Pinocchio (1940)
Pinocchio, for anyone who wishes upon a star.
Brief Backstory
After amazing the world with colorful imagery and memorable song numbers, Walt Disney went to work on his next project, Pinocchio, a tale about a wooden boy that’s destined to become a real boy. Critically acclaimed by numerous critics and given a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Pinocchio has been renowned as one of the greatest animated features of all time.
Story
Geppetto wishes for a real boy, and when his wish is somewhat granted, Pinocchio’s job is to stay on the righteous path to fulfill the wish. Unfortunately for Pinocchio, everything is out to scam him and Jiminy Cricket has a tough time trying to keep Pinocchio safe from manipulative people.
Random Facts
Gideon and Honest John don’t get punished for their actions. In the original tale they get arrested by the police but that doesn’t happen here sadly.
Stromboli was an influence for creating Wario, the greedy pirate robbing bandit who attempted a takeover of Mario’s castle in Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins and got his own line of games starting in 1994 with Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and then later with three sequels, one of which (Wario Land 3) was ranked as one of the greatest games of all time.
Financial flop on release due to World War II affecting Europe, which would have a ripple effect on the studio throughout the rest of the decade.
Not counting Fantasia, Pinocchio has the longest run time of any of Walt Disney’s animated features. This does not count anything past the Aristocats.
Christian Rub, voice of Geppetto, idolized Hitler, which caused lots of problems with everyone (including Walt Disney himself) involved with Pinocchio.
Puss Gets the Boot, the very first Tom and Jerry short, was released around the same time as Pinocchio.
Jiminy Cricket would become a secondary mascot for Walt Disney Productions until Tinkerbell showed up in 1953. He starred in several educational safety short films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and was the star of “From all of us to all of you” in 1958, a Christmas special that was part of Walt Disney Presents. He also was the Ghost of Christmas Past in Mickey’s Christmas Carol.
Figaro the cat would be used in several Minnie Mouse shorts throughout the 40s.
Random Opinions
Since I saw this mostly as an adult and not as a child, Lampwick’s transformation isn’t that scary and most likely I would have not been creeped out by the Pleasure Island sequence even when I was younger. Still though it’s a very fucked up sequence.
Going back to Wario, doesn’t the face the Coachman makes when he says “they never come back as boys” look really similar to Wario’s artwork from Super Mario Land 2?
I think I saw this once or twice as a child, but that’s about it. This was probably one of the few Disney movies my mother didn’t want me seeing, presumably due to scene I mentioned earlier. Seems hypocritical given that Lion King had Mufasa being murdered by Scar and I watched it a lot.
When Jiminy Cricket comments on the lock being rusty, I wonder if he considered getting a tetanus shot afterwards.
When Stromboli gets pissed off at Pinocchio he sounds like a crappy violin player.
Pros
- Wonderful animation.
- Great song numbers.
- Memorable Disney villains, with Honest John being used as an inspiration for Warren T. Rat in An American Tail.
- Correctly teaches morals, such as not to smoke, drink, vandalize, lie, and to stick with the harder road of success.
Cons
- Excluding possibly Stromboli, none of the villains get punished for their actions. This sends a bad message that if you con people you won’t be punished; somewhat unfair.
- The fairy looks out of place in terms of appearance.
Rating: 9/10 – Amazing
Nearly on par with Dumbo, but I still think Pinocchio’s a landmark for Disney. Some people find Pinocchio overrated or not a classic, though in the end, Pinocchio’s not for everyone and your rating might vary.
One response to “Pinocchio”
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I hate to a pessimist. Pinocchio’s a piece of crud. I wrote an article about Pinocchio, it doesn’t hold up.
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