Jack and the Beanstalk (1974)

Jack and the Beanstalk (ジャックと豆の木, Jakku to Mame no Ki) is a 1974 Japanese animated feature film produced by Group TAC and Nippon Herald Films and directed by Gisaburō Sugii. Styled after classical Western animation, it is a musical fantasy based on the fairy tale of the same name with the screenplay by Shūji Hirami, music organization by Yū Aku and songs and score composed and arranged by Takashi Miki with Shun'ichi Tokura and Tadao Inōe. It was released in Japan on July 20, 1974 and in the United States by Columbia Pictures in 1974.

The feature is both Group TAC's first and the first directed by Sugii and particularly unusual in the nature of its Western influence, which extends to animation being assigned by character (rather than by scene as it is conventionally in Japan) and the eclecticism of its soundtrack, which includes examples of kayōkyoku pop, progressive, funk and hard rock, enka and other genres. It is sometimes confused with Tōei's Jack and the Witch, thanks to their similarly named title characters, and should also not be confused with the 1993 OVA directed by Kōji Morimoto of the same name and tale.

Synopsis

Although the film's story is rooted in the familiar fairy tale of the same name, this version does add a few new characters and plot twists. The tale starts out in the manner that most of us are accustomed to—Jack resides with his mother in a small house out in the country. Being very poor, they eventually find themselves forced to sell their cow, which has stopped giving milk. Jack runs into a mysterious man on the way into town and trades the cow for a handful of "magic" beans. Jack's mother is not very thrilled with him and ends up throwing the beans out the window.

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