Wonderful things are possible through animation that are not with live-action fare, and of late it seems to me that Japanese animators can claim an especial mastery. Every medium grows in uneven spurts, however; the U. S. Saturday morning cartoons of the 60s and 70s are a far cry from those of the twenty-first century, and it seems fair to ponder how an anime flick from 1967 might hold up nearly sixty years later with regards to both its visuals and its storytelling. And, well - no sooner does 'Jack and the witch' begin and I find myself bewildered and deeply skeptical. It's hardly that this film totally flounders, yet from the outset there were choices made here that are very dated, and which are plainly outmoded after so many years. There actually is a lot to like in these eighty minutes, which only makes it more confounding that some facets very obviously received less care.
On the one hand, the backgrounds and environments, whether interiors or exteriors, are incredibly imaginative, and illustrated with rich, stupendous detail and texture. I could stand for this to be much longer just so we could spend more time in the shadowy land of the witch's castle. On the other hand, active animated elements are simplistic to the point of childishness, wholly lacking anything resembling that detail or texture, and this applies above all to the character designs - or really, to movement, action scenes, or anything else in which characters are specifically involved. Yes, this is pretty well the norm for animation, and 2D animation above all, but the disparity in this picture is extra severe. Why did Toei Animation give so much consideration to one aspect of the visuals, while giving a "okay, good enough" pass to others?
In fairness, some instances of the animation are better than others, and more fetching in their whimsy, and we may not pay so much heed as the plot develops. To my pleasure, Sekizawa Shin'ichi and Takaku Susumu penned an interesting, compelling story of fantasy in which young protagonist Jack is abducted by an agent of the wicked sorceress queen Auriana, and the courage, kindness, and friendship he shows will lead to a bigger fight and significant changes. Individual scenes, too, bear terrific and flavorful ideas to propel that narrative, treating us to measures of action, adventure, and drama amidst the predominant fantasy. Nothing herein is revelatory, but like the best of the visuals it's creative and enticing, and at its core the storytelling is so delightful that I wouldn't mind seeing an updated rendition of what this feature offered in 1967.
Then again, just as active elements and characters in particular received less attention by the artists, Sekizawa and Takaku kind of lazed about when it came to writing them, too. The broad notions of scenes and characters are excellent; the details are often questionable or outright lacking, reflecting the sort of unsophisticated lowliness that supposes children to be so infantile and unthinking that any one degree of complexity or nuance - traits which might help the whole to also appeal to older viewers, and to have lasting value generally - is one degree too much. In turn, the dialogue is pretty much just a lost cause. We know such condescension toward youths is unnecessary; animated fare of more recent years is emphatically smarter and more well-rounded in its writing, and treats its audiences as such, and it's not as if there was a marked generational shift in intelligence. Animation of past decades just carried very different sensibilities than that which we see from the likes of modern Pixar or Disney, let alone their Japanese counterparts.
This is duly well made in other regards, with some nice original music, sound effects, and editing, and even suitable voice acting. I really do like 'Jack and the witch,' and I think it's better than not. Why, it's possible that I'm altogether being too harsh in my criticism; surely the strengths in the animation and writing are sufficient to well outweigh the weaknesses. I just really wish that those weaknesses weren't so stark in the first place, undeniably indicating a major discrepancy in how the material was approached as the most fabulously far-out fancifulness is juxtaposed with other components that are merely adequate, or even subpar. Still, troubled as the movie is, I enjoyed it, and I'm glad I took the time to watch. Provided one is open to titles that face such difficulties I believe this remains worth checking out. Don't go out of your way for it, and be well aware of its foibles, but 'Jack and the witch' is still good enough to earn a soft recommendation.
