Editing Fun and Fancy Free (section)

==Production==
During the 1940s, ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'' and ''Bongo'' were originally going to be developed as two separate feature films.

In the late 1930s, Mickey's popularity fell behind Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, [[Max Fleischer]]'s [[Popeye]] and [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|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 film)|Fantasia]]'' (1940). In early 1940, during production on ''Fantasia'', animators Bill Cottrell and [[T. Hee]] had [[Pitch (filmmaking)|pitched]] the idea of a feature film based on ''[[Jack and the Beanstalk]]'' starring Mickey Mouse as Jack and with Donald Duck and Goofy as supporting characters. When they pitched it to Disney, he "burst out laughing with tears rolling down his cheeks with joy", as Cottrell and Hee later recalled. Disney enjoyed the pitch so much he invited other employees to listen to it. However, he said that, as much as he enjoyed the pitch of the film, the film itself would never go into production, because, as Disney claimed, they "murdered [his] characters".{{sfn|Gabler|2006|pp=425–26}} 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.<ref name="fancyfree">{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k58ee1JfIM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/5k58ee1JfIM| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=The Story Behind Fun and Fancy Free|year=1997|type=Bonus feature|format=VHS|publisher=Walt Disney Home Video|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The original treatment was more-or-less the same as what became the final film. However, there were a few deleted scenes. For example, there was a scene in which Mickey took the cow to market where he meets [[The Fox and the Cat|Honest John and Gideon]] from ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'' who con him into trading his cow for the "magic beans".<ref name="fancyfree" /> Another version had a scene where Mickey gave the cow to the Queen (played by [[Minnie Mouse]]) as a gift, and in return she gave him the magic beans. However, both scenes were cut when the story was trimmed for ''Fun and Fancy Free'' and the film does not explain how Mickey got the beans.<ref name="fancyfree" />

Shortly after the rough animation on ''[[Dumbo]]'' was complete in May 1941, ''The Legend of Happy Valley'' went into production, using many of the same animation crew, although RKO doubted it would be a success.{{sfn|Barrier|1999|pp=280, 309}} Since it was a simple, low-budget film, in six months, fifty minutes had been animated on ''Happy Valley''. Then on October 27, 1941, due to the [[Disney animators' strike]] and [[World War II]] which had cut off Disney's foreign release market caused serious debts so Disney put ''The Legend of Happy Valley'' on hold.{{sfn|Barrier|1999|p=309}}

Meanwhile, production was starting on ''Bongo'', a film based on the short story written by Sinclair Lewis for ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|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;<ref name="fancyfree"/> however, the idea never fully materialized. In earlier drafts, Bongo had a [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] as a friend and partner in his circus act. She was first called "Beverly" then "Chimpy", but the character was ultimately dropped when condensing the story.<ref name="fancyfree"/> Bongo and Chimpy also encountered two mischievous bear cubs who were dropped.<ref name="fancyfree"/> Originally, the designs for the characters were more realistic, but when paired for ''Fun and Fancy Free'' the designs were simplified and drawn more cartoony.<ref name="fancyfree"/> The script was nearly completed by December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on [[Pearl Harbor]].<ref name="fancyfree"/>

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 (1951 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' and ''[[Peter Pan (1953 film)|Peter Pan]]'' were shelved.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Bob|title=Walt Disney: An American Original|edition=2nd|year=1994|publisher=Disney Editions|isbn=978-0-786-86027-2|pages=175–177}}</ref> During and after the war, Disney stopped producing single narrative feature films due to costs and decided to make [[anthology film|package films]] consisting of animated shorts to make feature films. He did this during the war on ''[[Saludos Amigos]]'' and ''[[The Three Caballeros]]'' and continued after the war until he had enough money to make a single narrative feature again.

Disney felt that since the animation of ''Bongo'' and ''The Legend of Happy Valley'' (which had been renamed ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'') was not sophisticated enough to be a Disney animated feature film, the artists decided to include the story in a package film.{{sfn|Barrier|1999|p=309}} 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''.{{sfn|Barrier|1999|p=394}} Ultimately, ''Mickey and the Beanstalk'' was cut from ''Two Fabulous Characters'' and paired with ''Bongo'' instead. 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]]''.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=458}}

Disney had provided the voice for Mickey Mouse since his debut in 1928, and ''Fun and Fancy Free'' was the last time he would voice the role regularly, as he no longer had the time or energy to do so. Disney recorded most of Mickey's dialogue in the spring and summer of 1941. Sound effects artist [[Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)|Jimmy MacDonald]] would become the character's new voice actor, starting in 1948.{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=426}} Disney, however, did reprise the role for the introduction to the original 1955–1959 run of ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media|title="Color Titles from 'The Mickey Mouse Club'"|series=''[[Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Three|Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Volume 2]]''|medium=DVD|year=2005|publisher=Walt Disney Video}}</ref>

Celebrities Edgar Bergen and Dinah Shore introduced the segments in order to appeal to a mass audience. [[Jiminy Cricket]] from ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'' sings "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow", a song written for and cut from ''Pinocchio'' before its release.<ref name="fancyfree"/>