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Techtite's DVD Reviews! |
"Though cartoons like this are now considered quite "dated" next to Toy Story and Incredibles, this 1976 anime tale still holds its own as a memorable classic." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No Sidebar Comments for this review. Yet... ...
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Jack and the Beanstalk (1976)
Click picture to order this DVD A Techtite ReviewDirected by Gisaburo Sugii, Jack and the Beanstalk is one of those first signs that someone besides Disney's Animation Studios could make an amusing feature length animated film. What's more for anime fans; it's done in a sort of American/Anime style that makes cartoons like these an underdog favorite. Add some surprisingly good toe-tapping songs, and you have one of the possibly must-have cartoons of the summer 2005 season (when it was first released on disc). Mind you, as in all cases of anime, this is not your typical retelling of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk story. Change number one: the " giant" of the story is given a name, and in delicious dark humor, his name is Tulip! The giant even has a mother, who is actually a witch. She's cast a spell on the princess of this realm (yes, much like many anime stories, there's a princess to be saved here), in an attempt to get the princess to marry Tulip and then they will have free reign to rule this kingdom forever. Of course, this is where Jack comes in, albeit with help from sources also not in the original story. For one thing; his dog comes with him, which may seem odd considering that the dog had to climb up a beanstalk to get there, but when it comes to sidekicks, this mutt has some good staying power. In addition to his dog, Jack comes across the former residents of the castle, who have been turned into mice. Yeah; someone must've been a real fan of Disney's Cinderella, but I'm a major fan of that film too, so I cannot complain here. Nor can I complain about the musical numbers. Outside of Disney, and possibly Don Bluth films like Anastasia, I'd be hard pressed to name any music I really like in any other animated feature films...aside from this one. Sure it's not the sort of music you'd put in your CD player as you go to the office, but kids who are used to humming the theme to Spongebob Squarepants will really love the music here. (Actually that compliment didn't come out right but...you get what I mean.) From a cute ballad by the enchanted princess "No One Is Happier Than I," to the almost Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks style tune the mice sing while helping Jack escape Tulip for the first time, and the totally haunting marriage theme "Are you...happy?"; this is some cool music. In a sense this music is what makes this film even more special. The problem with this DVD is minimal; due to its underdog cult hit status there aren't a lot of extras on this DVD, hence the reason you don't see a huge list of extras reviewed here, a la other Techtite.com reviews. Only the American film trailer from the 1970's is present, plus an amusing treat to hear the movie in both the Americanized audio, and the original Japanese audio of the film. That's an amusing treat in itself. So much the cult favorite this film slowly became, it has been relegated to VHS for years, only to be sold online for well over $100, due to supply and demand for this hard to find video. Now that it's on DVD just about everyone can enjoy it, and enjoy it they should. Sure you can rent it on DVD and buy it later (on netflix, look for a Jack and the Beanstalk dated "1974"). The point is: if you like classic anime from the 1970's, you're really going to love this one. This anime Jack's a real keeper.
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