Jack and the Beanstalk (1933)
*** (out of 4)
This short was produced and co-directed by Ub Iwerks so you can expect to see some pretty strange visuals. The story is one everyone knows as young Jack and his mother are starving so she sends him to sell the cow but he instead trades it in for three magic beans. I'm sure most people are already familiar with the story so there's no point in going into great detail about it. If you're a fan of the story then you're going to find this to be a good telling. If you're a fan of Iwerks then you're really going to enjoy this thing, although at times it's a tad bit too dark for young kids. I really enjoyed the surreal aspect of the film because it's clear Iwerks wanted to throw in some darker moments. The stuff with Jack and his mom starving has a pretty good musical number with it and the visuals of the starving animals is something you certainly don't see in every version. The animation is extremely good and another added benefit is that it was shot in color. The color certainly helps bring much of the scenery to life.