Like most all of Paul Terry's Terry Tunes, this one delivers. It's about seven minutes long, and is a liberal merging/retelling of "The Little Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe" and "Jack And The Beanstalk." This is actually better than it sounds, and it has several cute late 1940s surealistic touches, but it doesn't play them up too much. Cute without being cloying, and funny, though not particularly hilarious, it's well worth the time to watch, assuming you can find it anywhere. As with all of the 800-odd Terry Tunes, it's seldom shown and hard to come by.
3 Reviews
Terrytoons up the beanstalk
TheLittleSongbird11 December 2020
It is always very interesting when 'Jack and the Beanstalk' is adapted (which it has been frequently), or more re-told, in animation. Many of which charming, funny and clever. 'The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe' is nowhere near as much adapted, to my knowledge it rarely has, then again it is not easy to adapt a charming enough but very slight story with it having only enough content for a 5-6 minute (if even that) short film though Fleischer Studios did give it a good go in 1935 with 'The Kids in the Shoe'. Seeing both stories combined here sounded very interesting.
1946's 'Beanstalk Jack' was one of the very few Terrytoons cartoons that year to not feature a character that appeared in more than one Terrytoon, in a year where Gandy/Sourpuss and Mighty Mouse dominated and introduced the Heckle and Jeckle series. The others being 'The Tortoise Wins Again', 'The Housing Problem' and 'The Snow Man', the first two being among the better 1946 Terrytoons and the third a lesser one. 'Beanstalk Jack' is another one of the better ones.
'Beanstalk Jack's' narration to me wasn't really necessary, and it is also very corny and melodramatic which didn't gel with the rest of the cartoon. For a cartoon meant to combine two stories or have elements of both, there is nowhere near enough of 'The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe'. To the extent that part of me forgot that the cartoon was meant to be a mix of the two. Most of it is 'Jack and the Beanstalk' heavy and all the best moments are with that story.
The cartoon for my liking starts off a little on the slow side and slightly too cute.
Luckily, once Jack is up the beanstalk 'Beanstalk Jack' really picks up, becomes much livelier and the content is significantly more interesting. Jack is a likeable lead character and good use is made of the hen, particularly in the portion featuring their escape, but it's the giant that sticks out most memorably. He has some of the most amusing moments and he is suitably sinister as well like in his brutal (without being sadistic) treatment of the hen without ever making things too dark. While little is hilarious, the gags are more than most of the 1946 Terrytoons cartoons and none of them misfire. Some very amusing moments here and some nice touches peppered throughout. The pace once things pick up is crisp and it never gets too cloying or get excessive with the surrealism elements.
Music is fantastic and as ever with Terrytoons the best thing about 'Beanstalk Jack'. It is beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is terrific fun to listen to and the lively energy is present throughout, doing so well with adding to the action. Close behind was the animation, as said more than once this component has come on considerably since the Terrytoons Studio first started. Overall, it is nicely detailed, lively and colourful, with nice attention to detail on the castle and the beanstalk and vibrant colours that don't look garish.
Overall, well done and a good way to end a very variable batch. 7/10
1946's 'Beanstalk Jack' was one of the very few Terrytoons cartoons that year to not feature a character that appeared in more than one Terrytoon, in a year where Gandy/Sourpuss and Mighty Mouse dominated and introduced the Heckle and Jeckle series. The others being 'The Tortoise Wins Again', 'The Housing Problem' and 'The Snow Man', the first two being among the better 1946 Terrytoons and the third a lesser one. 'Beanstalk Jack' is another one of the better ones.
'Beanstalk Jack's' narration to me wasn't really necessary, and it is also very corny and melodramatic which didn't gel with the rest of the cartoon. For a cartoon meant to combine two stories or have elements of both, there is nowhere near enough of 'The Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe'. To the extent that part of me forgot that the cartoon was meant to be a mix of the two. Most of it is 'Jack and the Beanstalk' heavy and all the best moments are with that story.
The cartoon for my liking starts off a little on the slow side and slightly too cute.
Luckily, once Jack is up the beanstalk 'Beanstalk Jack' really picks up, becomes much livelier and the content is significantly more interesting. Jack is a likeable lead character and good use is made of the hen, particularly in the portion featuring their escape, but it's the giant that sticks out most memorably. He has some of the most amusing moments and he is suitably sinister as well like in his brutal (without being sadistic) treatment of the hen without ever making things too dark. While little is hilarious, the gags are more than most of the 1946 Terrytoons cartoons and none of them misfire. Some very amusing moments here and some nice touches peppered throughout. The pace once things pick up is crisp and it never gets too cloying or get excessive with the surrealism elements.
Music is fantastic and as ever with Terrytoons the best thing about 'Beanstalk Jack'. It is beautifully and cleverly orchestrated and arranged, is terrific fun to listen to and the lively energy is present throughout, doing so well with adding to the action. Close behind was the animation, as said more than once this component has come on considerably since the Terrytoons Studio first started. Overall, it is nicely detailed, lively and colourful, with nice attention to detail on the castle and the beanstalk and vibrant colours that don't look garish.
Overall, well done and a good way to end a very variable batch. 7/10
Entertaining variation on two fairy tales
llltdesq15 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
This is a Terrytoon one shot cartoon. There will be spoilers ahead:
Terrytoons animated shorts were produced cheaply and Paul Terry wasn't interested in producing art, he wanted to make a profit. Working within these constraints, his directors and animators still managed to turn out entertaining shorts which looked rather nice to boot.
This short is a combination of the fairy tales of Jack and the Beanstalk and The Old Woman In the Shoe, with more emphasis on the former. the opening of the short makes use of the over the top narration found in radio melodramas/soaps of the 1940s. Jack is one of the children in the shoe and he convinces his mother to give him their last bean so he can grow a beanstalk like the one he dreamed about the previous night.
When Jack reaches the top, we see the giant, who sings a Russian song, "Ochi Chernye" and takes a shower. He then enters his castle by playing pinball, while Jack makes a rather creative entrance by his own efforts.
In the castle, we see that the giant has a chicken which lays golden eggs. The giant abuses his chicken, treating it like a slot machine. He sings different words to the same tune and then leaves to put away his profits for the day. Jack then takes the chicken and runs, but the giant hears him and gives chase.
The chicken is on Jacks side and repeatedly helps him make good their escape. The rest of the short more or less follows the fairy tale ending, with the gags and animation being rather good.
This cartoon deserves to be more widely known. Recommended.
Terrytoons animated shorts were produced cheaply and Paul Terry wasn't interested in producing art, he wanted to make a profit. Working within these constraints, his directors and animators still managed to turn out entertaining shorts which looked rather nice to boot.
This short is a combination of the fairy tales of Jack and the Beanstalk and The Old Woman In the Shoe, with more emphasis on the former. the opening of the short makes use of the over the top narration found in radio melodramas/soaps of the 1940s. Jack is one of the children in the shoe and he convinces his mother to give him their last bean so he can grow a beanstalk like the one he dreamed about the previous night.
When Jack reaches the top, we see the giant, who sings a Russian song, "Ochi Chernye" and takes a shower. He then enters his castle by playing pinball, while Jack makes a rather creative entrance by his own efforts.
In the castle, we see that the giant has a chicken which lays golden eggs. The giant abuses his chicken, treating it like a slot machine. He sings different words to the same tune and then leaves to put away his profits for the day. Jack then takes the chicken and runs, but the giant hears him and gives chase.
The chicken is on Jacks side and repeatedly helps him make good their escape. The rest of the short more or less follows the fairy tale ending, with the gags and animation being rather good.
This cartoon deserves to be more widely known. Recommended.
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