I get that Bongo and Lulabelle are proportioned as tiny little humanoids to further drive more the Mickey/Pete/Minnie similarities (as well as to make Bongo an underdog), but I can't stop imagining how much funnier this short would have been if they were the exact same size as all the other bears.
@@Adamguy2003 I think it has something to do with Willie's good attitude, which is then carried over in later appearances, like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Plus, he can be compared to the size of a human, if you use Mickey's height next to him; with a human being 6 feet tall, and a mouse being 2 inches tall (not counting the tail). If Mickey were to be the same height as a regular human, then Willie would be 36 times Mickey's height.
I like that they always keep doing the pistachio joke whenever Willie appears in a major role. Willie is probably the most likeable Disney Villain, at the end of the day, he’s just a big destructive child who has no idea that he endangered an entire kingdom. Like Edgar Bergen said, he wasn’t a mean giant he just wanted someone to sing him to sleep.
Willie is a great character and a very positive representation of a child’s dreams he is a powerful user of magic he can turn into anything and he’s huge and strong he clearly could conquer kingdom if he desired to but instead he’s content to just use his immense power for his own amusement and he was genuinely pleasant to Mickey before he realized Mickey intended to kill him and while he did go crazy in the ending think about it I’ll come into your home without permission eat your food yet you still act pleasant to me than try trick you into being in a vulnerable state so I could kill you then try to steal a valuable position and leave and tie your shoes together and expect you to be ok with that and he’s still polite and apparently regained his composure since he’s very pleasant when asking if anyone saw Mickey and puts the roof back gently and walks quietly careful not to step on buildings He’s not a sadist who takes pride in causing pain and suffering or a reckless rebellious person who wants to defy society to do as he pleases and hates everyone who says no for any reason he’s a big soft boy who just wants to be happy and doesn’t think through his actions I was crying too when I though he died he’s a nice giant who had some issues and was so happy when he was alive
One of the few things I remember about "Fun and Fancy Free" was its narrator, Ludwig Von Drake, explaining that Happy Valley got its name due to its inhabitants being "valley happy." That's one of the worst puns in history, and yet Von Drake delivered it with such infectious glee that it became funny anyway. Oh, Ludwig. You are a treasure.
Hi. Just popping in to say Ludwig Von Drake only narrates Mickey and the Beanstalk when it was excerpted from Fun and Fancy Free and shown on TV. In Fun and Fancy Free itself, it's narrated by famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. It's a fun movie and I recommend you check it out sometime.
Was anyone else freaked out by Willie’s build up at the beginning of the movie? They made him seem like a dark and evil entity, made his actual reveal all the more bewildering. XD
I actually have a theory that Mad Madam Mim from Sword in the Stone (1963) trained Willie the Giant in magic as a kind of inverse to Merlin training Arthur in using his wits. Think about it: both can shrink, fly up high like the birdies, disappear into atmosphere, and turn into pink animals. In the Kingdom Hearts games we know that Merlin can travel to other worlds, so Mim being on par with him in terms of power should be able to do the same, and it would make thematic sense for Mim to train Willie to focus on the magic and not using his wits, further proving that there are no bad students only bad teachers.
Though, in the end, Mim IS a bad teacher for thinking Magic is always the answer, because she later got sick from Merlin’s “virus” Trump Card. Thankfully, Willie is not like Mim and lives a better life.
Neat theory! MatPat would probably feel threatened by this! Good job, and Thank You for the new point of view! 👍😎👌❗️ I apologize for the excessive rhyming in that last part.
@@a.rustici1972 I didn't share that with MatPat, but I did share that with AniMat, who's best know for covering animation history and virtually all things animated on Animation Lookback and he too admitted that was a good theory.
I always thought that 'Jack and the Beanstalk' started as 'Jack The Giant Killer'. In that version, Jack brutalizes a lot of giants, mostly with a magic sword.
It's possible that it took some inspiration from the Giant Killer story, but I can't find anything concrete on that..... However I did find that it did come into proper print around the early 18th century (originally passed orally and originally from the Cornwall area of England) and about 20 years later Jack and the Beanstalk was first published.
@@absolite6 Actually, there’s a reason Jack got associated with fighting giants, you should look into the Messed Up Origins video on Jack and the Beanstalk.
No. Those are two separate, entirely unrelated stories. Jack the Giant-Killer is set in the fantasy version of Britain depicted in the Arthurian legends, and portrays Jack serving in King Arthur's court, while Jack and the Beanstalk is an otherwise self-contained story (in English fairytales, 'Jack' is just a generic name for a male protagonist, like 'Hans' or 'Hansel' in Germany, or 'Ivan' in Russia). The stories have little in common beyond featuring a young boy who fights giants, named Jack.
@@petehill7280 Oh, like saying "Here's your Pot, Jack" or "Do these Shoes please you, Hans?" Still, I brought up the Messed up Origins video, but I never said anything about Jack the Giant Killer.
Well, if Mickey and his two best friends are only actors in this beanstalk story, it only stands to reason that Willie is also just an actor in their cartoon world.
Funny fact about Willie being voiced by Walker Edminston, he also played another giant character in the Adventure in Odyssey radio drama. It is also actually a character portraying the Giant. The episode is called Pilgrim’s Progress Revisited and the Giant character’s name was Despair.
Yeah, Gustav (the giant from The Brave Little Tailor) could be Willie’s cousin. However, Willie is sweet, playful and talkative, while Gustav seems to be introvert and a bit unkind. Maybe that’s why everyone prefer Willie than him
@robbiewalker2831 Dunno, Rumplewatt looks older and uglier than the other giants. And also way more violent and mean. He’s definitey not related to Willie or Gustav. Sadly, the giant from the original tale Jack and the Beanstalk were probably more similar to Rumplewatt, according the story
Thank you for mentioning Widowmaker. When I first watched the movie, my jaw was left open at the end of the movie and I could only say "THE HORSE GOT AWAY WITH IT?!?"
god you wouldn't believe how vividly i remembered willy prying off the roof to say hi to the live action people. I was only listening to the video but it was PERFECT recall
I loved watching the JAck and the Beanstalk segment when they showed on tv with Ludwig Von Drake and his little bug friend. Also, Willy is such a loveable oaf.
This is so surreal because I used to watch Fun and Fancy Free on a VHS tape as a kid in the 90's. Your video is causing all kinds of memories to come flooding back to me.
Here's a fun fact: Willy the Giant actually has one park appearance. He shows up outside the Princess Fairytale Hall in the Princess souvenir store where he can be seen peaking through the roof with his eye and nose.
I wonder if Willie's shapeshifting powers are a reference to the ogre from Puss in Boots. They even had that bit about attempting to trick him into turning into a smaller, easily killable animal.
Given the amount of cut content from the segment’s original feature film version, part of me wonders if the whole “turn into a fly” bit was a leftover from a previous draft that featured a similar scene to “The Brave Little Tailor” in which Mickey kills seven flies in one blow.
@@ColinLooksBack 14:03: I think my best and simple answer to how Willie is a giant, when his mother is smaller, could be that Willie runs under the similar logic as Clifford the Big Red Dog: normal sized when born, but gigantic when grown up.
@@ColinLooksBack 1:27 - 1:53: Speaking of Snow White, I can understand, from a pacing perspective, that having Snow White being "dead" 2 times by a Corset and a Hair Comb does seem to break the tension that she would die, and would've treated the Poison Apple as more of a joke than an actual threat.
You know, people drivel on about the whole thing with Jack climbing the beanstalk and intruding on the giant's home, but I don't know about you, but anyone who'd say (and possibly even promptly do) something like "Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread.", is probably not someone that's all that pleasent to begin with.
Well look at it this way in the story itself- Ichabod is the only British person in a very dutch "state". And also at the time of the story (1700s) teachers didn't get paid there's were only two choices for them: 1)go and train to be a pastor for churches or 2)marry well. And also if I recall in a later story (which has nothing to do with Disney) doesn't Laura Ingall as a teacher- stay in some pupil's homes so she's able to get some food and board? Laura Ingall's Wilder's books take place between 1870 and 1894. And also besides being the teacher of the one schoolhouse in the town- he's also the choir director. Because the teacher job paid that poorly. He's getting paid enough to be able to board outside of a pupil's house but he still goes around to pupils' home to get "paid" in food. So if you were in Ichbod's shoes which would you choose: pastoring or marrying Katrina?
Rumplewatt was also in Kingdom Hearts III in one of the mini-games. I knew I'd seen him somewhere, but I remember the Gustav short a lot clearer. Anyway, thank you for this series, it's so fun to watch and I would have never learned so many of these facts without you!
Quite interesting. Lumpjaw and Willie are like opposite characters. Lumpjaw revels in his strength and thinks that everyone should look up to him. He’s like a high school quarterback, always showing off for the girls. Willie is like a sweet but arrogant overly strong child. Too bad they didn’t get to meet each other. Seems like a lost opportunity. Maybe in some future project.
Great video. I’m a little bit surprised you’re skipping Melody Time, (Personally, I do consider Widowmaker a villain. As you mentioned, he basically murdered Bill’s girlfriend out of petty jealousy, and even deliberately stopped him from saving her) but it’s no great loss.
In my opinion, I think Slue Foot Sue was the villain of Melody Time. Widowmaker and Pecos Bill were inseparable almost all of Pecos Bill's life. Slue Foot Sue was the breaking point of his friendship with the horse. Didn't she completely seduce him so she could get his attention? I mean, she waltzed right into his life without any reason (powerding your face while wrangling a catfish is quite impressive, I'll admit), and throughout the whole film she seemed like she wanted to distract him from his original partner in crime. What Widowmaker did was out of jealousy that didn't go according to plan. I dunno, I love Pecos Bill and this is my own thought, but tell me what you think about this. 😁
@@sjsaunders1971 I don't think Sue was a villain. She could be considered an antagonist since she came between them, but I don't think it was her intention. I remember being horrified at her fate as a kid since while she seemed vain, she didn't seem bad, she was pretty awesome and deserved better.
@@sjsaunders1971 I disagree. Slue Foot Sue was living her life when they ran across each other. Implying that it's all HER fault that Bill thought she was attractive and wanted to marry her is a pretty narrow reading. Pecos Bill fell in love with her as much as she fell in love with him.
In the Swedish dub Willle is voiced by the same guy who did Kronk's voice in The Emperor's New Groove ! I believe the dubbb of Mickey and the Beanstalk Shared the same director as the Swedish dubbing ob shared the same director as the Swedish
Gustav is apparently named after Gustaf Tenggren. Tenggren was the artist who set the style for the Disney films "The Old Mill", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", and "Pinocchio".
I assume Bill Faggerbakke will replace him, given the 2017 Ducktales. Shame, he was one of the oldest active Disney voice actors along with Pat Caroll and Frank Welker. EDIT: This comment is even sadder now that Pat's gone too.
I am so glad that I have so many like-minded people! I love this character, but none of my friends probably even know about him. Too bad, he's such a cute character
speaking of which Mickey and the Beanstalk is one of my favorite adaptations of this classic fairy tale along with the one with Abbott and Costello (since the film itself is in the public domain) and even Mario and the Beanstalk from the Super Mario Bros Super Show!
You know, given how Mario is an expy of Popeye, I’m surprised Popeye has his fair share of shorts that are associated with myths, legends, and fairytales.
The Oscar nominated Mickey and the beanstalk is one of my favorite adaptations of this classic fairy tale along with the 1967 Hanna barbera adaptation too!😄
That Mickey and the Giant book just unlocked a deep core memory. When you mentioned the brave little tailor thing I immediately remembered 'man, I think I had a book like that' and then you showed the cover.
Hey, just wanna say I love these retrospectives, It's clear you put so much time into researching and editing these videos and I really hope you get more recognition. Keep up the good work!
Another great video in this series. I never knew how the real story of "Bongo" went. Very interesting. I used to have the "Mickey Meets the Giant" book you praise so highly it's a good. Regarding the way the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" was rearranged to give it more morality, some versions, such as the Faerie Tale Theatre one, make it so that the things Jack stole were originally his father's and had been stolen by the giant. And one other thing, about Mickey in "Fun and Fancy Free" there's been some debate from various sources regarding whether it was Jim McDonald's first time as Mickey or Walt Disney's last.
If I’m remembering correctly, Fun and Fancy Free was the last time Walt ever voiced Mickey Mouse due to not only being too busy with his other responsibilities as head of the studio to continue taking on the role, but years of smoking made it harder for him to perform as Mickey and it was too painful for him to do.
@ The Chill Reaper Actually, it was both. “Fun and Fancy Free” was Walt’s last film to voice Mickey Mouse, and Jimmy MacDonald took over for lines of dialogue Walt had difficulty recording before coming his permanent replacement.
I think it was the "Mickey's Delayed Date" short. Thoguh he later did stuff for the Mickey Mouse Club, with his voice definitely having changed from all the smoking.
Willie had a counterpart in Once Upon a Time, too, who had a character arc I really liked which had a really sweet ending. His name was Tiny, he had kind of an Ariel "part of your world" thing going on, and he eventually found a place where he belonged & was loved and accepted :')
You know, when you reach John Silver from "Treasure Planet", i recomend you to touch other sci-fi versions of him - His version from "Treasure island in outer space" and more sinister take - John SuperSilver from the 1982 film
The giant being able to transform into other things is taken from the Puss In Boots tale, where the ogre (the story's villain) can do exactly the same and the titular character tries to trick him the same way Mickey does...And this trick seems to also be inspired by the Greek Mythology, where Zeus does the same thing with his first wife
Willie also made an appearance in this old Disney ice show they did in 1988 for Mickey's 60th birthday. One scene there is themed to "Mickey and the Beanstalk" and has everyone in the castle have a run-in with Willie, although in this case, the only thing one sees of him here is his hand as he tries to catch them.
I was actually familiar with a third version of "Mickey and the Beanstalk". Unlike the "Fun and Fancy Free" and "Ludwig von Drake" versions, there was no frame story, and the narration was performed entirely off-screen by early Disney regular Sterling Holloway, (known for voicing characters such as the Cheshire Cat, Winnie the Pooh, and Kaa the python) without any additional narrators. This lack of interplay between multiple characters in the narration led to certain minor adjustments in the story line, such as the brief appearance of the Red Barn being removed. Willie the Giant's roof-lifting appearance at the end of the story is also absent. Instead, as Willie is plummeting downward after Mickey, Goofy and Donald cut down the beanstalk, the impact of his landing causes the book (which is apparently the one containing the story, as it features a cover picture of Willie angrily chasing Mickey and his friends) to slam shut. This version was VCR recorded by my family from a TV broadcast in the early 1990s, and seems to have been created sometime after the story was detached from "Fun and Fancy Free".
I think it’ll be better for all of us if we just assume two things about Willie’s inception with his mother. 1. He was most likely adopted and he had birth parents who were giants 2. He was born a normal sized human, but gained his magic powers and made himself a giant but couldn’t remember how to change himself back. Either one of those theories are mine and I’m stuck with either one
Something I remember from watching this movie is that in the scene where Lumpjaw was approaching, I had thought that it was a bunch of hunters that were coming in since I was familiar with Bambi and the Fox and the Hound which both had hunters as the antagonists. During the fight scene in the movie, I remember there was a scene where Bongo was snorting like a motor car almost as if he was sprayed by Mickey's bravo potion from the cartoon, The Worm Turns. It does make sense for those sound effects to be used to me since it showed Bongo was building up his courage to face Lumpjaw.
I think a re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk story would work a lot better today if the villain was the man who traded Jack the beans for the cow. That he secretly knew of their purpose and the giant's treasures. And so he let's/forces Jack to do the dirty work, while he holds the mother hostage. He would meet his demise with either the giant falling on top of him, or smashed/captured by said giant.
You neglected to mention how Willie is part of the decor in the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland gift shop Sir Sir Mickey's, shown trying pry off the roof of the store.
What.... I remember Mickey and the Beanstalk really vividly, or at least the part where they're starving and slicing shriveled peas. And I remember Michael & Co. playing mind games with Willie. I even remember how the Harp looked and that bit at the end with the puppet, but I _do not_ remember him turning into a giant pink bunny LOL
I like the original idea of the bear story, kind of Fox and the Hound or Call of the Wild-esque. Though its black and whiteness of life in the wild and in captivity sounds weird.
Quite surprising that out of the three giants that Mickey has faced, the most obscure one (Rumpelwatt) is the only one who appears in Kingdom Hearts (in a Minigame from 3, but that's still more than what Gustav and Willie have to offer).
Something about the oufish clockmaker that’s only seen in the statue when you read about his lore is that he uses the violet, rainbow gem to build the clock tower, but in a twist of events, the more he uses the gem, he becomes slower and much more clumsy. I am aware that this isn’t a retrospective on some video game bosses from Mickey’s past although that would be a good idea to talk about some of them. There are a few interesting battles. Just wanted to talk about that. I learned it recently.
Once I heard the fact that the general idea of check in the beanstalk is set to take back 5000 years I was so surprised and I said out loud 5000 years!
I loved this movie as a kid! I tended to fast-forward over the "Bongo" section to get to the parts with Edgar Bergen. This was my first introduction to ventriliquism, so I found the puppets fascinating. I didn't quite understand what they were, so I wondered where I could meet these strange wooden people.
That's really adorable. I remember having a similar reaction to Toy Story when it first came out. I thought the CGI plastic toys looked so good (at the time), that I was convinced that some of them, like Potato Head, were animatronics or puppets. The more things change, huh?
I just realized Splash mountain could have been themed to Bongo instead of Song of the south, it could still have reused the America sings animatronics, the location could have still been the same (maybe keeping its original name Bear country) and the log flume ride system would have been perfectly fitting referencing the fight between Bongo and Lumpjaw, plus it would have made a great comeback for the story and its characters. But alas i still think that with the Song of the south theming Disney still had a good choice
I remember the Mickey Mouse cartoon where he is a Tailor and he has to battle against the Giant Gustav. I remember that Mickey was trying to swat flies in his house, only to swat all 7 flies in one go. Then Mickey is so excited that he achieved swatting 7 flies in one go, he tells the entire town about it. At the same time, the town is having a problem with a large Giant and Mickey bursts in saying he had killed 7 in one go, completely unaware of the town's Giant problem that causes the misunderstanding. Of course the town thinks Mickey is the Giant Killer when he is only just a Tailor who just happened to kill 7 flies in one swat.
"Mickey and the Beanstalk" was also featured on an episode of the early 1970s show called "The Mouse Factory", with narration in this case done by ventriloquist Shari Lewis, as she tells the story to her sheep puppet friend Lamb Chop.
In my Battle Royale series, there is a twist on the "Jack and the Beanstalk", where the giant is actually Jack's deadbeat illegitimate father & Jack himself is actually half giant himself.
Hey, I know I said this last time, but which Five Night's at Freddy's animatronic scared you the most? Circus Baby scared me the most since she look out of place and, at home the most, uncanny valley. She is also sadistic and have hunted children, which makes her even scarier.
This short confused me a bit as kid the same way that lady and the tramp 2 would, where the main characters and his love interest look way younger than the bullies that want to get them for themselves, and it worries me a bit now
Who do you think would win in a fight? Willie the Giant or Hugo the Abominable Snowman from Looney Tunes? And who would be the first to call the other one "George?" Jokes aside, it seems that with the Mickey and the Beanstalk cartoon, even in the full version, they combined the stories of Jack and the Beanstalk and Puss in Boots. The ogre or giant (depending on the version you are familiar with) does the same thing in the Puss story, right down to the hero tricking him into shrinking down to crush or capture him. Seems like the Mickey cartoon was actually subverting the ending of that story by having the giant too smart to fall for it.
that is true, but have you noticed that willie didn't ever used is transforming ability in any of his later appearance, that is really a shame especially since they weren't used that much in the movie
I find it weird in the Willie the giant was introduced as a full on angry monstrous bad guy but his later apperiances like the Christmas Carol and the mickey mouse clubhouse he's more of a kind, goofy and silly character
![Megan Thee Stallion - Mamushi (Remix) [feat. TWICE] [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5c0_u9PsrsQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I get that Bongo and Lulabelle are proportioned as tiny little humanoids to further drive more the Mickey/Pete/Minnie similarities (as well as to make Bongo an underdog), but I can't stop imagining how much funnier this short would have been if they were the exact same size as all the other bears.
Willie the Giant was hilarious and an inspiration for Roald Dahl's the BFG.
He was? That's not surprising, now that I think about it.
@@Adamguy2003 I think it has something to do with Willie's good attitude, which is then carried over in later appearances, like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Plus, he can be compared to the size of a human, if you use Mickey's height next to him; with a human being 6 feet tall, and a mouse being 2 inches tall (not counting the tail). If Mickey were to be the same height as a regular human, then Willie would be 36 times Mickey's height.
Oh? I figured that book came out before the movie. Interesting!
@@ungurdagda813 the original BFG novel came out in the 1970's. Though Dahl DID start writing in the '40's, so it's really unsurprising.
I love Willie even the video games with him in them 14:54
Nothing could have prepared me for Goofy singing "Giants In The Sky." Thank you for blessing us with that.
Three years late but I am subscribing because of this LOL
A shame they canceled “Gigantic”, it would be great to see if they put a reference to Willie the Giant.
To be quite honest, it would end up feeling like a genderswap version of Roald Dahl's BFG.
Don’t be sad, he appears in the new Mickey Mouse series in Disney+, in which he has even a girlfriend
@@Gabriel-rp2pc Aw❣️
Willy is a good guy now
@@erainmartinez8175yes he is I feel bad him he was also in House of Mouse
I like that they always keep doing the pistachio joke whenever Willie appears in a major role.
Willie is probably the most likeable Disney Villain, at the end of the day, he’s just a big destructive child who has no idea that he endangered an entire kingdom. Like Edgar Bergen said, he wasn’t a mean giant he just wanted someone to sing him to sleep.
Willie is a great character and a very positive representation of a child’s dreams he is a powerful user of magic he can turn into anything and he’s huge and strong he clearly could conquer kingdom if he desired to but instead he’s content to just use his immense power for his own amusement and he was genuinely pleasant to Mickey before he realized Mickey intended to kill him and while he did go crazy in the ending think about it I’ll come into your home without permission eat your food yet you still act pleasant to me than try trick you into being in a vulnerable state so I could kill you then try to steal a valuable position and leave and tie your shoes together and expect you to be ok with that and he’s still polite and apparently regained his composure since he’s very pleasant when asking if anyone saw Mickey and puts the roof back gently and walks quietly careful not to step on buildings
He’s not a sadist who takes pride in causing pain and suffering or a reckless rebellious person who wants to defy society to do as he pleases and hates everyone who says no for any reason he’s a big soft boy who just wants to be happy and doesn’t think through his actions I was crying too when I though he died he’s a nice giant who had some issues and was so happy when he was alive
i like willie he's a big friendly giant.
@@viviennemorgan7217 your a smart person
@@TheMagnaficent what does this have to do with anything that i said?
@@viviennemorgan7217 I think your smart for liking Willy instead of finding him annoying or stupid
One of the few things I remember about "Fun and Fancy Free" was its narrator, Ludwig Von Drake, explaining that Happy Valley got its name due to its inhabitants being "valley happy." That's one of the worst puns in history, and yet Von Drake delivered it with such infectious glee that it became funny anyway. Oh, Ludwig. You are a treasure.
Hi. Just popping in to say Ludwig Von Drake only narrates Mickey and the Beanstalk when it was excerpted from Fun and Fancy Free and shown on TV. In Fun and Fancy Free itself, it's narrated by famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. It's a fun movie and I recommend you check it out sometime.
Was anyone else freaked out by Willie’s build up at the beginning of the movie? They made him seem like a dark and evil entity, made his actual reveal all the more bewildering. XD
I guess it could be chalked up to his shapeshifting abilities.
I actually have a theory that Mad Madam Mim from Sword in the Stone (1963) trained Willie the Giant in magic as a kind of inverse to Merlin training Arthur in using his wits. Think about it: both can shrink, fly up high like the birdies, disappear into atmosphere, and turn into pink animals. In the Kingdom Hearts games we know that Merlin can travel to other worlds, so Mim being on par with him in terms of power should be able to do the same, and it would make thematic sense for Mim to train Willie to focus on the magic and not using his wits, further proving that there are no bad students only bad teachers.
Though, in the end, Mim IS a bad teacher for thinking Magic is always the answer, because she later got sick from Merlin’s “virus” Trump Card. Thankfully, Willie is not like Mim and lives a better life.
@@robbiewalker2831I... could see that happening and it wouldn't surprise me if it were to be true, one day.
Neat theory! MatPat would probably feel threatened by this! Good job, and Thank You for the new point of view! 👍😎👌❗️
I apologize for the excessive rhyming in that last part.
@@a.rustici1972 I didn't share that with MatPat, but I did share that with AniMat, who's best know for covering animation history and virtually all things animated on Animation Lookback and he too admitted that was a good theory.
You forgot one thing: giants aren't exactly humans. Why would members of supernatural species need the same training as humans?
I always thought that 'Jack and the Beanstalk' started as 'Jack The Giant Killer'. In that version, Jack brutalizes a lot of giants, mostly with a magic sword.
It's possible that it took some inspiration from the Giant Killer story, but I can't find anything concrete on that.....
However I did find that it did come into proper print around the early 18th century (originally passed orally and originally from the Cornwall area of England) and about 20 years later Jack and the Beanstalk was first published.
@@absolite6 Actually, there’s a reason Jack got associated with fighting giants, you should look into the Messed Up Origins video on Jack and the Beanstalk.
No. Those are two separate, entirely unrelated stories. Jack the Giant-Killer is set in the fantasy version of Britain depicted in the Arthurian legends, and portrays Jack serving in King Arthur's court, while Jack and the Beanstalk is an otherwise self-contained story (in English fairytales, 'Jack' is just a generic name for a male protagonist, like 'Hans' or 'Hansel' in Germany, or 'Ivan' in Russia). The stories have little in common beyond featuring a young boy who fights giants, named Jack.
@@petehill7280 Oh, like saying "Here's your Pot, Jack" or "Do these Shoes please you, Hans?" Still, I brought up the Messed up Origins video, but I never said anything about Jack the Giant Killer.
@@robbiewalker2831 Yes. Basically.
I'm glad Willie was promoted to Ghost of Xmas Present; he's a great character
Well, if Mickey and his two best friends are only actors in this beanstalk story, it only stands to reason that Willie is also just an actor in their cartoon world.
Funny fact about Willie being voiced by Walker Edminston, he also played another giant character in the Adventure in Odyssey radio drama. It is also actually a character portraying the Giant. The episode is called Pilgrim’s Progress Revisited and the Giant character’s name was Despair.
Seriously, I just realized how Mickey has tangled with more giants than I realized. Make all the giants he's defeated related.
The one from Giantland looks cooler imho.
Yeah, Gustav (the giant from The Brave Little Tailor) could be Willie’s cousin.
However, Willie is sweet, playful and talkative, while Gustav seems to be introvert and a bit unkind.
Maybe that’s why everyone prefer Willie than him
@robbiewalker2831 Dunno, Rumplewatt looks older and uglier than the other giants. And also way more violent and mean. He’s definitey not related to Willie or Gustav.
Sadly, the giant from the original tale Jack and the Beanstalk were probably more similar to Rumplewatt, according the story
Thank you for mentioning Widowmaker. When I first watched the movie, my jaw was left open at the end of the movie and I could only say "THE HORSE GOT AWAY WITH IT?!?"
god you wouldn't believe how vividly i remembered willy prying off the roof to say hi to the live action people. I was only listening to the video but it was PERFECT recall
Yay I so enjoy these villain retrospectives.
Who doesn’t?
I loved watching the JAck and the Beanstalk segment when they showed on tv with Ludwig Von Drake and his little bug friend. Also, Willy is such a loveable oaf.
This is so surreal because I used to watch Fun and Fancy Free on a VHS tape as a kid in the 90's. Your video is causing all kinds of memories to come flooding back to me.
Here's a fun fact: Willy the Giant actually has one park appearance. He shows up outside the Princess Fairytale Hall in the Princess souvenir store where he can be seen peaking through the roof with his eye and nose.
I wonder if Willie's shapeshifting powers are a reference to the ogre from Puss in Boots. They even had that bit about attempting to trick him into turning into a smaller, easily killable animal.
That's a good point. I hadn't remembered that!
Given the amount of cut content from the segment’s original feature film version, part of me wonders if the whole “turn into a fly” bit was a leftover from a previous draft that featured a similar scene to “The Brave Little Tailor” in which Mickey kills seven flies in one blow.
@@ColinLooksBack except in the case of the ogre it actually worked!
@@ColinLooksBack 14:03: I think my best and simple answer to how Willie is a giant, when his mother is smaller, could be that Willie runs under the similar logic as Clifford the Big Red Dog: normal sized when born, but gigantic when grown up.
@@ColinLooksBack 1:27 - 1:53: Speaking of Snow White, I can understand, from a pacing perspective, that having Snow White being "dead" 2 times by a Corset and a Hair Comb does seem to break the tension that she would die, and would've treated the Poison Apple as more of a joke than an actual threat.
Fun and fancy free is Disney’s most underrated movie
Especially Bongo, Lulubelle, and Lumpjaw. I love Bongo!
You know, people drivel on about the whole thing with Jack climbing the beanstalk and intruding on the giant's home, but I don't know about you, but anyone who'd say (and possibly even promptly do) something like "Be he alive or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread.", is probably not someone that's all that pleasent to begin with.
I remember the book Mickey and the Giant. I read it too and it’s close to my heart as well
The Headless Horseman short is the first where nearly everyone is not so good , Ichobod is pretty much a gold digger .
Katrina is also rather manipulative
Well look at it this way in the story itself- Ichabod is the only British person in a very dutch "state". And also at the time of the story (1700s) teachers didn't get paid there's were only two choices for them: 1)go and train to be a pastor for churches or 2)marry well. And also if I recall in a later story (which has nothing to do with Disney) doesn't Laura Ingall as a teacher- stay in some pupil's homes so she's able to get some food and board? Laura Ingall's Wilder's books take place between 1870 and 1894. And also besides being the teacher of the one schoolhouse in the town- he's also the choir director. Because the teacher job paid that poorly. He's getting paid enough to be able to board outside of a pupil's house but he still goes around to pupils' home to get "paid" in food. So if you were in Ichbod's shoes which would you choose: pastoring or marrying Katrina?
Rumplewatt was also in Kingdom Hearts III in one of the mini-games. I knew I'd seen him somewhere, but I remember the Gustav short a lot clearer.
Anyway, thank you for this series, it's so fun to watch and I would have never learned so many of these facts without you!
Quite interesting. Lumpjaw and Willie are like opposite characters. Lumpjaw revels in his strength and thinks that everyone should look up to him. He’s like a high school quarterback, always showing off for the girls. Willie is like a sweet but arrogant overly strong child. Too bad they didn’t get to meet each other. Seems like a lost opportunity. Maybe in some future project.
Great video. I’m a little bit surprised you’re skipping Melody Time, (Personally, I do consider Widowmaker a villain. As you mentioned, he basically murdered Bill’s girlfriend out of petty jealousy, and even deliberately stopped him from saving her) but it’s no great loss.
In my opinion, I think Slue Foot Sue was the villain of Melody Time. Widowmaker and Pecos Bill were inseparable almost all of Pecos Bill's life. Slue Foot Sue was the breaking point of his friendship with the horse. Didn't she completely seduce him so she could get his attention? I mean, she waltzed right into his life without any reason (powerding your face while wrangling a catfish is quite impressive, I'll admit), and throughout the whole film she seemed like she wanted to distract him from his original partner in crime. What Widowmaker did was out of jealousy that didn't go according to plan. I dunno, I love Pecos Bill and this is my own thought, but tell me what you think about this. 😁
@@sjsaunders1971 I don't think Sue was a villain. She could be considered an antagonist since she came between them, but I don't think it was her intention. I remember being horrified at her fate as a kid since while she seemed vain, she didn't seem bad, she was pretty awesome and deserved better.
There’s also some Indians who Bill chases around for no apparent reason and non-sapient instrument monsters that menace a bee.
@@sjsaunders1971 I disagree. Slue Foot Sue was living her life when they ran across each other. Implying that it's all HER fault that Bill thought she was attractive and wanted to marry her is a pretty narrow reading. Pecos Bill fell in love with her as much as she fell in love with him.
Making a beanstalk with my favorite I was born in 1985 I don't remember that far of Walt Disney movies I seen when I was a kid
Props for using the Brothers Bear theme.
In the Swedish dub Willle is voiced by the same guy who did Kronk's voice in The Emperor's New Groove ! I believe the dubbb of Mickey and the Beanstalk Shared the same director as the Swedish dubbing ob shared the same director as the Swedish
Patrick waterburn as willy?! I can see that
@@Bugwaterbugwaterbugwater1 he said Swedish dub, not English dub.
thank you for the goofy rendition of giants in the sky xD
Gustav is apparently named after Gustaf Tenggren. Tenggren was the artist who set the style for the Disney films "The Old Mill", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", and "Pinocchio".
R. I. P. Will Ryan 1949 - 2021😢
I assume Bill Faggerbakke will replace him, given the 2017 Ducktales. Shame, he was one of the oldest active Disney voice actors along with Pat Caroll and Frank Welker.
EDIT: This comment is even sadder now that Pat's gone too.
I think Bob Joles will replace will Ryan! Due impart to Billy Gilbert voicing Sneezy and Willie the Giant!🤔
Willie is my favorite. He's likable and funny! He's just misunderstood. Poor guy!
I am so glad that I have so many like-minded people! I love this character, but none of my friends probably even know about him. Too bad, he's such a cute character
11:04 The comedic timing of that gag is just delightful
Great video as always! Any video in this retrospective is always a wellcome surprise in my day!
The Brave Little Tailor is one of my favorite Mickey cartoons. I love the animation and humor of the cartoon.
speaking of which Mickey and the Beanstalk is one of my favorite adaptations of this classic fairy tale along with the one with Abbott and Costello (since the film itself is in the public domain) and even Mario and the Beanstalk from the Super Mario Bros Super Show!
You know, given how Mario is an expy of Popeye, I’m surprised Popeye has his fair share of shorts that are associated with myths, legends, and fairytales.
Me too!😄
The Oscar nominated Mickey and the beanstalk is one of my favorite adaptations of this classic fairy tale along with the 1967 Hanna barbera adaptation too!😄
Since Willie and Gustav are similar characteristically and visually, I imagine them being cousins.
Heck with it, make them also related to Rumplewatt.
@@92JazzQueen Rumplewatt looks cool. Don’t know why Disney used him less.
That Mickey and the Giant book just unlocked a deep core memory. When you mentioned the brave little tailor thing I immediately remembered 'man, I think I had a book like that' and then you showed the cover.
Wow, I thought this movie was a fever dream I'd had as a kid. Great review man.
Hey, just wanna say I love these retrospectives, It's clear you put so much time into researching and editing these videos and I really hope you get more recognition. Keep up the good work!
Great vid! You deserve so many more subs and views.
Another great video in this series. I never knew how the real story of "Bongo" went. Very interesting. I used to have the "Mickey Meets the Giant" book you praise so highly it's a good.
Regarding the way the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk" was rearranged to give it more morality, some versions, such as the Faerie Tale Theatre one, make it so that the things Jack stole were originally his father's and had been stolen by the giant. And one other thing, about Mickey in "Fun and Fancy Free" there's been some debate from various sources regarding whether it was Jim McDonald's first time as Mickey or Walt Disney's last.
The brave little tailor was on a vhs I had as a kid with some other shorts about romance, it was called "mickey loves minnie"
If I’m remembering correctly, Fun and Fancy Free was the last time Walt ever voiced Mickey Mouse due to not only being too busy with his other responsibilities as head of the studio to continue taking on the role, but years of smoking made it harder for him to perform as Mickey and it was too painful for him to do.
Walt did not play micky in this film. he mentions when talking about lumpjaw that some guy with the last name of Mcdonald played mickey
@ The Chill Reaper
Actually, it was both. “Fun and Fancy Free” was Walt’s last film to voice Mickey Mouse, and Jimmy MacDonald took over for lines of dialogue Walt had difficulty recording before coming his permanent replacement.
@@Bugwaterbugwaterbugwater1 Walt and Jim both portrayed Mickey in the movie before Jim took over full time.
I think it was the "Mickey's Delayed Date" short. Thoguh he later did stuff for the Mickey Mouse Club, with his voice definitely having changed from all the smoking.
@@nataliejarosz9360 That sounds about right though I’ll admit I haven’t seen ‘em
I need a full on production of Into the Woods right now with the Disney characters after that Goofy cover at the end
Willie had a counterpart in Once Upon a Time, too, who had a character arc I really liked which had a really sweet ending. His name was Tiny, he had kind of an Ariel "part of your world" thing going on, and he eventually found a place where he belonged & was loved and accepted :')
You know, when you reach John Silver from "Treasure Planet", i recomend you to touch other sci-fi versions of him - His version from "Treasure island in outer space" and more sinister take - John SuperSilver from the 1982 film
The giant being able to transform into other things is taken from the Puss In Boots tale, where the ogre (the story's villain) can do exactly the same and the titular character tries to trick him the same way Mickey does...And this trick seems to also be inspired by the Greek Mythology, where Zeus does the same thing with his first wife
I heard you playing Mickey's Magical adventure SNES music
Willie also made an appearance in this old Disney ice show they did in 1988 for Mickey's 60th birthday. One scene there is themed to "Mickey and the Beanstalk" and has everyone in the castle have a run-in with Willie, although in this case, the only thing one sees of him here is his hand as he tries to catch them.
I was actually familiar with a third version of "Mickey and the Beanstalk". Unlike the "Fun and Fancy Free" and "Ludwig von Drake" versions, there was no frame story, and the narration was performed entirely off-screen by early Disney regular Sterling Holloway, (known for voicing characters such as the Cheshire Cat, Winnie the Pooh, and Kaa the python) without any additional narrators. This lack of interplay between multiple characters in the narration led to certain minor adjustments in the story line, such as the brief appearance of the Red Barn being removed. Willie the Giant's roof-lifting appearance at the end of the story is also absent. Instead, as Willie is plummeting downward after Mickey, Goofy and Donald cut down the beanstalk, the impact of his landing causes the book (which is apparently the one containing the story, as it features a cover picture of Willie angrily chasing Mickey and his friends) to slam shut. This version was VCR recorded by my family from a TV broadcast in the early 1990s, and seems to have been created sometime after the story was detached from "Fun and Fancy Free".
I think it’ll be better for all of us if we just assume two things about Willie’s inception with his mother.
1. He was most likely adopted and he had birth parents who were giants
2. He was born a normal sized human, but gained his magic powers and made himself a giant but couldn’t remember how to change himself back.
Either one of those theories are mine and I’m stuck with either one
Something I remember from watching this movie is that in the scene where Lumpjaw was approaching, I had thought that it was a bunch of hunters that were coming in since I was familiar with Bambi and the Fox and the Hound which both had hunters as the antagonists.
During the fight scene in the movie, I remember there was a scene where Bongo was snorting like a motor car almost as if he was sprayed by Mickey's bravo potion from the cartoon, The Worm Turns. It does make sense for those sound effects to be used to me since it showed Bongo was building up his courage to face Lumpjaw.
I think a re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk story would work a lot better today if the villain was the man who traded Jack the beans for the cow. That he secretly knew of their purpose and the giant's treasures. And so he let's/forces Jack to do the dirty work, while he holds the mother hostage. He would meet his demise with either the giant falling on top of him, or smashed/captured by said giant.
I watched this movie too many times to count as a kid, glad someone's made a video on it 😁
Willie the Giant is one of my favorite "Disney" Villains!
:)
16:24 I looked it up. The actor is identified. Rumblewatt was voiced by someone named Homer Hall.
You neglected to mention how Willie is part of the decor in the Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland gift shop Sir Sir Mickey's, shown trying pry off the roof of the store.
What....
I remember Mickey and the Beanstalk really vividly, or at least the part where they're starving and slicing shriveled peas. And I remember Michael & Co. playing mind games with Willie. I even remember how the Harp looked and that bit at the end with the puppet, but I _do not_ remember him turning into a giant pink bunny LOL
I like the original idea of the bear story, kind of Fox and the Hound or Call of the Wild-esque.
Though its black and whiteness of life in the wild and in captivity sounds weird.
Quite surprising that out of the three giants that Mickey has faced, the most obscure one (Rumpelwatt) is the only one who appears in Kingdom Hearts (in a Minigame from 3, but that's still more than what Gustav and Willie have to offer).
Fun and fancy free had a weirdly prominent presence in my childhood media so I'm here for this
1:29. Love the background music choice
Comicolor reference at 9:16. Love it! 😍
Something about the oufish clockmaker that’s only seen in the statue when you read about his lore is that he uses the violet, rainbow gem to build the clock tower, but in a twist of events, the more he uses the gem, he becomes slower and much more clumsy. I am aware that this isn’t a retrospective on some video game bosses from Mickey’s past although that would be a good idea to talk about some of them. There are a few interesting battles. Just wanted to talk about that. I learned it recently.
Once I heard the fact that the general idea of check in the beanstalk is set to take back 5000 years I was so surprised and I said out loud 5000 years!
Will you also ne talking about villains from disney animated shows like Amphibia and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers.
Good video I never got to see these movies as a child.
12:39 I personally think Willie wanted to hang out with Mickey to celebrate the completion of filming Mickey and the Beanstalk.
I loved this movie as a kid! I tended to fast-forward over the "Bongo" section to get to the parts with Edgar Bergen. This was my first introduction to ventriliquism, so I found the puppets fascinating. I didn't quite understand what they were, so I wondered where I could meet these strange wooden people.
That's really adorable. I remember having a similar reaction to Toy Story when it first came out. I thought the CGI plastic toys looked so good (at the time), that I was convinced that some of them, like Potato Head, were animatronics or puppets. The more things change, huh?
I started watching all 8 of theses (so far) today. They are all, like, 20 minutes!
I wonder if those that got a tv series like Lion King , Big Hero 6 and Tangled will be longer ?
@@nicholassims9837 maybe
Fun fact Rumple giant appears in a mini Game in Kingdom heart 3.
Happy 75th Anniversary, Fun and Fancy Free.🎼🎵🎶
I had that Mickey and the Giant picture book as well!!
I Read it when I was in school!😄
I just realized Splash mountain could have been themed to Bongo instead of Song of the south, it could still have reused the America sings animatronics, the location could have still been the same (maybe keeping its original name Bear country) and the log flume ride system would have been perfectly fitting referencing the fight between Bongo and Lumpjaw, plus it would have made a great comeback for the story and its characters. But alas i still think that with the Song of the south theming Disney still had a good choice
20:34 don't forget about Mr. Winkie (yes that's his actual name) and Brom Bones
Willie needs to come back in some capacity
I agree, he's a great character
I remember the Mickey Mouse cartoon where he is a Tailor and he has to battle against the Giant Gustav.
I remember that Mickey was trying to swat flies in his house, only to swat all 7 flies in one go.
Then Mickey is so excited that he achieved swatting 7 flies in one go, he tells the entire town about it.
At the same time, the town is having a problem with a large Giant and Mickey bursts in saying he had killed 7 in one go, completely unaware of the town's Giant problem that causes the misunderstanding.
Of course the town thinks Mickey is the Giant Killer when he is only just a Tailor who just happened to kill 7 flies in one swat.
Hey, I used to have a copy of the Mickey meets the Giant book when I was little! 🤩
RIP Will Ryan
Yay! the new retrospective is here!
The background music starting at 6:00 is Brothers Bear from the Donkey Kong Country 3 soundtrack. Major props to you, man.
Goofy doing Sondheim is definitely enough to earn a sub.
Brilliant video, friend!
"Mickey and the Beanstalk" was also featured on an episode of the early 1970s show called "The Mouse Factory", with narration in this case done by ventriloquist Shari Lewis, as she tells the story to her sheep puppet friend Lamb Chop.
Nice Goofy impression LOL! And great video.
In my Battle Royale series, there is a twist on the "Jack and the Beanstalk", where the giant is actually Jack's deadbeat illegitimate father & Jack himself is actually half giant himself.
Willy the Giant might not have shown off his shape-shifting talent much, but decades later, Robin Williams' Genie made up for that.
Hey, I know I said this last time, but which Five Night's at Freddy's animatronic scared you the most? Circus Baby scared me the most since she look out of place and, at home the most, uncanny valley. She is also sadistic and have hunted children, which makes her even scarier.
This short confused me a bit as kid the same way that lady and the tramp 2 would, where the main characters and his love interest look way younger than the bullies that want to get them for themselves, and it worries me a bit now
Willie made cameos in House of Mouse ordering three bean salad and telling Willie the Whale that Hades gives him the "willies".
Been waiting for this great video as always
Colin, you should look back at the Buzz Lightyear cartoon.
I like Willie the Giant.
Who do you think would win in a fight? Willie the Giant or Hugo the Abominable Snowman from Looney Tunes? And who would be the first to call the other one "George?" Jokes aside, it seems that with the Mickey and the Beanstalk cartoon, even in the full version, they combined the stories of Jack and the Beanstalk and Puss in Boots. The ogre or giant (depending on the version you are familiar with) does the same thing in the Puss story, right down to the hero tricking him into shrinking down to crush or capture him. Seems like the Mickey cartoon was actually subverting the ending of that story by having the giant too smart to fall for it.
that is true, but have you noticed that willie didn't ever used is transforming ability in any of his later appearance, that is really a shame especially since they weren't used that much in the movie
I find it weird in the Willie the giant was introduced as a full on angry monstrous bad guy but his later apperiances like the Christmas Carol and the mickey mouse clubhouse he's more of a kind, goofy and silly character
It is likely that the fact that he was not completely evil contributed to his “correction”
Disney: makes package films.
Me: I hope Colin covers these 😂
14:03 I've seen Grape Ape episodes that feature HIS human-sized parents, so this isn't anything that new to me.
Could you please tell me the name of the episode?
very excited for the headless horseman video