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Pinocchio (1940)
Topic Started: Sep 3 2017, 08:40 AM (812 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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Pinocchio (1940) Dir. Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luke
Distributed by RKO
88 min. / Technicolor / 1.37:1
On DVD/BD from Walt Disney

The Wonderful World of Walt Disney #02

Following the astounding success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt intended to produce Bambi, but the animation of realistic animals was baffling his staff, so he turned instead to an adaptation of the 19th century Italian fable by Collodi.

The kindly old wood carver Geppetto gets his wish granted by the Blue Fairy, who instills life on a little puppet and promises to turn him into a "real boy" if he's good. She also knights Jiminy Cricket and charges him with acting as the kid's conscience, but Jiminy has his hands full (or whatever crickets have in place of hands): the kid keeps getting into trouble, from running away to be an "actor" to playing Hooky on "Pleasure Island". Eventually Geppetto gets eaten by a whale (don't ask) and Pinocchio gets to prove his worth by rescuing him.

One of the - if not the most - highly regarded of all the classic Disney features, a family favorite for nearly 80 years, and a film everyone seems to absolutely love. Except me. I dread when somebody wants to see it! Oh, its gorgeous to look at, topping Snow White artistically (and leaving poor Gulliver's Travels, released only a few months earlier, in its dust) but the darn story's so dark and unappealing (from the nasty Stromboli the evil puppeteer to the guy who turns kids into terrified, braying donkeys) that I find it hard to enjoy the picture, despite its charms (the cat and the goldfish were cute and more novel in their time, and the clocks and doo-dads invented by Geppetto are simply marvelous to look at). Monstro the Whale is, well, a big blob of a thing, and lacks the brilliance of most other Disney villains. I do love the Oscar-winning score (the film also won Best Original Song for "When You Wish Upon a Star") and of course Sir Jiminy is fun. Honest John and Gideon (a fox and cat) are the other villains; Honest John is an unpleasant Fagin type and Gideon is a sheer comic character; he's silent, although originally he was voiced by Mel Blanc(!). The dialog was cut from the finished film. Lead voices include Dickie Jones as Pinocchio, Christian Rub as Geppetto (whose likeness was based on him), Evelyn Venable as the lovely Blue Fairy, and Frankie Darro as Lampwick. Oh, and Ukulele Ike himself, Cliff Edwards, as Jiminy Cricket.

Million-dollar Dialog:
Pinocchio, heading off to school after learning his lesson: "I'd rather be smart than be an actor!"

Over the years, I've sometimes wondered what it is about me that makes me dislike this film so much, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Whatever it is, while I appreciate how beautiful the film is to look at, it's near the bottom of my personal listing of Disney feature animated films.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Frank Hale
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I don't hate it, but I've definitely never liked it much either, and I've felt that way since the first time I saw it in a theatre as a kid.

The problem for me is that Pinocchio is just an uninteresting character, and I don't care at all about whether he solves his problems. Consequently the entire plot is just an epic drag. The only time the film comes alive is during the whale scenes. Impeccable production values are not enough to overcome this.

It is a tad troubling that the entire rest of the world loves it, but I've learned to roll with it.
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Laughing Gravy
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Glad to know I'm not alone. I had planned a retrospective of the Disney films once I'd acquired them on Blu-ray, but it took me 2-1/2 years to work up the gumption to watch the second one after viewing Snow White. I'm much more looking forward to the next batch, not least of all because Fantasia is my all-time favorite.

And I liked The Birds much more than I'd remembered (and I liked it well enough then) so I'm kinda looking forward to the three Hitchcocks I saw once and quickly forgot (the remainder of his '60s output). (I liked the two he made in the '70s.)

Bowery Boys comin' up next. Oh, and I need to watch a movie based on a true story and set in Arabia. Any suggestions?
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Frank Hale
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Although I have some favorites, when you come down to it, a lot of Disney's animated work is just flat-out boring.

There was a brief time in the early 40's when he seemed to be trying to make his cartoon shorts more WB-ish, but, on the whole, I prefer his live-action films, at least from a story-telling perspective.

You might try "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". I understand that was based on a true story. At least, that's what some woman said.
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Laughing Gravy
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I didn't see any Disney animated films until I had kids of my own, with the exception of Bambi and The Sword in the Stone, so I only have seen them from an adult viewpoint, and the only one I found boring was Brave, but hey, that's just me.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Frank Hale
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I'm drawing a blank on "Brave", and am genuinely curious.

Don't forget about that Arabic film this weekend.

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Laughing Gravy
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Brave was the one right before Frozen. Or maybe right before Tangled. But around there-ish, somewhere.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Sgt Saturn
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If you think the Disney movie is dark, you should probably avoid reading the book.
The Ol' Sarge
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The Batman
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I'm guessing no singing crickets in that one, Sarge.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Fantomas
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Count me among those who think it's Disney's masterpiece. And by that I mean that no matter how many times you see it, it affects you the same way every time, and with the same depth of feeling. There are moments that produce genuine frissons. (Which is the word I use as an adult; as a kid, I probably would have said, "Wow, did you see the part where . . .")

Some frissons, major and minor:
Pinocchio singing, "I got no strings to hold me down", and then promptly falling down a flight of stairs.
The coachman saying, "They never come back . . . AS BOYS!"
Lampwick's hands turning into hooves, and his screaming "MAMA!" as he turns into a jackass. This is easily the most powerful sequence in any Disney film, and way scarier than, say, Lon Chaney turning into a werewolf:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnamFerzNvw

PS: There is a moralizing cricket in Collodi's book, given to saying things like, "Trouble awaits boys who rebel against their parents and capriciously abandon their paternal home! They will never experience goodness in this world, and sooner or later, they will have to pay for it sourly." Pinocchio squishes him.

"For life is short, but death is long."
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Sgt King
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I've been a life long Disney fan and saw most all of the animated movies and about half of the live action ones and never missed Disneyland on TV until I was about 1964 when I joined the navy.
To me Pinocchio is the best. On special features of the DVD it told good stuff like:
1 - As Pinocchio is walking to school he weaves in and out of a couple arches and doorways and for some reason that was very hard to animate. I don't remember exactly why without viewing the specials again.
2 - Later he's locked in the bird cage - then as it's swinging back and fourth, Pinocchio is moving differently inside it and if that wasn't hard enough - scenery is moving outside the wagons window - all at the same time. They were tearing their hair out on that one.
Walt insisted on more perfection on this 2nd one.
I watched Pinocchio with my 5 year old son in my lap and he cried when the boys are turning to donkeys. A cherished memory.
And look how that effected him . . . . now he works in New Zealand with a bunch of techs making, sculpting and inventing props, creatures, weapons, bloody makeup, etc. for toy companies and TV series like Evil Dead. And he's having the time of his life!
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Frank Hale
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Both of you seem to be saying that technical execution is more important than story-telling, and, as I tried to say in my earlier posts, I don't agree with that.

Emotionally, I don’t care about Lampwick. He and the other boys are jerks, and deserve what they get.

The deaths of Bambi's mother and of Old Yeller are much more effective and heart-wrenching Disney cinema, because they concern decent characters.

I say this merely in explication, and not to get up an argument. As I said, the world obviously agrees with you.
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Laughing Gravy
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A gorgeous film to look at, I agree, nothin' else quite like it, a grand step beyond Snow White.

I still don't like the darn thing, though. But I know many people who love it.

My beloved twins' favorite Disney films are Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, mine is Fantasia.

What's yours?
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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JazzGuyy
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Dumbo for me. I know some people have problems with the crows, but they are not as offensive as many other things from their time. Other than jive talking, they don't utilize stereotypes to the extent that Song of the South does. It is my understanding that Walt didn't have a lot to do with creating this film. It was mostly a project of his top animators. (If my info on this is incorrect, I would appreciate one of you animation experts correcting this.) I've always had a soft spot for movies about underdogs who triumph in the end. I'm sure that is big factor in my love of Dumbo. In too many of the other Disney animated movies done during Walt's lifetime, I find that they look beautiful but that the story doesn't work. Walt butchered a number of classic stories, Alice in Wonderland especially. I do think Pinocchio is probably the second best of the animated Disney films made under Walt's supervision. Fantasia is beautiful to look at but it is also an obvious pastiche and some of the segments are on the stupid side. Only the Sorceror's Apprentice and Bald Mountain segments really work for me.
TANSTAAFL!
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JazzGuyy
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By the way, the pink elephants segment in Dumbo is a masterpiece. It strikes me as one of the most imaginative pieces of animation ever done at Disney (and maybe anywhere else).
TANSTAAFL!
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