I'm a Real Boy!
So my journey continues on to Disney's marvelous masterpiece Pinocchio! Released in 1940, Pinocchio was a smash hit. With its mixture of fun, charm, excitement, and thrill it dazzled audiences everywhere. Pinocchio won 2 Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for "When You Wish Upon A Star". This was a first for an animated film and did not happen again for a full length animated movie until The Little Mermaid in 1989. Almost 50 years later. It is still rated as one of the best 25 animated films of all time and has 100% approval rating of Rotten Tomatoes. All this has turned this film into a Disney legend with the award winning song becoming the studio's classic theme music and the Blue Fairy's star being featured in many films to come. Truly a fantastic movie.
What I love about this film is that it takes everything that Disney saw flawed in Snow White and Seven Dwarfs and improves it. It is amazing that in such a little time frame Disney Studios could improve SO MUCH. Just as I did for the last film I will review by describing the plot, characters, animation, and the songs/music with my ideas and opinions in the mix. Lets go!
Plot - The plot of this film greatly improves from Snow White. Granted they had a full-length book to work with rather than a short story which would have help increase their story ideas. So the movie begins with those fantastic Disney pre-movie credits as the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" plays in the background. We first see Jiminy Cricket standing above a book labeled "Pinocchio", he begins to tell the story. He takes us back to when he was a poor cricket sneaking into a house for some warmth from the cold. It is revealed that this is Mister Geppetto's house. He is a woodcarver and the house is full of cuckoo clocks and wooden object. We then meet his sassy kitten, Figaro, and even more sassy goldfish, Cleo. Geppetto has made a wooden marionette of a little boy who he names Pinocchio. He seems to care for it deeply. He wishes on a star to make this puppet a real child. That night when all are sleeping The Blue Fairy appears and grants Geppetto's wish. Pinocchio becomes a living puppet and the Blue Fairy tells him that if he wants to ever become a real boy he must prove that he is truthful, selfless, and brave. She assigns Jiminy Cricket to help Pinocchio on this mission and he become's Pinocchio's conscience. Geppetto wakes and to his joy discovers his Pinocchio is alive! The next he sends Pinocchio off to school. On the way there Pinocchio runs into two anthropomorphic characters. A fox named Honest John and a cat named Gideon. They see he is a puppet and convinces him to join a puppet show, saying he will be a star. Pinocchio agrees and is off to Stromboli's Marionette Show! Pinocchio is a hit in the show so Stromboli basically kidnaps him and traps him in his wagon. The Blue Fairy appears and asks Pinocchio what happened, he lies and his nose grows because of it. She gives him one more chance and helps him escape from Stromboli. Pinocchio, aided with Jiminy Cricket, attempts to return home. Of course, he runs into Gideon and Honest John again who convince him to go to Pleasure Island where he can always have fun and do whatever he wants. Pinocchio arrives at Pleasure Island befriend a naughty boy named Lampwick. Jiminy follows in pursuit and discover the Coachman, who runs Pleasure Island, is turning the boys into donkeys. He runs to warn Pinocchio as his friend Lampwick completely transforms into a donkey. Pinocchio and Jiminy escape the island but not before Pinocchio grows donkey ears and a tail. They return home to discover that Geppetto left (with Figaro and Cleo) to find Pinocchio and got swallowed by a whale named Monstro. Pinocchio, determined to find his father, dives into the ocean with a rock attached to him to find this Monstro. When he finds him he is swallowed and joins his father. He devises an escape plan by lighting wood on fire within the monsters belly to make the monster cough them up. They escape and wash up upon shore. Pinocchio is passed out, presumed dead (that happens often in these movies). Geppetto, heart broken, returns home with his dead wooden son. He lays him on his bed and Pinocchio transforms into a real boy for he was finally selfless, brave, and truthful. And of course, they live happily ever after.
An exciting plot with fun moments! Lots of scenery. Enjoyable.
Overall Opinions
Storyline - This plot line was much more enjoyable than Snow White. A times it feels like: Pinocchio does something wrong, Blue Fairy fixes it, repeat. But not enough to really annoy you. Overall its a well developed storyline and enjoyable to watch. Not much to say on it.
Characters
Pinocchio - A solid main character. He is pretty naive and believes everything hes told. It makes perfect sense for he was JUST brought into the world. He is not my favorite character ever though he gets better when he gets all tough at the end.
Jiminy Cricket - GREAT CHARACTER. Fun, smart, clever, goofy, charming, adorable. He has everything you need to make a solid, enjoyable character. Plus a great singing voice. He was voiced Cliff Edwards, which marked the first time animated movies hired celebrities to voice their characters. Jiminy Cricket has a little creep status though he seems to hit on anything that looks womanly.
Geppetto - Goofy and cute. Sweet old man status here. He is fun. Not the biggest fan of the voice actor. But the character is solid.
The Blue Fairy - Stunning and lovely. Great look. Only thing that bothered me is that she is a way differently animated compared to the other characters. Love that the "fairy" was full sized human. Very, very Glinda like. Love the lady that voices her. She has this great lower toned womanly voice. It's a shame we didn't get to hear a song out of her.
Figaro - HILARIOUS. I adore this sassy cat. I am sorry to say but this is hands down my favorite character of the film. His design and expressions are almost too much to handle. Plus, HE'S ADORABLE.
Cleo - Fun. :) Love her lips and eyelashes
Honest John - Interesting that he isn't a human but rather a fox. It is interesting to think if maybe he is a representation of "temptation" in Pinocchio's mind which is why he is an animal.
Gideon - Goofy. Always seems like he is drunk. But adorable. Stupid henchman status here.
Stromboli - Sounds like a pasta. Don't like him. He moves weird in my opinion and the yelling in Italian is just distracting. Not a fan of this Disney Villain.
The Coachman - Improvement in the villain status. He has a fantastic scary laugh and looks scary. The whip is menacing. What does he need all those donkeys for though?
Monstro - Classy. Love this guy. Great "villain" huge and intimidating yet hilariously large. Would love to have a chance to actually battle him in Kingdom Hearts, other than just chilling in his stomach (nerd moments).
Animation - I adore the animation in this film. Extremely well done. I'll touch on a few of my favorite moments. First the wide scale backgrounds of course! Like in every Disney movie it looks completely stunning. The pan of the village at the beginning of the films is gorgeous. I love later then they do an effect when Pinocchio looks in the fishbowl at Cleo. The lightning and rain usage in this film is also brilliant. The scenes underwater are stunning along with the image of Monstro laying on the ocean floor. I'd buy a shirt with that on it.
Overall the animation is fantastic. No surprise there.
Songs/Music - The songs in this film were written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington while the score was composed by Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith. The songs have a way different style than Snow White they seem more modern and fun. I thoroughly enjoy the majority of the songs in this film although some are pretty forgettable. Lets look at them 1 by 1:
1. "When You Wish Upon a Star" - FANTASTIC. Won an Oscar for a reason. A gorgeous song sung gorgeously. Nailed it. Obviously the best song in the film.
2. "Little Wooden Head" -
3. "Give a Little Whistle" - I really love this song. 2nd favorite. Fun!
4. "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)" - Alright. More of a transition song.
5. "I've Got Not Strings" - Really fun song. Use to be my favorite as a kid. Now it is a little lackluster.
6. "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)(Reprise)" - Simple. Same as before.
7. "When You Wish Upon a Star (Reprise)" - Beautiful closing. So Good.
So good. These songs (for the most part) makes me happy.
THE DOWN AND DIRTY DISNEY
Favorite Character - Figaro
Favorite Song - "When You Wish Upon a Star"
Favorite Animated Sequence - Underwater scene with Pinocchio
Favorite Voice Actor - Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket)
RATING
Perfect 5! Even though Snow White was the first full length animated film this film really created modern film animation. Revolutionary in visual and effects Pinocchio is still a delight 70 years after its release.
NEXT UP! Disney's Fantasia!
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