Pinocchio (1940)

Directors:

Hamilton Luske
Ben Sharpsteen

Writers:

Carlo Collodi (story)
Ted Sears (story) ...

Release Date:

9 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

Disney's all-time family classic is back ...No strings attached! [1987 re-release Australia]

Plot:

A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.

Plot Keywords:

Pinocchio | Cricket | Conscience | Jiminy Cricket | Fairy

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Mel Blanc	...	Gideon (voice) (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Carnival Barkers (voice) (uncredited)
Walter Catlett	...	J. Worthington Foulfellow (voice) (uncredited)
Marion Darlington	...	Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Frankie Darro	...	Lampwick (voice) (uncredited)
Cliff Edwards	...	Jiminy Cricket (voice) (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Pinocchio (voice) (uncredited)
Charles Judels	...	Stromboli / The Coachman (voice) (uncredited)
Jack Mercer	...	Rough House Statue (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Patricia Page	...	Marionettes (voice) (uncredited)
Christian Rub	...	Geppetto (voice) (uncredited)
Evelyn Venable	...	The Blue Fairy (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Sound System)

Certification:

Denmark:A | Iceland:L | Peru:PT | South Korea:All | USA:Approved (certificate #4646) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:F (Ontario) | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Carlo Collodi was really Carlo Lorenzini, a journalist and rabble-rouser who settled down to write children's stories. He took his pen name from the town of his mother's birth, Collodi. When he originally published "Pinocchio" in the form of a magazine serial, Lorenzini's intention was to kill Pinocchio by having him hang himself. At the suggestion of his editor, Lorenzini added chapters sixteen to thirty-two, giving the story a happy ending and creating the character of the Blue Fairy.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gepetto draws Pinocchio's mouth, he dips the paintbrush in brown paint. He then draws the mouth and the paint is black.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jiminy Cricket: [after singing "When You Wish Upon a Star"] Pretty, huh? I'll bet a lot of you folks don't believe that, about a wish comin' true, do ya? Well, I didn't, either. Of course, I'm just a cricket singing my way from hearth to hearth, but let me tell you what made me change my mind.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Grim & Evil: Billy Ocean/Hill Billy (#6.1)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

When You Wish Upon A Star

Wonderful

Last night I watched Pinocchio, Disney's second feature-length film and in my opinion one of the studio's best features. Based on the 19th century book by Carlo Collodi, but not half as unpleasant, Pinocchio combines winning animation with great humor and excitement. There are songs, but they're never like the huge production numbers that last four minutes and feature the voice of some up-and-coming princess of pop (who'll be gone in a year) that the studio later adopted with the applicable exception of When you Wish Upon a Star. My favorite song is "Little Wooden Head" which is featured in the beginning and is a truly wonderful scene as Gepetto and Figaro play happily with the new puppet.

The movie takes a sadistic, cruel, heartless little wooden boy (Collodi's character) and turns him into an interesting, 3-dimensional kid with a good heart but who is weak-willed and doesn't always listen to reason. The animation makes brilliant use of the multiplane camera, featuring a sprawling opening sequence in which the viewer practically sees the entire village at night. The characters are colorful and fun (I especially love Honest John Foulfellow and his sidekick Gideon) and the story has never a dull moment. This film is a reminder of the sort of efforts Disney put int o their films; the man himself had a great storytelling passion that was lost in later works (Alice in Wonderland, 101 Dalmatians). Pinocchio was never as famous as some of the others, and this is unfortunate because it is his masterpiece.