Jack and the Beanstalk

While hardly an enduring classic (despite packaging claims), this 1967 NBC special from the Hanna Barbera factory is still agreeable children's entertainment, even if it's now more likely to serve as a nostalgia trip for older viewers. The familiar fairy tale about the boy who plants magic beans that grow into a beanstalk which takes him to a castle in the sky inhabited by a bloodthirsty giant is here recast as a vehicle for Gene Kelly, serving up a combination of live-action musical and animation that recalls the famous routine he performed with Hanna Barbera's cartoon mouse Jerry in the 1945 film Anchors Aweigh. Kelly, who also directed and choreographed this special, stars as a roadside peddler named Jeremy, who trades little Jack (Bobby Riha) some beans for a cow and then follows him up the beanstalk to the animated lair of the giant (voiced by Ted Cassidy, Lurch from The Addams Family). Once there, Jeremy and Jack experience a series of adventures that invariably lead to long song-and-dance routines with animated critters such as oddball birds, friendly mice, and a cat. The tunes by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen are pleasant without being especially memorable, while the dance routines that were devised by Kelly are engaging if also sometimes protracted. The animation is typical of Hanna Barbera; acceptable, but far beneath the Disney gold standard. A nice blast from the past featuring one of Hollywood's most beloved hoofer's, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)