I believe this to be the oldest movie that the Nostalgia Critic ever reviewed, not counting films featured on his show. It's amazing how the DVD costs about 300 dollars and yet you can see it for free on YouTube! Anyway, this is pretty much the standard story of Jack And The Beanstalk. The biggest addition is this princess who is being forced to marry the giant. Honestly, all the characters here are pretty likeable. It seems clichéd at times but it actually does get pretty subversive at the end.It's fascinating to see an anime film from 1974. It doesn't look like anime at all. In fact, it's more like an American animated movie! I admit it is pretty quirky but it actually does have nice looking animation and I learned to associate with the characters and the like. Yeah, they never do explain how the dog can talk in just that one scene. A pity there's so much controversy with Channel Awesome nowadays. ***

A young boy named Jack climbs a giant beanstalk and stumbles upon a city in the clouds ruled by an evil queen.I have never really enjoyed anime. Some is alright, but even the hugely successful and popular films just do not really resonate with me. This one is different. The animation is certainly interesting, with only the princes really looking like what I expect from Japanese artists. So that helps, that multiple styles were used.But this is also just so clever. Taking a classic tale, adding in music and lyrics, and a bit of a mystical twist. This is less about stealing fro ma giant than about saving a kingdom. Can "a simple farm boy" handle the task?

The western cartoons of the 70s are trippy enough as it is, what with psychedelic images, rock star like musical numbers and the occasional horror shot. But what happens when Japan takes a crack at this style, a visually messed up yet strangely entertaining story. The story is very much the same as the fairy tale it's based on. Jack lives in a poor home, sells the cow for magic beans, his mother gets mad, abuses him with a broom and throws them out. Typical fairy tale BS, but here's where things are different. Instead of just a giant you have an Evil Witch, with a giant for a son, who plots to marry him off to the magically lobotomized Princess of the Clouds, Margaret. Jack at first is reluctant to stop the two, opting instead to steal their treasure and RLH back home, but an attack of conscience (In the form of his dog having a Michigan J. Frog moment) causes him to climb back up and help save her. There are only two gripes I have, one that it ends on a down note that Thor ends up emulating. (Seriously no hint of Jack having a chance to return save for assuring the princess.) And The Giant not saying the iconic phrase "Fee Fi Fo Fum" Other than that, you're in for a roller-coaster of a movie.

In the early 80s I seen this cartoon on Cinemax at my friends home. 20 years later I found the VHS of the movie and bought it in a heartbeat. The cartoon is the basic Jack and The Beanstalk story with a huge twist. The cartoon is japan animation! the quality is super smooth and rivals Disney's quality work from the past. The story even has many songs that any child can enjoy. The classic cheesy sound effects from cartoons are there but, the movie has a very dark ending and may be too un p.c. for the new generation of fans. I seen this movie go for about $10 to $40 on VHS. i have seen the movie poster go for $200!! Last thing, the movie feels like it runs for a good 2 hours with excellent story line that is way far advanced than the average cartoon offers. As I stated, a rare gem of a cartoon. I personally had dumped my VHS footage to DVD format and cleaned up the quality to enjoy it over and over again. I would love to see a official DVD come out of this one.