Fun and Fancy Free is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947, by RKO Radio Pictures.

As soon as he escapes and enters a forest, a day passes before his idealistic assessment of his new living situation has been emotionally shattered, and he experiences some hard conditions.

In a parody of "Jack and the Beanstalk", a jovial countryside land called Happy Valley, kept alive at all times by a singing golden Harp, is suddenly plagued by a severe drought and falls into turmoil and depression after the instrument is stolen from the castle by a mysterious figure.

Goofy and Donald are excited about eating more food again until Mickey comes back and reveals that he sold the cow in exchange for a container of beans that are said to be magical.

The next morning, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy soon find themselves at the top of the beanstalk and in a magical kingdom of enormous scope, where they appear to be tiny compared to their surroundings.

Immediately after, a giant named Willie enters, grunting angrily while simultaneously breaking into a happy song while demonstrating his powers of flight, invisibility, and shapeshifting.

In the late 1930s, Mickey's popularity fell behind Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Max Fleischer's Popeye and Warner Bros.' Porky Pig.

To boost his popularity, Disney and his artists created cartoons such as "Brave Little Tailor" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", the latter of which was later included in Fantasia (1940).

[2] However, Cottrell and Hee were able to talk Disney into giving it the green-light and story development as The Legend of Happy Valley, which began production on May 2, 1940.

[5] Meanwhile, production was starting on Bongo, a film based on the short story written by Sinclair Lewis for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1930.

It was suggested that Bongo could be a sequel to Dumbo and some of the cast from the 1941 film would appear as supporting characters;[3] however, the idea never fully materialized.

[3] On that same day, the United States military took control of the studio and commissioned Walt Disney Productions to produce instructional and war propaganda films in which pre-production work on Bongo and early versions of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan were shelved.

[5] Throughout the 1940s, Disney had suggested to pair Mickey and the Beanstalk with The Wind in the Willows (which was in production around this time) into a package film tentatively titled Two Fabulous Characters.

By late 1947, Wind in the Willows was paired with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and re-titled The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad.

[12] Time was similarly critical of the film, stating that "In spite of the Disney technical skill, it has never been a very good idea to mix cartoons and live actors.

"[13] Variety called it a "dull and tiresome film", remarking that "all the technical work and all the names in the world can't compensate for [a] lack of imagination.

reviewed the film with 2+1⁄2 stars out of 4, stating that "'Bongo' is frequently delightful, but with one caveat: it is glaringly antiquated in its views of romance and gender roles.

Its consensus states that "Though it doesn't quite live up to its title, Fun and Fancy Free has its moments, and it's a rare opportunity to see Mickey, Donald, and Goofy together.

[1] Fun and Fancy Free was first released on VHS in the United States by Walt Disney Home Video in 1982 for its 35th anniversary.

[19] It was re-released on VHS and LaserDisc in the United States and Canada on July 15, 1997, in a fully restored 50th anniversary limited edition as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection.

[20] The film was re-released on VHS and made its DVD debut on June 20, 2000 as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection.

Mickey and the Beanstalk aired as a short film on a 1963 episode of the Walt Disney anthology series with new introductory segments featuring Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Paul Frees).

In the short film version of the feature, Ludwig Von Drake reads a book about fairy tales in which he shows four pictures and clips from a few of Disney's most well-known animated features, including the Evil Queen transforming herself into an old hag in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Maleficent transforming herself into a dragon in Sleeping Beauty (1959).

The Ludwig Von Drake version of Mickey and the Beanstalk was released separately in 1988 in the Walt Disney Mini-Classics line.