G, 88m, 1940

With the Voices Talents of Dickie Jones (Pinocchio), Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket), Christian Rub (Geppetto), Walter Catlett (Honest John Foulfellow), Charles Judels (Stomboli and the Coachman), Frankie Darro (Lampwick) and Evelyn Venable (The Blue Fairy). Directed by Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts and Ben Sharpsteen. Produced by Walt Disney. Screenplay by Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia and Bill Peet. Music by Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith. Based on the novel of the same name by Carlo Collodi.

            This is the Disney Studio’s second animated feature film after Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and the confidence that the filmmakers had while making this film really shines.  By watching this film, one can tell that the filmmakers were attempting to surpass their previous work with this picture, and I believe they succeeded in this endeavor.

            The story is based on the Italian novel of the same name by Carlo Collodi. The film follows Pinocchio (Dickie Jones), a wooden puppet, who is brought to life by the Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) in order to fulfill Geppetto’s (Christian Rub) wish that Pinocchio could become a real boy. Being only a day old, Pinocchio is an easy mark for characters such as Honest John (Walter Catlett) and Stromboli (Charles Judels), who wish to cash in on the novelty of a wooden puppet who can move without the aid of strings. Pinocchio is assisted in life by Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards), who is appointed Pinocchio’s conscience by the Blue Fairy.

            The characters of this film are an absolute delight. The character of Pinocchio is portrayed as this kind-hearted naïve kid, and this really works to the film’s advantage because it makes the character of Pinocchio more realistic. If an inanimate object suddenly became sentient, that character would most likely be rather gullible. The character of Jiminy Cricket also adds a layer of comic relief by serving as a contemporary American wise cracking character. Many animated films, and many live action films for that matter, make the mistake of having a comic relief character be a one note character, whose sole purpose in the film is to be funny and provide nothing to the plot. Often times, this translates out to a sloppy, imbecilic, rude unlikeable character.  In the case of Jiminy Cricket, his contemporary observations add a sense of personality to the character.  

            While the animation in Snow White is by no means bad, the animation of Pinocchio is far superior. The backgrounds and character designs of Pinocchio are sharper and more defined than they were in Snow White. As was the case in Snow White, great detail is added to enhance the overall quality of the animation. In Geppetto’s workshop, the wood carved items look positively stunning. Instead of having generic clocks and music boxes, each clock is its own individual item with its own theme.

Unlike a lot of animated films, Pinocchio is not afraid to take risks. The film cleverly shows that the world isn’t always a bright and cheerful place. There are people out there who are willing to deceive and take advantage of naïve, good-natured people and this film knows it. This film also does something that most animated films would never dream of trying and that’s depicting minors drinking alchol and smoking tobacco. Granted the film is quick to show this in a negative light, with the message that this is what bad children do and this is what happens to them (they turn into donkeys). In most films, the villain of the film is shown getting his or her comeuppance at the end of the film. Pinocchio does not do this. None of the villains receive any kind of punishment for their dastardly deeds. The film is not afraid to show the darker side of humanity, and in real life evil people do not always get punished. Some children might find some scenes in this movie such as the donkey transformation sequence and scenes involving Monstro the whale, to be too scary for them. However, I believe that deep down most children love to get scared from time to time. In my opinion the jackass transformation scene is more terrifying than most kills found in horror films such as The Nightmare on Elm Street films and the Friday the 13^th franchise. I say this because so many horror films feature a character getting axed off (some quite literally) that it’s become cliched. Honestly, how many films do you know of that has children forcibly turned into beats of burden that get sold to places like salt mines and circuses? If that’s not terrifying enough the boys never change back into humans, they’re stuck as donkeys for the rest of their lives. Another terrifying thought is the villains are never stopped, so who knows how many more hapless boys they doomed to a life of servitude.

When a new and inexperienced company releases a successful first product, often times the company will try to make the second product even better. This frequently results in the company releasing a hollow, bloated mess that is a disappointment critically and financially. This is known as the second-system syndrome. Other times, the company will try to recreate their first product and the end result is something that feels hollow and gives off a feeling that the product lacks any real human touch. This happens because the creators of the product do not possess a clear understanding of what made their product special in the first place. Pinocchio does not suffer from these problems at all. The filmmakers used what they learned from Snow White and applied those lessons to create something that can be enjoyed and treasured for generations to come.