Product: Pinocchio
Rating: 5.0
Latest DVD gives new luster to a Disney masterpiece...
Walt Disney's PINOCCHIO is given a lavish restoration treatment in the 2-Disc Platinum Edition released in 2010. Not only does it look better than ever, but the extra features (including a great segment on "The Making of Pinocchio" and a feature on Live Action inspiration for the artists), are meticulous and informative. But, of course, the best news of all is that the frame by frame restoration brings the entire story to glowing life in a way that is absolutely amazing for a film that is seventy years old.It's a famous morality tale from the pen of an Italian writer with all of the original material fine tuned by Disney to give it a softer image. All of the ingredients of the tale are beautifully realized by the Disney artists. You'll want to use the "pause" feature to gaze at the detailed and highly imaginative art work which has the kind of depth and dimension it never had before. You can really spot how artfully the Multiplane Camera was used to photograph cells and backgrounds. The village scenes and the interiors of Gepetto's woodshop have a clarity that jumps from the screen.It's no wonder the film has such lasting appeal. The characters come alive and make the story so much more compelling for their presence. Figaro the cat and Cleo the goldfish, along with Gepetto, Stromboli, The Blue Fairy--and most of all, Jiminy Cricket--all register strongly and draw you into the story from beginning to end. The voices are right on target, especially Christian Rub as Gepetto, Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket and Dickie Jones, who is ideally cast as the voice of the little puppet.The darker elements of the story may be disturbing for very young children so parents are advised to be aware of sequences involving the cruel puppet master Stromboli and the magnificently animated underwater scenes involving Monstro the Whale.The busy musical background score won an Oscar for Best Original Score and the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" won for Best Song. These features are best represented by the film's opening scenes in Gepetto's woodshop where the various clocks come to life as the hour strikes, a charming sequence during which the art of animation reaches new heights, all with music playing an important part in plot development as Jiminy, Gepetto and Pinocchio interact after The Blue Fairy gives the wooden puppet life.Disney gave him life too and this gorgeously animated film should have a long shelf life as long as people watch films decade after decade.