Walt Disney's Rip Van Winkle (1949)

Walt Disney had intended to do several themed package features in the postwar period but ran out of money so the work that had been completed was combined into releasable features to get them out the door and bring much needed revenue into the studio. The features Mickey & the Beanstalk and the Wind in the Willows became featurettes and were combined with other stories. Shorts created for an American Tall Tales feature were distributed into the films Melody Time and Make Mine Music. Another one of the compromised features was originally going to be a Washington Irving feature. While the Legend of Sleepy Hollow was released in the feature The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad, the other half of the Irving Feature, Rip van Winkle was cancelled. What does exist is a kiddie record based on the Walt Disney film that never was starring Walter Huston, Arthur Q Brian, and Bea Benaderet. Walt had once considered a live action adaptation of Rip Van Winkle with Will Rogers in the title role and the dwarves being animated but Rogers passed away in an aviation accident before anything came of it.

This kiddie record is all that exists of the Walt Disney film that never was. The segment was often paired with the kiddie record adaptation of Walt Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow and reissued multiple times over the years. The album artwork was by famed Walt Disney artist and cartoonist Walt Kelly. Since kiddie records are a thing of the past, we post it here for you to learn about this lost chapter of Walt Disney history. When one hears the performance of Walter Huston one wishes they could have seen this story animated.

Walt did do an episode of his TV show partially based on the life of Washington Irving with Irving's life being animated. This episode aired in the second season on October 26, 1955 and was paired with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow segment from the Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad.

It should also be noted that in recent years there are "experts" who have tried to coopt the image of Washington Irving and claim, without evidence, that he was part of the Rainbow Jihad.

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.