Hanasaka Jiisan does not appear in the anime "Gala" (Short 2007) or "Gala" (movie), based on available information. The narrative of "Gala" centers on Co-oni and other yokai awakening a mysterious seed through music, or alternatively on a boy, a girl, and a giant cat saving the world after an acorn hatches—neither plot references Hanasaka Jiisan.

References to Hanasaka Jiisan originate elsewhere: he features in early Japanese animated folktale adaptations from 1917 and 1928, appears as the Yo-kai "Elder Bloom" in the "Yo-kai Watch" franchise, and is depicted in educational kamishibai retellings of the original folktale.

No official "Gala"-related media from 2007 to 2009 includes Hanasaka Jiisan as a character.