Touchstone and Beyond: A History of Disney’s “Jack”

Everyone worries about being accepted by others. We all wonder how much time we have on earth. These two themes are constantly explored in cinema including 1996’s Hollywood Pictures film Jack. Robin Williams plays the titular ten-year-old whose body grows at four times the normal rate.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, it’s time to find acceptance and embrace life. Watch as Jack shows us the way.

The Plot

Jack Powell, played by Robin Williams, suffers from a rare disorder. His body grows at four times the normal rate. That means that when Jack turns ten, he will look like a forty-year-old man.

Spending most of his days at home tutored by Mr. Woodruff, played by Bill Cosby, Jack yearns to go to school and play with kids his own age. His mother and father, played by Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin, struggle with the idea of sending Jack to school. How will Jack be accepted by his classmates? They worry that Jack will be ridiculed and teased. But the parents relent, and Jack is eager to meet his classmates.

At school Jack meets his teacher Miss Marquez, played by Jennifer Lopez. The kids are astounded by Jack’s size and look, referring to him at first as a freak and giant, but they eventually accept him, especially after he helps a group of boys in his class defeat some other kids in basketball.

Jack thrives in school. He makes friends, has sleepovers, and even develops a crush on his teacher. He also learns the truth about his life. It’s a class assignment describing what each kid wants to do when they grow up that forces Jack to confront his bleak future. After listening to one student recite her essay describing how she will get married at twenty-eight, Jack determines that he would be 112 years old physically when he reaches his twenty-eighth birthday.

The stress of school and the knowledge of his future is too much for Jack and he starts to develop complications from his condition. Fearing the worst, his mom keeps him home, and Jack falls into a depression. As the weeks pass, Jack’s friends pester his mother all day asking if Jack can come out and play. Hearing the love of his friends wanting him to be part of their life, Jack is motivated to go back to school and forces the issue one morning at the breakfast table. His parents relent again.

The movie concludes with a high school graduation eight years in the future, where Jack, who looks like a senior citizen is the valedictorian. Jack tells the assembled crowd to enjoy life no matter the circumstances. In a heartfelt moment, he addresses his mom, and tells her that he made it, that he grew up.

The Best Moments on Screen

Robin Williams sprinkles the right amount of silliness with the emotion of the film. Jack could not be played by any other actor. Williams maintains a focus on being a ten year old throughout the film that makes you laugh when he eats the worms in the tree house, and shed a tear when he goes running to his dad hoping that he can go back to school. Jack is a heartfelt tale of love and family thanks to the performance that Robin Williams gives. He puts his heart and soul into the role, and you can’t help but be touched by the performance.

Diane Lane channels every parent’s worry and fear about their children into a role that requires her to be the protector, nurturer, and bad guy. One can see the hurt on her face as Jack goes off to school, because for all of Jack’s life, she has tried to protect him from getting hurt. His wanting to go to school is seen as a rejection of everything she has done for him. Diane Lane’s character must learn to let go so that Jack can live. This is a tough role that forces Lane to walk a tightrope of emotions throughout the film.

When the kid’s treehouse collapses, it is played for laughs and is a hilarious moment for the kids, Jack, and Mr. Woodruff. Warned that the structure was unstable, the extra weight of Mr. Woodruff brings the ramshackle treetop structure to the ground. It’s a funny moment, and the only time in the film where there is any semblance of action.

The Worst Moments on Screen

I understand why they used the story arc where Fran Drescher’s character Dolores was flirting with Jack, but I wish it was cut from the film. Asked by Louis to impersonate the principal, Jack is forced to play the part, fooling Dolores and cementing his new friendship with Louis. Dolores flirts with Jack which is hard to watch. Thanks to his interactions with Dolores, Jack will end up in a bar she frequents, which leads to a bar fight and Jack getting arrested. It’s not the worst story arc, but it just isn’t needed in the film and distracts from the whole message of the movie.

Film Facts

See It/Skip It?

See It. Jack is not the delightful family film that it appears to be. This is a story of a boy who grows up too fast and learns that life is short. Jack is a story about letting go of your worries and confronting the world. Despite our obstacles, we need to be part of the world and not an observer from the bedroom window. Robin Williams gives another underrated performance in a role that requires him to be silly and sweet, without going overboard. Critics generally disliked this film at the time of its theatrical release, and I disagree with their complaints. Jack is not the regular boy in an adult body film like Big. Jack Powell is a boy, he has all the emotions and feelings of a ten-year-old, who just looks like a forty-year-old man. Unlike other films where the protagonist reverts to their rightful age at the end of the movie, Jack’s age and appearance cannot be wished away. Robin Williams never once gets zany or silly like other characters he has portrayed. There is a wonder and innocence in his eyes throughout the film that will keep a moviegoer’s attention throughout the movie.

Jack is available on Disney+.

Next week on ‘To Touchstone and Beyond’ with the NBA inside the Walt Disney World bubble, we look at legendary NBA athlete Shaquille O’Neal’s most magical role, Kazaam.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Production Company: Hollywood Pictures / American Zoetrope

Principal Cast:

Release Date: August 9, 1996

Budget: $45 million  

Box Office Gross Domestic = $58,620,973