Mickey and the Beanstalk

Published April 07, 2018 • Updated October 26, 2022

Mickey and the Beanstalk card game devised by Ern Shaw for Pepys Games, 1947.

Mickey and the Beanstalk card game was devised by Ern Shaw for Pepys Games based on the Disney animated film “Fun and Fancy Free”, 1947. It is in fact a retelling of the English fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk” featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as three peasants who discover Willie the Giant’s castle in the sky through the use of some magic beans. Their adventures involve finding the singing golden harp and the key and also include a special fold-out piece in the form of a beanstalk which has to be cut down before the giant reaches them. See the Box►

Mickey and the Beanstalk devised by Ern Shaw for Pepys Games, 1947

Above: Mickey and the Beanstalk card game devised by Ern Shaw for Pepys Games, 1947, including a special fold-out piece in the form of a beanstalk.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many. His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service. Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.