Monthly Archives: November 2013

November 25, 1933 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film Giantland is Released to Theaters

“Tell us a story, Uncle Mickey! Yes, tell us a story, Uncle Mickey!”

On November 25, 1933, the Mickey Mouse short film Giantland was released to theaters. This short is known as the precursor to the “Mickey and the Beanstalk” segment of the 1947 package film Fun and Fancy Free; there are also many similarities to this short and the 1938 short The Brave Little Tailor. The short film was directed by Burt Gillett.

The short begins with Mickey reading Jack and the Beanstalk to his nephews. They are rapt with attention as he begins the story, and soon, Mickey inserts himself into the story, and the group begins to imagine Mickey climbing up the beanstalk, entering Giantland. He arrives at the castle door and hears the singing of the King of Giantland. He hides in the keyhole to avoid being spotted, and enters inside, trying to hide in the sugar bowl. Mickey is accidentally scooped up with a sugar cube and place in the giant’s cup of coffee, but manages to escape. After hiding in a block of Swiss cheese, Mickey is then accidentally eaten by the giant, and works to keep himself from being swallowed. When the giant develops hiccups, he swallows a jug full of water, but Mickey is able to once again avoid being swallowed.

Mickey arms himself with pepper against the angry giant king

Mickey starts choking on the smoke from the giant’s pipe, and when the giant removes his pipe, he discovers the mouse. A chase ensues across the kitchen table, and Mickey ends up trapped in an empty bottle. The giant proclaims that he now has Mickey, but Mickey bites the giant’s finger and escapes, heading straight for the pepper shaker. He uses the pepper, and a spoon as a catapult, to cause the giant to sneeze. His sneezes are powerful enough to destroy the castle, and Mickey is sent flying to the ends of Giantland, where he slides down the beanstalk and burns it as the giant comes climbing down. The giant is sent tumbling to the ground, creating a massive hole where he falls. The scene then goes back to Mickey telling the story, saying that the giant went “down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down. And he came out in China.”