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Home , Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Slayer

Jack and the Beanstalk

1 and the Beanstalk is a tale that has gone through many transformations since the original story. Many modern and antiquated versions portray Jack as many different character types, even telling a different story and creating a different moral to the story each time. People have been fascinated by the impossible story of Jack's journey, starting as a young, immature boy with his cow, Milky-White, and ending by saving and bringing peace to his kingdom. The physical and metaphorical journey into his maturity depicts Jack's transformation physically and mentally, making him independent along his story.

In the musical , the story of exists and interacts along with other fairy tales such as , Little Red Ridinghood, and . The characters in the Jack story in the musical are Jack, his mother, Milky-White, and the .

Jack goes into the woods to the market to sell his cow, where he encounters the Baker who persuades Jack to sell him the cow for magic beans. When his mother finds out that he sold the cow for beans, she threw the beans in the yard, growing a beanstalk that reached into the kingdom of the . He sings about his adventure in the clouds in his song, Giants in the Sky, and steals a hen that lays golden eggs. The giant comes down and kills many of the character, including Jack's mother, and Jack and the Baker kill the Giant. Jack, now alone, comes with

Ridinghood to live with the Baker and Cinderella.

The morals of the musical talk about how no one is alone, given the fact that many of the character's friends die along the way, but the friends they make along the way are always there for them. Also, it talks about the journey into the woods, and the dangers of leaving the path and being alone, but how the journey changes people's views and attitude, allowing them to learn and grow. This version of Jack and the Beanstalk depicts Jack as very immature in the beginning of his journey, but the path into the woods brings about independence and maturity. It shows his

2 change, like in the original, from being a "giddy, thoughtless boy," to having the confidence and acting "like a brave knight's son" by killing the Giant (Lang).

The modern movie, , is another version of the story that shows the journey that Jack takes to save Isabelle and grow in maturity. The characters are Jack, Isabelle,

Lord Roderick, King Brahmwell, Fallon, and Elmont. Jack learns about the legend of Erik, who defeated an army of Giants by controlling them with a crown. Jack saves Isabelle from attackers, and develops a crush on her, receiving magic beans as a reward. He throws the beans on the floor of his house, and one of them grows, taking the house with Isabelle in it into the kingdom of the Giants. Along the journey, Jack and his companions kill giants and find the crown that allows them to enslave the giants, which keeps passing hands. Finally, when they reach the ground with Isabelle, the giants attack the castle where a fight breaks out, and ends with Jack throwing a bean into the giant's mouth and a beanstalk growing, killing the giant.

Jack learns about the difficult choices that must be made in order to save as many people as he can. He decides to cut down the beanstalk to save the kingdom from the giants, although stranding his daughter and soldiers. He makes an incredible change through the journey leading to the decision, even though it will personally effect him (Isaac). Also, the movie shows how the

" ending" is not applicable, and nothing will end happily after, but it creates a different ending with different circumstances that can both be viewed as positive and negative, after the change of the protagonist.

In a 1947 animated version of Mickey and the Beanstalk, the story of Jack and the beanstalk is depicted slightly different. The characters are Jack (as Mickey) as well as his siblings, and , who goes to the giant kingdom the same way as in Jack the

Giant Slayer, where their house is lifted up while they are sleeping. The plot is basically the

3 same as the original, except the three characters have to retrieve the golden harp to bring peace and happiness back to their kingdom. There is only one giant, and he tries to capture Mickey and the others, but does not succeed. The story is meant for children, like the original, and contains lots of physical comedy, such as tripping or running into a wall. In the 30 minute animated short, Jack does not go through such a transformation as he does in the others, but he shows how clever he is when he outwits the giant several times and escapes with the harp (Disney).

The story is narrated by an outside character, who alludes to the idea in the beginning that fairy tales are not real and has no relevance now. However, at the end, the giant is seen looking for Mickey and the others by asking the narrator if he has seen them. This points to the subliminal fact for children that fairy tales, although not real, definitely have some impact or relevance in the real world, with stories that can teach a lesson to anyone in any time period.

The 1711 version of Jack and the Beanstalk is called , which is a

British fairy tale that came before the classic by . In this version, it had much more violence than other versions. Jack is in charge of protecting the kingdom from giants as King

Arthur's servant and personal giant killer. The tales tell of giants of fantasy, with multiple heads, and Jack's magical weapons as well as a membership to the "Round Table". The story does not necessarily represent a journey of learning and growing, but depicts the character of Jack and his ability to fend off giants for the King.

Viewing different versions of fairy tales gives different points of view from their different plots, settings, moods, and morals. There are so many different combinations using these characters and basic story line, and can teach someone so much about living their own life today.

4 According to Leanne Aguilera in the Hollywood article, “Fairy tale films are all the rage in Hollywood right now” (Aguilera). But the question still remains. Why are these century old stories for children still popular today? Aguilera puts it that a fairy tale is “a way to escape into an unknown world where the stresses of work and everyday life magically disappear for two blissfully fun hours” (Aguilera). More and more, Hollywood has been obsessed with these blissfully romantic tales, bringing you away from stress in life, experiencing a long sought after happily ever after. Modern spins on these tales bring in box office profits more than any other, because people enjoy seeing the creative spin off of the quaint children’s versions of the stories.

Happily ever after is something we all desire and we enjoy seeing it in the modern day which brings more relevance to the old magical tales to the theaters.

5 Works Cited

Aguilera, Leanne. "In Defense of Fairy Tales: Why These Films Should Be Embraced, Not Banished."

Hollywood. N.p., 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 May 2013.

movies/48855819/

in-defense-of-fairy-tales-why-these-films-should-be-embraced-not-banished?page=all>.

Disney, Walt. Mickey and the Beanstalk. Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.

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IMBd. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013. .

Lang, Andrew. Jack and the Beanstalk. The Red Fairy Book. N.p., 1890. 133-45. Print.

PluggedIn. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.

jack-the-giant-slayer.aspx>.

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