoon immediately cuts to Mickey (as Jack) climbing the beanstalk. Since anyone watching this cartoon already knew the story, the filmmakers could jump directly into the action with no trouble. Since this was a short film (meaning there is only so much time to tell the story), this makes room for more action and gags.

The following is a review of this cartoon in The Film Daily.

"Fertile in invention and full of amusing situations, Mickey's adventures with a giant after climbing Jack's famous Beanstalk is an ace addition to the series. Especially amusing are Mickey's antics in the giant's mouth where he is pelted by peas, nearly drowned by water, almost crushed in mastication. Mickey's escape from this cell, his chase by the giant and the flight down the beanstalk wind up in this very entertaining subject."

A review in the Motion Picture Daily, stated "Here Walt Disney makes Jack and the Beanstalk live again in the person of his versatile Mickey Mouse."

A working title for this short was Mickey and the Giant. It was released on 11/25/1933.

Much of the animation of the famous mouse was handled by two of the studio's Mickey Mouse experts, Les Clark and Fred Moore. The cartoon’s director was Burt Gillett, one of the studio's main Mickey Mouse directors at this time.

Animation

Terminology: L.S. - Long Shot; Dis. - Dissolve; C.U. - Close Up; O.S.

Les Clark (L.S. Camera moves down -- Story starts; C.U. Mickey starts story; L.S. Kids cheer and applaud; C.U. Mickey continues story; L.S. Kids all whistle; Mickey says "Up and Up", etc., and dis. to: (Pan of Mickey climbing beanstalk (animated by CY Young)); L.S. Mickey and kids - he talks; C.U. kid in high chair - razz; L.S. Mickey and kids laugh)

Cy Young (Pan of Mickey climbing beanstalk. Top of beanstalk - Mickey gets on butterfly; L.S. Castle door -- Butterfly in)

Johnny Cannon (C.U. Door handle and key hole - Mickey hears O.S. voice; C.U. outside keyhole -- Mickey jumps in it; C.U. Mickey on end of pipe; Pan - Mickey whirls around in a spiral; Bottom of stalk - Mickey starts fire)

Dick Huemer (L.S. giant coming over hill - Pan up to head)

Ham Luske (Giant pouring coffee - picks up spoon; C.U. Bowl - hands put cube on spoon - second time Mickey is picked up on it. Puts him in coffee; C.U. Giant reads and stirs coffee; C.U. cup whirlpool effect - gets out - runs with pant full of coffee; Rides in cheese; C.U. Giants drinks coffee - picks up knife; L.S. castle - sneeze blows side of castle out - Mickey lands - Mickey slides down beanstalk - giant starts down (split with Dick Williams (the only scene he worked on)); Giant climbing down - still scene; Stalk burns around giant - he falls)

Bill Roberts (C.U. Knife cuts out slice - picks it up; S.C.U. Giant puts cheese on bread - reaches for mustard; C.U. Mickey in cheese on bread on hand -mustard gag; S.C.U. Giant cats -throws last piece in mouth (head on shot)… X-Dis. to; Inside mouth - rock crusher effect. (head on shot))

Fred Moore (Outside - Giant eats peas; Inside - peas coming down; Outside - Hiccoughs, Inside - Hiccoughs (tossed in blanket effect); Outside: Giant Drinks; Inside - Smoke Entering - Mickey puts hands over end; Outside - Giant looks at pipe - draws on it; Inside - Mickey Blows; S.L.S. Outside - sparks pipe out - Mickey on end)

Gerry Geronimi (S.L.S. Mickey Drops - runs - butter gag; Mickey jumps in pickle jar - bites finger; S.L.S. Giant hits bottle - Mickey flies out - giant looking for him; S.C.U. Giant looks around; Mickey jumps on fork- pepper goes in giant's face - short sneezes; S.C.U. Giant ready for big sneeze)

"Frenchy" de Trémaudan (C.U. Mickey peeks out - prepares spoon and pepper - whistles)

Ben Sharpsteen (C.U. Mickey's expression - laughs)

 Ugo D'Orsy (Giant falls in - Mickey looks down hole - x. dis. to (use 6 ft., w. dis)) 

Story: Mickey is reading the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to some kids. Mickey places himself in the story and soon we dissolve to Mickey climbing the beanstalk. When he reaches the top he hops aboard a butterfly who takes him to the giant's front door. Soon Mickey sees the giant coming home singing a song about how he is the king of Giantland. Mickey jumps in the keyhole to hide but when the giant puts in his key Mickey goes flying onto the table where a meal is prepared for the giant. As the giants heads inside Mickey quickly hides in the sugar bowl. The giant picks up his newspaper, which say "Giants win." He then prepares a cup of coffee for himself. Unfortunately the giant takes sugar in his coffee and Mickey is soon in the giant's coffee. Mickey escapes while the giant is stirring and hides in the swiss cheese. Naturally the giant wants some cheese next. The giant puts some cheese on his sandwich and it looks like Mickey is eaten. Mickey is trapped in the giant's mouth and tries to escape but the giant keeps eating slippery peas. The giant get the hiccups and takes a drink to stop them. Mickey must swim fast to keep from going down the giant's throat. As soon as Mickey is safe from the water, the giant decides to smoke a pipe. When the giant takes the pipe out Mickey is holding onto it. Our hero is now spotted. Mickey says "hi big boy," but instead of returning his greeting the giant tries to squish our hero. After a chase our hero is trapped in a bottle. The giant sticks his hand in and Mickey bites it. When Mickey gets out of the bottle, he gets a brilliant idea and sends a spoonful of pepper heading the giant's way. The giant lets out a big sneeze that destroys his whole house. The chase continues. They both slide down the beanstalk. Mickey gets to the bottom first and lights the beanstalk on fire. The giant takes a huge fall and leaves a large hole in the ground. When transition back to Mickey telling this story to the kids. Mickey informs them, "he came out in China." Mickey asks "what do you think of that?" One of the kids responds with a raspberry and everyone laughs hardily at that. 





 

                                                                  Resources Used

http://afilmla.blogspot.com/search/label/Shorts_UA

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein 

The Making of Fun and Fancy Free by J.B. Kaufman

Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia  5th Edition by Dave Smith.