A poor woman lives far from London inside a cottage with her ‘indolent, careless, and extravagant’ son, Jack. The two have little money and are pressured to market their last possession, a cow. Jack leads the animal along the road and meets an old man who trades some magic coffee beans for the cow. Jack’s mother is normally furious when she discovers he offers come home with no money, and tosses the coffee beans away. Another morning, Jack discovers a beanstalk has grown to the clouds and climbs it… finally reaching a castle, high above the sky!