is a Japanese animated

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, the 10th cinema feature produced by Tōei Animation (then Tōei Dōga), released in Japan in 1967. It was developed by Jirō Sekimasa, Seiichi Moro and Takeshi Ariga, written by Shin'ichi Sekizawa and Susumu Takaku and directed by Taiji Yabushita and has an essentially original story, though one which alludes in structure and character names to the

Jack tales __NOTOC__ Jack is an English hero and archetypal stock character appearing in multiple legends, fairy tales, and nursery rhymes. Examples of Jack tales Some of the most famous Jack Tales are "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Jack Frost", " Jack the ...

and '' Beowulf'', both of

English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the English region's mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, and folktales. Its cultural history is rooted in Celtic, Christia ...

. A

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

for the film was . The

animation director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

is Akira Daikuhara. It is one of a number of Tōei Dōga features licensed by the television division of

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

and localised by Titan Productions, ''Jacks English- dubbed version being directed by Peter Solmo and made available for syndication starting in 1969.

Corinne Orr Corinne Orr (born January 6, 1936) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her work on the English version of the anime series ''Speed Racer''. Biography Orr became involved in children's theatre beginning at the age of 10 (with her first r ...

, of ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese media franchise about Auto racing, automobile racing. ''Mach GoGoGo'' was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun W ...

'' fame, is the voice of Allegra in the English-language version.

Plot

The film opens with a retelling of ''Beowulf'', narrated over pans of paintings imitative of stained glass, then cuts to Jack, a boy who lives with his animal friends Barnaby Bear, Dinah Dog, Squeeker Mouse and Phineas Fox and drives a car resembling a Ford Model T, even inside the house. One day while out driving Jack sees a girl named Allegra in a flying machine and challenges her to race. After he loses Allegra offers him a ride and he accepts, along with Squeeker Mouse who sneaks aboard. Allegra is actually a witch, and takes Jack to the castle of the evil queen Auriana, who changes children into harpies to be her slaves. Squeeker is sucked into a machine that changes him into a harpy but Jack escapes. When Allegra and another harpy named Harvey Harpy pursue Jack he leads them away from the castle. Harvey Harpy ends up lassoing Jack's animal friends and they get tangled together in the rope. Barnaby Bear starts laughing at the predicament, and soon all are laughing. They take Harvey Harpy back to the house, where they sing and dance together. Spying on them through a window Allegra seems to soften a little as she watches the fun. However, when Jack returns to the house she tries to capture him with a magic rope that has a claw on the end, but the animals drive her away by pelting her with dishes. In some fan copies of the English version about 8 minutes is cut out here, including scenes where Allegra returns to the castle and a battle between Allegra and Jack where she pulls his house off the ground and drops it into a lake. Allegra is injured when she crash lands her flying machine, and Jack takes her back to his house to let her recover. When she comes to she sees Jack, and smiles for a moment, but then flees back to the castle, knocking Jack over as she goes. Jack and friends go back to the castle to rescue Squeeker Mouse, and they encounter Allegra again. She promises to help them since they were so kind to her when she was injured, but instead she leads them into a trap that drops them into a land where the plants try to eat everybody. At the end giant mushrooms drop Jack and friends into a pit with the machine that changes children into harpies. The wind starts to suck Jack into the machine, while the Harpies chant 'Into the Machine!'. Barnaby Bear remembers that a giant windmill powers the machine, so he runs off and stops it. With the windmill immobilized other harpies jump into the pit to take Jack prisoner, but Barnaby Bear finally lets go of the windmill and the harpies are sucked into the machine, which overloads and explodes, with Jack and friends escaping. Queen Auriana punishes Allegra for her failure to capture Jack by exiling her to the ice caves beneath the castle. Harvey Harpy is sad to see Allegra punished, even opposing the queen for her harshness, so when he runs into Jack he explains what happened to Allegra, and leads him to the ice caves to rescue her. Meanwhile, Barnaby Bear, Phineas Fox and Dinah Dog are captured by the queen, who imprisons them in magic bottles and leaves them to watch what happens to Jack in a crystal ball. When Jack rescues Allegra from the ice caves, the queen transports them back to the pit, where she battles them with a golden chain she uses as a whip. When Squeeker Mouse tries to cover up the crystal ball with his cape so no one can see what is happening to Jack he knocks the crystal ball to the ground and it cracks. This breaks the spell imprisoning the animals, and they realize that the crystal is the source of the queen's power. Barnaby Bear throws the crystal ball out the window, and when it shatters the queen loses her powers and is transformed into a large goblin-like creature. Jack and friends pursue the queen, who has a large air-ship ready for her escape. She sets a time bomb to explode after she leaves, but Harvey Harpy ties the bomb to her air-ship as it takes off. As the queen tries to remove the bomb she crashes into the castle and explodes. This destroys the castle and breaks the spell cast by the evil queen, and one by one all the harpies turn back into children, including Allegra and Harvey, who celebrate with Jack.

Voice cast

* : * , Allegra (English) : * , Harvey Harpy (English) : * , Squeaker Mouse (English) : * , Barnaby Bear (English) : * , Phineas Fox (English) : * , Dinah Dog (English) : * , Auriana (English) : * , harpies (English) : * Additional voices :

Release

''Jack and the Witch'' is currently available as a region 2 DVD from Toei Video. The audio is Japanese, without an option for English audio or subtitles. Amazon Prime Video has the English version for sale or rent. Fan copies of the English version can sometimes be found on Ebay or on fan sites.

Reception

Starting at KTLA in Los Angeles, ''Jack and the Witch'' became an annual tradition to show on Halloween on stations across North America during the 1970's.

References

External links

* {{Toei Animation films, state=collapsed 1967 films 1967 anime films 1960s fantasy adventure films Adventure anime and manga American International Pictures films Japanese animated feature films Anime with original screenplays 1960s children's fantasy films Jack tales Japanese fantasy films Psychedelic art Toei Animation films Toei Company films Films based on Beowulf Japanese animated fantasy films Animated adventure films Japanese fantasy adventure films Animated films based on Norse mythology 1960s Japanese-language films