Movie #2 of The Disney Discussion
Pinocchio (1940)
Featuring the voice talents of Dickie Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, and Evelyn Venable
Directed by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske (supervising directors)
Summary (in 150 words or less):
Woodworker Geppetto crafts a marionnette puppet he names Pinocchio. Before going to bed one evening, he wishes upon the wishing star for Pinocchio to become a real boy. Overnight, the Blue Fairy visits and makes Pinocchio come alive (while still being a puppet), telling the boy that he must prove himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish -- and only then will he become a real boy. Pinocchio then ventures out into the real world accompanied by his Blue Fairy-appointed conscience Jiminy Cricket and we're essentially told three different vignettes that try and shape the puppet into the human he wishes to become.
Let the Discussion Begin...
Pinocchio is the Walt Disney Company's second full-length animated feature and it was released on February 23, 1940. Upon its release, critics were quite favorable to the tale, but the film was not initially a financial success. World War II had cut off the European and Asian markets thereby limiting the film's worldwide release and significantly affecting the bottom line. Upon reissues, the film became financially beneficial to the company.
Pinocchio was nominated for two Oscars -- Best Score and Best Song for "When You Wish Upon a Star" -- and it took home the prize for both.
Pinocchio was selected in 1994 to be preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
The American Film Institute named Pinocchio the #2 animated film of all time (after Snow White). While I'm not sure I agree with that statement, Pinocchio is a very good film that certainly deserves recognition.
The Characters
(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)
Unlike Snow White, here we have a title character who has personality, pizzazz, and spunk. Although Pinocchio is surrounded by fun characters, his whimsical innocence is what makes this film shine. Voiced to perfection by twelve year-old Dickie Jones, the animators upped their game from their previous venture giving Pinocchio more realistic and detailed facial expressions and gestures than we'd seen before.
And it isn't just Pinocchio who's given such great treatment both in terms of animation and depth of story. His father Geppetto is just as vividly animated and voice acted as are Geppetto's pets Figaro the cat and Cleo the goldfish, the latter two giving us the first real glimpses of Disney's usage of animals as supporting characters with their own unique personalities. While Figaro and Cleo don't speak, another animal friend here does talk and is the first animal in the Disney pantheon to do so -- Jiminy Cricket. Our story's narrator, Jiminy Cricket provides moments of comic relief, but ultimately serves the purpose of attempting to be Pinocchio's conscience although he can't always get the precocious boy to listen to him.
Beyond the Blue Fairy (who is the most poorly animated main character, yet whose simplistic etherealness is fitting for the character), nearly everyone else in this film could be characterized as a villain or at least someone who is trying to corrupt the young Pinocchio. [The term Dickensian came to mind to describe this tone (giving off an Oliver Twist vibe), but I will admit I haven't read that much Dickens to know if this is truly a valid comparison.] We're introduced to the sly fox Foulfellow (AKA Honest John) and his silent (and foolish) partner in crime Gideon the cat who essentially kidnap Pinocchio, selling him to the large, bellowing Stromboli who purchases the "live wooden boy" to star in his marionette show. Add in the sadistic Coachman who lures young boys to his playground Pleasure Island before turning them into donkeys and Monstro the whale who is the final foe our main characters face and Pinocchio and his friends don't have an easy road.
Since all these villains come and go due to the episodic nature of the film and there's no single one that stands especially looming, you might have a tendency to think these are more "gentle" or passive baddies. That isn't the case at all. Foulfellow is a smoothtalker, but frightening in that his wordplay so easily manipulates Pinocchio. Stromboli's simply a nasty guy -- the kind that locks up a boy like Pinocchio in a cage without a shred of guilt -- and the Coachman is heinously evil despite his minimal presence in the film. This is a guy who has taken hundreds of boys from their homes by promising them a fun time at Pleasure Island by doling out drinks and cigars and then turns them into donkeys (via some magical something-or-other that isn't really explained) and sells them to buyers. This is just as purely evil as the Wicked Queen in the film that preceded this one.
Beyond the Blue Fairy (who is the most poorly animated main character, yet whose simplistic etherealness is fitting for the character), nearly everyone else in this film could be characterized as a villain or at least someone who is trying to corrupt the young Pinocchio. [The term Dickensian came to mind to describe this tone (giving off an Oliver Twist vibe), but I will admit I haven't read that much Dickens to know if this is truly a valid comparison.] We're introduced to the sly fox Foulfellow (AKA Honest John) and his silent (and foolish) partner in crime Gideon the cat who essentially kidnap Pinocchio, selling him to the large, bellowing Stromboli who purchases the "live wooden boy" to star in his marionette show. Add in the sadistic Coachman who lures young boys to his playground Pleasure Island before turning them into donkeys and Monstro the whale who is the final foe our main characters face and Pinocchio and his friends don't have an easy road.
Based on the above, being large is apparently a solid indicator that you may be evil...
Since all these villains come and go due to the episodic nature of the film and there's no single one that stands especially looming, you might have a tendency to think these are more "gentle" or passive baddies. That isn't the case at all. Foulfellow is a smoothtalker, but frightening in that his wordplay so easily manipulates Pinocchio. Stromboli's simply a nasty guy -- the kind that locks up a boy like Pinocchio in a cage without a shred of guilt -- and the Coachman is heinously evil despite his minimal presence in the film. This is a guy who has taken hundreds of boys from their homes by promising them a fun time at Pleasure Island by doling out drinks and cigars and then turns them into donkeys (via some magical something-or-other that isn't really explained) and sells them to buyers. This is just as purely evil as the Wicked Queen in the film that preceded this one.
The Music
Oddly enough, all of the songs in Pinocchio occur during the first forty minutes of the film, leaving the remaining forty-five minutes songless. Despite coming at a fairly rapid pace during the film's first half, they fit naturally into the plot and you never get a sense of "Oh man...another song already?" Similarly, during the film's second half, you never find yourself wanting for a song. The way the story unfolds, songs would've likely been odd juxtapositions with the more intense goings-on.
Undoubtedly, "When You Wish Upon a Star" is the best song here. It's an iconic piece of songwriting by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington -- certainly one of the best ever in a Disney film. That being said, it occurs during the film's opening credits foreshadowing what is to come and feels somewhat less integral to the film than I remembered it being which, if I'm being honest, is a bit of a letdown.
Fitting best into the film itself is probably "I've Got No Strings," a number which I'll discuss just a few lines below in a different section of this post. However, the five songs in Pinocchio are quite an improvement over those featured in Snow White simply because they feel a bit more organic to the story whereas Snow White's sometimes seem shoehorned in for a funny set piece. Don't get me wrong -- both are successful in achieving their goals, but simply in different ways.
My Favorite Scene
All these lovely ladies...
During what I call the film's second act, Pinocchio gets sold to traveling Italian entertainer Stromboli who gives the puppet a starring role in his marionette show. We are treated to a funny song-and-dance number in which an awkward Pinocchio quicksteps alongside stringed puppets while singing the entirely appropriate "I've Got No Strings." A great scene that is cleverly animated and constructed.
I also truly enjoy the film's opening minutes where we see Geppetto's workshop for the first time getting glimpses of the clever clocks and toys he's created. Additionally, the scene in which Pinocchio's Pleasure Island buddy Lampwick turns into a donkey is pretty darn terrifying.
Lampwick was always kind of a jackass, so this is fitting...
Random Thoughts
- As the film opens and Jiminy Cricket serenades while sitting amidst a bunch of books, we see that two are labeled Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan -- future films of Mr. Disney.
- Jiminy Cricket speaks directly to the audience...I wonder how often this happens in Disney films? Not often, as far as I can recall.
- After Pinocchio performs for the first time for Stromboli, Jiminy feels as if he's no longer needed stating, "What does an actor need with a conscience anyway?" A statement that still seems true today.
- For some reason, I didn't remember "When You Wish Upon a Star" occurring at the beginning of film, but there it was sung right away in the opening credits.
- Are they seriously giving out cigars to young kids at Pleasure Island? I guess that's the reason for the anti-smoking ad at the start of the Blu-Ray.
Final Analysis
(Does it Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)
It is obvious that the financial success of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs proved to be a boon to Walt Disney and his animators. Pinocchio is an exquisitely animated film and the animators made leaps and bounds from their first full-length feature to this one. The human characters are much more intricately designed and their movements are substantially more realistic. Backdrops have more depth and color and much more attention was paid to the framing of scenes with the "camera" providing more interesting angles than most scenes in Snow White. Look no further than the opening scenes in Geppetto's workshop to see the vivid detail the animators gave to even the smallest of objects as seen in the image below.
Yes, this film promotes smoking, drinking, and child abuse.
However, Pinocchio's fault lies in the fact that it's too episodic in its storytelling. The first act of Pinocchio is just about as perfect as could be in terms of all aspects of filmmaking from the story to the music to the animation. However, once the second act begins and Geppetto sends Pinocchio off to school only to have him be corrupted by Longfellow and Gideon and sold to Stromboli, the cracks in the storytelling begin to surface. It's not that the Stromboli segment (Act II) or the Pleasure Island bit (Act III) or the Monstro the Whale portion (Act IV) are poorly produced, animated, or written, it's just that they feel like three separate stories tied precariously loosely together. By the time Act IV rolled around, I found myself becoming a bit disappointed with the lack of reference to the previous acts or the failure to recognize the increasingly abundant horrors that this little puppet had gone through already.
Despite the lack of cohesion between the film's set pieces, Pinocchio deservedly earns its "classic" title. I hadn't watched this in ages and it was definitely a treat to watch again. Unlike the title character in Snow White, we're given a much more well-rounded leading role in Pinocchio and it does make a big difference in terms of relating to the character. All the positives make it slightly unfortunate that the story just doesn't quite come together, but you should certainly add this to your Netflix queue if you haven't watched it in quite a while.
The RyMickey Rating: B+
Join us next Wednesday for Fantasia, the third film in The Disney Discussion.
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