Pinocchio (1940)

Directors:

Hamilton Luske
Ben Sharpsteen

Writers:

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

Release Date:

9 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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:

Cigar Smoking | Lying | Mona Lisa | Wish Fulfillment | Young Boy

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Mel Blanc	...	Cleo / Figaro / Gideon / Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Carnival Barker (voice) (uncredited)
Walter Catlett	...	Honest John (voice) (uncredited)
Marion Darlington	...	Cuckoo Clock Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Frankie Darro	...	Lampwick (voice) (uncredited)
Cliff Edwards	...	Jiminy Cricket (voice) (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Alexander / Pinocchio (voice) (uncredited)
Charles Judels	...	The Coachman / Stromboli (voice) (uncredited)
Jack Mercer	...	Carnival Barker (voice) (uncredited)
Patricia Page	...	Marionettes (voice) (uncredited)
Christian Rub	...	Geppetto (voice) (uncredited)
Evelyn Venable	...	The Blue Fairy (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Hamilton Luske		(supervising)
Ben Sharpsteen		(supervising)

Writing credits
Carlo Collodi		(story) (as Collodi)
Ted Sears		(story adaptation) &
Otto Englander		(story adaptation) &
Webb Smith		(story adaptation) &
William Cottrell		(story adaptation) &
Joseph Sabo		(story adaptation) &
Erdman Penner		(story adaptation) &
Aurelius Battaglia		(story adaptation)
Bill Peet		uncredited

Original Music by
Leigh Harline
Paul J. Smith

Art Direction by
Ken Anderson		(as Kenneth Anderson)
Hugh Hennesy
John Hubley
Dick Kelsey
Kendall O'Connor
Charles Philippi
Thor Putnam
Terrell Stapp
McLaren Stewart
Al Zinnen

Animation Department
Art Babbitt	....	animation director (as Arthur Babbitt)
Preston Blair	....	animator
Jack Bradbury	....	animator (as John Bradbury)
Jack Campbell	....	animator
Les Clark	....	animator
Claude Coats	....	background artist
Merle Cox	....	background artist
John Elliotte	....	animator
Hugh Fraser	....	animator
Campbell Grant	....	character designer
Joe Grant	....	character designer
Ray Huffine	....	background artist
Albert Hurter	....	character designer
Ollie Johnston	....	animator (as Oliver M. Johnston)
Milt Kahl	....	animation director (as Milton Kahl)
Lynn Karp	....	animator
Ward Kimball	....	animation director
Eric Larson	....	animation director
John Lounsbery	....	animator
Don Lusk	....	animator
Robert Martsch	....	animator
John McManus	....	animator
Joshua Meador	....	animator
John P. Miller	....	character designer
Fred Moore	....	animation director
Charles A. Nichols	....	animator (as Charles Nichols)
Art Palmer	....	animator
Don Patterson	....	animator
Martin Provensen	....	character designer
Wolfgang Reitherman	....	animation director (as Woolie Reitherman)
George Rowley	....	animator
Ed Starr	....	background artist
Norman Tate	....	animator
Frank Thomas	....	animation director (as Franklin Thomas)
Don Tobin	....	animator
Don Towsley	....	animator
Bill Tytla	....	animation director (as Vladimir Tytla)
John Walbridge	....	character designer
Bernard Wolf	....	animator (as Berny Wolf)
Marvin Woodward	....	animator
Shamus Culhane	....	animator (uncredited)
Ugo D'Orsi	....	animator (uncredited)
Blaine Gibson	....	inbetween animator (uncredited)
William T. Hurtz	....	animation assistant (uncredited)
David Swift	....	animator (uncredited)

Music Department
Frederick Stark	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles Wolcott	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Walt Disney	....	presenter
Norman Ferguson	....	sequence director
T. Hee	....	sequence director
Wilfred Jackson	....	sequence director
Jack Kinney	....	sequence director
Bill Roberts	....	sequence director

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO (1952) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Distribution Company (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-releases from 1956 onward)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (2002) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Gativideo (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• PolyGram Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1985) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1987) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

South Korea:All | Iceland:L | Denmark:A | Peru:PT | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | USA:Approved (certificate #4646) (original rating) | 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:

Mel Blanc, well known for performing the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and many other cartoon characters, was hired to perform the voice of Gideon the Cat. However, it was eventually decided that Gideon should be mute, and all of Blanc's recorded dialogue was cut, save one solitary hiccup.

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:

Lampwick: Huh! To hear that beetle talk you'd think somethin' was gonna happen to us.
[Donkey ears pop out of Lampwick's head; Pinocchio's eyes widen]
Lampwick: Conscience! Aw, phooey!
[a tail pops out of the seat of Lampwick's pants; Pinocchio puts down the cigar he has been smoking]
Lampwick: Wheres he get that stuff? "How do you ever expect to be a real boy?" What's he think I look like?
[Now his head is that of a donkey]
Lampwick: A jackass?
Pinocchio: You sure do! Ha-ha, Hee-haw!
Lampwick: Hey, you laugh like a donkey. Ha-ha Hee-haw!
[Lampwick gasps]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Give A Little Whistle

imaginative and moral

Pinocchio is a Disney animated story about a wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy. Together, with his conscious Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio learns some morals to bring him onto a path to becoming a real boy. Pinocchio learns that lying is wrong and that greed is wrong, and he is lured into danger by wanting to fulfill the wrong needs. This is a pleasant little story with plenty of imagination and lessons to be learned, and this will appeal to smaller children. I enjoyed this film when I was younger because it portrays life in a more realistic way, and Pinocchio must learn the consequences to his actions and poor judgement. It is a pretty dark film for a children's film, but it does have a happy and insightful ending.