Audience Reviews for Pinocchio ½ Collodi's classic fairy tale is adapted into a spellbinding animation full of adventure and tension, notably scarier and more serious in tone than the usual Disney movies. A wonderful story that holds an important moral lesson for children about the dangers of the world. Carlos Magalhães Super Reviewer Fantastical! Wonderful! Amazing! Mesmerizing! These words go above and beyond for this movie, and if I could say anymore, I would call it the best disney film of all time. There are a few films that I like to say I admire more, but I loved everything about "Pinocchio" and all the adventures that he goes on throughout the film. It's all about making your wishes come true by being a good person at heart, and it is one of the most influential films that I have ever seen! I could watch this film over and over again! My only complaint is that is can be a bit dark for children and there is some language and references that nudges at the PG rating, rather than having it's childish G. Overall, "Pinocchio" is a masterpiece of an animate film!

KJ Proulx Super Reviewer Pinocchio is a great film, but compared to other Disney classics, I never really re watched this one. I on the other hand really loved the film when I saw it when I was young. This film is a must see for everyone who loves a good animated film. The film, like with every other Disney film has great art, animation and a talented voice cast. Brilliantly drawn, Pinocchio will bring out the child in every viewer and is a must see for anyone who enjoys a touching story. I loved this one growing up, but unlike other Disney classics, I never really re watched this, but I can say without a doubt that this is a near flawless film, another great one for Disney and a definite must see for the entire family. Children will love this film one, and this is a film that adults will enjoy as well. That's the beauty part about Disney films, their ability to capture the imagination of people no matter what age you are. Pinocchio is a stunning film, one that remains a Disney classic along with Snow White, Bambi and others in the company's long standing history.

A very enjoyable film, Pinocchio is a memorable film that will appeal to anyone looking for a great animated film. An enjoyable ride from beginning to end, this is among Disney's very best. Brilliantly drawn, and told, Pinocchio is a terrific film that has a great story, one that will appeal to every viewer. Alex roy Super Reviewer Not my favourite walt disney movie that was made however it is a classic and like most of walt disneys movie it has got a great moral story and should be watched! Film Crazy Pinocchio (film) | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [Source] Pinocchio is the second film in the Disney Animated Canon . It was produced by Buena Vista Distribution and was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on February 23, 1940 . It premiered in New York City on February 7 and in Los Angeles two days later. The film was then theatrically re-released in 1945 , 1954 , 1962 , 1971 , 1978 , 1984 , and 1992 .

Pinocchio was made in response to the enormous worldwide success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Based on the book by Carlo Collodi , the film stars a puppet - brought to life by a fairy - who tries to earn his right to become a real boy, as he faces the challenges and dangers of a dark, hostile world of crooks, villains and monsters. Though Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is generally considered to be Walt Disney 's most significant contribution to cinema, Pinocchio is considered his greatest achievement and representative of the Disney studio at the peak of its golden age, as well as one of the greatest achievements in animation. It is one of the most critically acclaimed of all the Disney animated features and is considered to be one of the greatest animated films of all time. However, on its first release, Disney only recouped about half of its $2.6 million budget in 1940. The plan for the original film was considerably different from what was released. Numerous characters and plot points, many of which came from the original novel, were used in early drafts.

Walt Disney was displeased with the work that was being done, and stopped the project midway into production so that the concept could be rethought, and the characters redesigned. It was at this stage that the character of the cricket was expanded. Jiminy Cricket , voiced by Cliff Edwards , became central to the story. The song "When You Wish Upon a Star," became a major hit and is still identified with the film, and later as a fanfare for Walt Disney Studios itself. Pinocchio also won the Academy Award for Best Song and the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and in 1994 was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, and in the second slot, behind only Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , in the American Film Institute's Top ten Animated Feature Films of all time in 2008. The film is constantly considered the greatest film in the animation medium, despite the initial failure at the box office.

Contents Plot Gepetto's Workshop The film opens with Jiminy Cricket singing When You Wish Upon A Star as he sits on a bookshelf, on which can be found various literary classics, such as Peter Pan , Alice in Wonderland and Pinocchio, which is given a place of prominence. Jiminy Cricket greets the audience and acknowledges that many may not believe that a wish, as the song states, may come true, and, as proof of the message, decides to tell the story of Pinocchio. He slides down the shelf to the book and opens it, beginning his story in a peaceful village at night, which Jiminy states he was passing through. At this point, the viewer enters the story Jiminy is telling through an illustration in the book. Pinocchio's village is introduced at night, with only Gepetto's workshop showing signs of activity. Inspirational sketch by Gustaf Tenggren The only building from which light seems to emanate is Gepetto's Workshop . Jiminy hops over to the open window and peers in to see a warm fire in a room filled with beautifully carved toys, clocks, music boxes and puppets. He enters the room and warms himself by the fire.

He then notices Pinocchio, a lifeless marionette, sitting on a shelf. As he is admiring the puppet, he hears someone coming. Crawling up the marionette's strings to hide on a high shelf, he sees Gepetto coming down the stairs with Figaro to finish painting the puppet. Gepetto greets Cleo , whose bowl sits nearby, and carefully paints a smile on the puppet's face. Having completed the marionette he gives it the name "Pinocchio" (which literally means "Little Wooden Head") and tests it out by walking it around the workshop, to the tune of Little Wooden Head which is played by one of the music boxes. The bells of the clocks that cover the walls of the workshop indicate that it is now nine o'clock, and Gepetto announces that it is time for bed. After he, Figaro and Cleo have bidden each other goodnight, the woodcutter gets into bed, to notice a Wishing Star through the window. He wishes that Pinocchio would become a real boy, before falling asleep.

The Blue Fairy The wishing star glows brighter, and gets closer to the window; eventually, reaching the workshop, it transforms into the Blue Fairy . She approaches Pinocchio and brings the puppet to life with a tap of her wand, and his strings vanish without a trace. Pinocchio is delighted and surprised at his ability to move and talk. The Fairy informs him, however, that he is not a real boy yet, and must prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish in order to become one and learn the difference between right and wrong. After Jiminy hops in to explain to Pinocchio, the Blue Fairy decides to dub the cricket Pinocchio's conscience and leaves, telling Pinocchio to always let his conscience be his guide. Jiminy tries to explain the concept of right and wrong, and, though he is largely unsuccessful, Pinocchio tells him that he wants "to do right". Jiminy then sings Give A Little Whistle , and Pinocchio joins in, falling into a pile of toys by accident. This wakes Gepetto, who cautiously searches the room. On finding Pinocchio moving and talking, he first thinks he is dreaming but is eventually convinced, and delighted, that his 'son' is alive.

Winding the music boxes, Gepetto, Pinocchio, Figaro and Cleo celebrate. Pinocchio is distracted by a candle and, not knowing what it is, sets his finger on fire; Gepetto panics and extinguishes the wooden boy's finger in Cleo's bowl. He decides that they should go to sleep before anything else happens. On the way to School The next morning, the village is awake. The boys and girls hurry to school, and Pinocchio excitedly follows them. He is noticed by a fox and cat, who, knowing the value of a moving puppet without strings, "befriend" him, intending to sell him. The fox introduces himself as Honest John and tells Pinocchio that he is just the type to become an actor. He and his partner Gideon (the cat) lead him through the streets, while Honest John sings " Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) ". Jiminy, meanwhile, is "late on his first day", and tries to tell Pinocchio not to give in to temptation, but is ignored, and Pinocchio accompanies the fox and cat to "be an actor" while Jiminy desperately runs after them.

Stromboli, the Puppet Master Honest John takes Pinocchio to Stromboli's Caravan , where puppet master Stromboli buys the wooden boy and makes him his star attraction. That evening, Jiminy watches from a lamp post as Pinocchio performs I've Got No Strings for the audience, and is met with enthusiastic applause as onlookers throw money onto the stage, much to Stromboli's delight and Jiminy's surprise. Thinking that he was wrong in trying to stop Pinocchio, Jiminy decides to let the living puppet continue without him. Gepetto, meanwhile, is worried that Pinocchio has not returned from school, and leaves the workshop to look for him. In Stromboli's caravan, after the show, the puppet master congratulates Pinocchio for making him so much money and tells him that he will become a star. Delighted, Pinocchio tries to go home to tell Gepetto but is stopped by Stromboli, who grabs him and throws him into a wooden birdcage. He tells the boy that he will keep him there, taking him out only to put on shows as they tour the world.

And when Pinocchio is too old to entertain audiences, Stromboli will use him for firewood. Laughing, Stromboli leaves the carriage, slamming the door. The caravan begins to move, and Pinocchio weeps as he tries to call out to his friend. The Nose of Deceit Jiminy is outside in the rain, watching the caravan pass. He decides to wish Pinocchio good luck and to say goodbye to him and is surprised to find Pinocchio locked up. He tries to unlock the cage but to no avail. He stays with Pinocchio as the two weep over their predicament. Geppetto passes the caravan, but his calls for Pinocchio are not heard over the rain and thunder. When all hope seems lost, the Blue Fairy appears in the caravan. She asks why Pinocchio did not go to school; the wooden boy lies, telling her that he and Jiminy were captured by monsters. His nose becomes longer with each lie he tells until it becomes a tree limb, complete with leaves and a bird's nest. The Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio that a lie keeps growing, "until it's as plain as the nose on your face".

Pinocchio promises to never lie again, and his nose returns to its normal size. The Fairy then frees Pinocchio from the cage and vanishes, saying that this will be the last time she will help them, meaning she could not help them anymore. Jiminy and Pinocchio sneak out of the caravan as it is moving. The Plot Meanwhile, the fox and cat are celebrating at The Red Lobster . Seated opposite them is the Coachman , who listens to their story and decides to catch their attention with a huge bag of money, which he says can be theirs if they bring " stupid little boys " to the crossroads for him to take to Pleasure Island . Though Foulfellow is at first terrified of getting caught, the Coachman assures him that none of the boys ever come back "as boys." As soon as they leave the tavern, the fox and cat find Pinocchio racing Jiminy Cricket home, and pretend to be doctors, stating that he is 'allergic' and must go to Pleasure Island to get better. They carry him to the crossroads with Jiminy once again in hot pursuit.

When on the Coachman's Stagecoach , Pinocchio meets a kid named Lampwick , who tells him that Pleasure Island is a "swell joint" where boys can run riot without fear of reprimand from authority figures and everything is freely available. The coach reaches the shore, where the boys board a boat which takes them to the island. Pleasure Island As the boys enjoy themselves at the fairground-like Pleasure Island, the Coachman orders his minions to close the doors, locking the unknowing boys in. Later that night, Jiminy searches the now-deserted fairground for Pinocchio. He eventually finds him playing pool with Lampwick, who scoffs that Pinocchio "takes orders from a grasshopper" and laughs at Jiminy, shooting the cricket down the pool gutter when he admonishes him. Jiminy loses his temper and attempts to leave, quitting as Pinocchio's conscience after discovering that Pinocchio is friends with Lampwick. He crawls under the main doors of the fairground to find the Coachman and his minions loading donkeys into crates going to places such as the Salt Mines and the Circus. One donkey, named Alexander , is able to speak.

The Coachman throws Alexander into a pen of other donkeys that "can still talk". Jiminy realizes that the donkeys are the same boys that went to Pleasure Island, meaning that they were somehow transformed into donkeys and being sold into slavery. He rushes back to warn Pinocchio. Back in the pool hall, Lampwick is still laughing about Jiminy when he suddenly sprouts donkey ears. He then looks into the mirror and panics. He pleads Pinocchio for help, but the boy is only able to look on in fright. Lampwick's last words are a frantic call from his mother before he turns into a donkey completely. Losing his mind, Lampwick starts to kick everything in the pool hall, breaking a mirror and a table, and kicking his clothes off. A speechless Pinocchio hides behind a chair, and his panic increases when he himself sprouts ears and a tail, but Jiminy arrives just in time to tell him that Pleasure Island is cursed and takes him to an escape route in order to avoid the same terrible fate. Together, they swim to the shore of the mainland with Pinocchio only having a donkey tail and ears, leaving Lampwick and the others behind.

In the Belly of Monstro Pinocchio and Jiminy arrive at Geppetto's workshop to discover the old woodcutter has left, along with Figaro and Cleo. A message from the Blue Fairy as a dove informs Pinocchio of his father's location: after venturing out to sea to find Pinocchio, he had been swallowed by Monstro , an enormous whale. Pinocchio resolves to save Geppetto; though Jiminy tries to warn him against it, he accompanies the boy. Tying a rock to his donkey tail, Pinocchio plunges to the bottom of the sea and he and Jiminy begin their search for Monstro. Any sea creatures they attempt to ask to flee at the mere mention of Monstro's name. Inside the belly of the whale, Gepetto is in a small boat with Figaro and Cleo. They have nothing to eat; Geppetto fears that, unless Monstro opens his mouth soon, they will starve to death.

Monstro then wakes from his slumber to surprise a school of tuna, who flee in all directions; Pinocchio and Jiminy see Monstro and, frightened, try to swim to escape; Pinocchio is swallowed but the sprightly Jiminy manages to escape. Pinocchio finds himself on Geppetto's boat, and the woodcarver is relieved to see his son again. Geppetto laments that they could not get out of the whale. However, Pinocchio has a plan; gathering some wood, he starts a fire, which causes Monstro to sneeze the boat out. Jiminy jumps on as they fly past. Furious, Monstro chases the boat and smashes it to pieces with his tail. Pinocchio grabs ahold of his father and paddles for a hole in the cliffs beyond as a means of escape. Monstro enraged as ever, continues to chase after them. Pinocchio succeeds in getting through the hole in the cliff just as Monstro crashes into it. Gepetto, Jiminy, Figaro, and Cleo wash up on shore alive, but Pinocchio is seen floating face down in a deep puddle, apparently having died to try to save his father.

Epilogue In Gepetto's workshop, Jiminy, Gepetto, and his pets mourn Pinocchio's death. However, in saving his father, Pinocchio has proved himself; the Blue Fairy, from afar, grants him life, and he becomes a real boy. While the other characters celebrate, Jiminy, standing on the window ledge, gazes at the Wishing Star and thanks the Blue Fairy. As a reward, a gold medal declaring him an 'Official Conscience' appears on his front. As Jiminy leaves with his new badge, the Wishing Star still shines in the sky, protecting and illuminating the village forevermore.

Cast Production Information about the Feature Film Pinocchio (Video) 1962- Theatrical Re-release (Buena Vista) 1971- Theatrical Re-release (Buena Vista) 1984- Theatrical Re-release (Buena Vista) Jul 15, 1985- Walt Disney Classics VHS Oct 14, 1986- VHS Release 1992- Theatrical Re-release (Buena Vista) Mar 26, 1993- VHS Release 1999- VHS and DVD Release Mar 10, 2009- Platinum Edition Blu-ray Cartoon Production Information: The first animated film to win an Academy Award for best original song for best original score. In 1994, Pinocchio was one of 25 films added by the Library of Congress' National Film Preservation Board to the National Film Registry. Songs and scenes from Pinocchio were recreated for a Christmas 1939 broadcast of CBS Radio and Cecil B. DeMille's Lux Radio Theater Show.

Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Eve Venabile, Walter Catlett and Cliff Edwards performed their characters on the radio adaptation of the movie. The scenes of Pleasure Island were based upon the images of the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair. The intention was to satirize its hideous atmosphere in the film. Despite this film's success with American moviegoers, Pinocchio was not accepted by the surviving members of the Collodi family, who felt that the film misused the strong social satire of the original book. To this day, Disney's Pinocchio is criticized by the Collodi family. Walt Disney employed more than 750 staff members on Pinocchio, working them for several years. Technicians developed an enhanced multiplane camera which could dolly in and out of an animated scene (similar to live-action photography), as opposed to the vertical method of shooting used in Snow White. Animators pioneered using glass plates over the animation to create a realistic underwater look for the scene in the ocean, and established a technique called "the blend" to give the two-dimensional animation some depth. Twelve artists labored for 18 months to design the character of Pinocchio alone.

Disney, a perfectionist, is rumored to have thrown out over 2,300 feet of footage (representing at least five months of work) because it did not fit his vision. Box-office returns for Pinocchio did not surpass those for Snow White, as Disney had hoped. This film was rereleased theatrically in 1945, 1954, 1962, 1971, 1978, and 1984. The film went under a full restoration process in 1991 and was reissued in 1992 as a "special edition." Pinocchio was released to video in 1984, starting the "Walt Disney Classics" video series. The digitally remastered version was released to video in 1993, and again in 1999 on both VHS and DVD as a "40th Anniversary" edition. This was the second film in the official Disney list of animated films . Estimated budget of $2,289,247. This film made $84 million in it's initial theatrical release. Traditional, Hand-drawn Animation.

Commentary: Riding high from the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Walt Disney embarked on a project that would come to be regarded by critics, artists, and historians as the zenith of animation's Golden Age- the most complex and refined art of any other of Walt Disney's animated features. Pinocchio is based on an 1881 Italian tale by Carlo Collodi, which had been written in serial form and rambled through an assortment of adventures in numerous locales. The Disney story team narrowed the plot's focus and refined the story but continued to have problems with the basic lack of sympathy in the title character. Six months into development, these problems led Walt Disney to scrap the entire project and start afresh. One of the obstacles was the little puppet himself. His delinquent traits and physical characteristics were softened. The animators had been thinking of Pinocchio as a moving puppet, instead of a real boy, which resulted in a cold, wooden feeling. Frank Thomas softened Pinocchio's facial design, and Fred Moore redesigned his body, so the character falls in the middle-he does many things a puppet can't and many things a real boy can't.

The critical and public reaction to Pinocchio was strong and positive, but at the time of its release, the European market was cut off by World War II, eliminating a vital source of income for this and other expensive films in the works at the Walt Disney Studio- Bambi (1942) and Fantasia (1940) among them. Pinocchio was an enormously expensive venture, primarily due to Walt Disney's vision of the film as a sumptuous visual and atmospheric piece. This entailed meticulous and time-consuming character and setting development, and extensive use of the expensive Multiplane Camera technology, which had been further refined from its use in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. These refinements enabled the animators to use a greatly increased depth of field of focus- a field twice the size of that used in Snow White. Under the direction of Charles Philippi, Hugh Hennesy, and Ken Anderson, animation layout reached an unprecedented level of inventiveness, sophistication, and beauty in Pinocchio. The opening pan over the rooftops of Geppetto's village is a masterpiece of animated camera movement.

Gustav Tenggren, whose illustration work had been so vital to Snow White, created the quaint European storybook feel of the Pinocchio settings. The rich backgrounds created for Pinocchio's adventures include Geppetto's warm and fanciful toyshop, a dingy waterfront pub, the belly of a whale, and a nightmarish amusement park. Albert Hurter, once described by Walt Disney as a "master creator of fantasy," designed the picture's intricate decoration, like Geppetto's clocks and music boxes. In order to draw the audience's focus away from Pinocchio's delinquent actions, the story emphasis was shifted toward a companion for Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket. In the book, the cricket was a sermonizing pest, whom Pinocchio promptly squashed. In refining the character as a point of access for the audience, animator Ward Kimball recalled, 'I started with a real cricket with toothed legs and antennae, but Walt didn't like it. I did 12 or 14 versions and...ended up with a little man, really. The only thing that makes him a cricket is that we say he is.' Submit Additional Information: Do you have anything to add to this page?

Have we made any mistakes... or do you ahve any additional information about Pinocchio? If so, we would love to hear from you. Please send us a quick note with your additions or corrections to this page, and we will make the corrections as soon as possible! Report Errors / Submit Additional Information Cartoon Comments: Below are comments about this cartoon submitted by people who have seen this show. Take a look and see what others have said about Pinocchio. We want to know what you think, too!! Feel free to share your own opinion- we do want to hear from you! You can add your own comments here . A classic, nuff said. Movie Review - - THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'Pinocchio,' Walt Disney's Long-Awaited Successor to 'Snow White,' Has Its Premiere at the Center Theatre--Other New Films - NYTimes.com Movie Review February 8, 1940 THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; 'Pinocchio,' Walt Disney's Long-Awaited Successor to 'Snow White,' Has Its Premiere at the Center Theatre--Other New Films By FRANK S.

NUGENT Published: February 8, 1940 If Westbrook Pegler could write (as he did write in January, 1938) that Walt Disney's "Snow White" was the happiest event since the armistice, we can report confidently this morning that Mr. Disney's "Pinocchio" is the happiest event since the war. His second feature-length cartoon, three years in the making and the occasion of the Center Theatre's return to the cinema's ranks, is a blithe, chuckle-some, witty, fresh and beautifully drawn fantasy which is superior to "Snow White" in every respect but one: its score. And, since its score is merry and pleasant, if not quite so contagiously tuneful as the chorals of the seven little men who really weren't there, we shall not have it stressed to "Pinocchio's" disparagement. It still is the best thing Mr. Disney has done and therefore the best cartoon ever made. Seeing a Disney work in action always is more fun than analyzing it, for charm is a quality even Barrie could not define and charm is the pulsating, radiant, winning something that shines through this latest Disney creation and makes it so captivating.

It isn't at all self-conscious or calculating, like the charm of the matinee idol or honeyed radio voice; it seems almost too spontaneous for us to credit the fact that every bit of it was conceived, weighed, worked out during a three-year gestation period in a cartoon factory. At the risk of being, of all hateful words, sentimental, we would say "Pinocchio" is the work of men of goodwill and good fellowship. From Disney down to his least inker, animator or air-brush wielder, we sense a guild of craftsmen smiling over their drawing boards and paintpots, delighted with the make-believe world they are creating. The make-believe here, of course, is basically of Collodi's imagining. It was his notion, in a quaint and moral-pointing fairy tale, to tell of a long-nosed boylike puppet, dubbed Pinocchio by Gepetto, the woodcarver, who was brought to life by the Blue Fairy but told he could not be a real little boy until he had acquired truth, courage and unselfishness. To assist him in his quest, she provided him with a conscience in the form of a cricket—Jiminy Cricket to Mr.

Disney's fantastic crew—and there were adventures with a cruel puppetmaster, encounters with a wicked Fox and a Cat, a bewitched sojourn on Pleasure Island, where wayward little boys turned into jackasses, and, finally, an exciting descent to the ocean's floor to rescue poor Gépetto from the belly of a whale. All grist, obviously, to the Disney mill. And he has had an impish, a scampish, a quizzical and disarmingly whimsical time with it from the moment his Jiminy Cricket (who acts as a debonair tourist guide through this wonderland) opens the pages of his fantasy to that, at the very end, when Figaro, the kitten, jumps into the goldfish bowl to plant an ecstatic and suspiciously fishy kiss on the cupid's-bow lips of Cleo, the kittenish goldfish. For all these curious folk and all their curious adventures have been drawn with Mr. Disney's invariably quick eye to amusing characterization and humorous detail, with his usual relish for a sly little joke, with his habitual enjoyment of telling whoppers and making them seem just as natural as a cricket in spats.

His Jiminy Cricket, as you might have guessed, is the Dopey of "Pinocchio," and for just the opposite reasons. He's smart as a cricket and twice as chirpy. It's something to hear him rap with his cane on the teeth of Monstro the Whale and demand admittance into the Blue Grottoed belly where Gepetto, perched on the rail of a swallowed derelict, is manfully fishing for tuna. It's something, too, to see the expression of annoyance drift across his face, glacier-like, when Gepetto's clocks begin to hammer out the seconds he meant to pass in sleep. "Quiet!" he bellows, like an assistant director, and every pendulum freezes in mid-swing. No question about it, Jiminy Cricket has a commanding presence and the droll voice of Cliff Edwards, who can burlesque a tenor with the worst of them. But it isn't easy to call Jiminy the only favorite.

Pinocchio is a fresh little cuss, Cleo the Goldfish is a dream and Figaro the kitten is the kind of kitten only Disney's men could draw, exact to the whistling purr, the wicked side-glance, the bewildered and hurt look when the hand that has been scratching its neck suddenly is withdrawn. You'll like Mr. Disney's cast, from cricket to Monstro, from kitten to Fox, from Gepetto to goldfish. Technically, and we hate to be technical at a time like this, it answers every one of the objections raised when "Snow White" was shown. The drawing is finer, with none of the line-straying noticeable when Prince Charming and his Cinderella took the screen. The handling of shadows and highlights is surer, and the color-lovely as it was in Disney's first cartoon feature—is immeasurably lovelier here. We note, too, with vast admiration, evidences of true direction—freer use of camera in panning, zoom shot and dollying, so that the vantage point is not fixed but travels to and from and with the subjects in its range.

Some uses of it are cute, too—like the camera's hopping toward a scene when little Jiminy is telling us how he hopped over to take a look in Gepetto's window. But that's enough about technique. Its refinement was inevitable, for Mr. Disney is a notorious perfectionist; we've no doubt he is dissatisfied still and will have even greater marvels for us in his "Fantasia," the next of his promised features. What really matters, and all that matters, this morning is that "Pinocchio" is here at last, is every bit as fine as we had prayed it would be—if not finer—and that it is as gay and clever and delightful a fantasy as any well-behaved youngster or jaded oldster could hope to see. PINOCCHIO, a feature-length cartoon adapted from Collodi's fantasy; screen play by Ted Sears, Webb Smith, Joseph Sabo, Otto Englander, William Cottrell, Erdman Penner and Aurelius Battaglia; supervising directors Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske; sequence directors Bill Roberts, Jack Kinney, Norman Ferguson Wilfred Jackson and T.

Hee; animation directors Fred Moore, Milton Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, Franklin Thomas, Vladimir Tytla, Arthur Babbitt and Woolie Reitherman; character designs by Joe Grant, Albert Hurter, Campbell Grant, John P. Miller, Martin Provensen and John Walbridge; music and lyrics by Leigh Harline, Ned Washington and Paul J. Smith; art director, Charles Philippi; a Walt Disney production; released by RKO Radio Pictures. At the Center Theatre. With the following characters: Monstro, the whale The Coachman If you don't know what all the shooting's about at the Paramount this week, we'll tell you; it's the United States Army under old General Ralph Morgan alternately chasing and being chased by an Injun varmint called Geronimo. And in spite of all the chasing, neither the redskins nor the white folks manage to run down a plot suitable for sustaining interest over the requisite feature-length period.

To do them justice both sides beat manfully about a number of promising plot bushes, but the only semblance of actual plot uncovered by this furious activity are bits of baggage and old blank cartridges left over from Cecil De Mille's "The Plainsman" and John Ford's "Stagecoach," which passed this way with considerably more dash and distinction than "Geronimo" seems able to muster. All this is not intended as a reflection on Geronimo himself, who is a remarkably genuine redskin with a vocabulary of one grunt and a histrionic repertoire of two expressions: grim, and very grim. Whether or not Geronimo's role is even a "speaking role" within the narrow limits laid down by the Screen Actors' Guild contract is something which would have to be determined by the delicate legal machinery of that organization. Our own vote would be in the negative—not because we wish to deprive Chief Thunder Cloud of the additional union wage, but simply because we doubt that there is even an Indian language in which so much hard service is demanded of a single monosyllable. Other members of the cast, however, more than make up for the Chief's deficiency of dialogue.

Preston Foster, as the heroic and self-effacing Captain Starrett, talks a blue streak whenever he can get any member of the post, officer or private, to relax discipline long enough to listen to him. Andy Devine, the ill-groomed scout, whose quinsy persists, not only talks continually in barracks, but waxes as philosophical, as if he had been written by William Saroyan. Gene Lockhart, as the frontier rat who supplies repeating rifles to the redskins, not only talks, but guiltily sweats when they've finally cornered him. And there is quite a lengthy cast, including several unpioneer-looking women in the background whose principal difficulty seems to be that they can't get a word in edgewise. On the whole you may be grateful for the taciturnity of good old Geronimo before the picture's over. At the Paramount GERONIMO, screen play by Paul H. Sloane; directed by Mr. Sloane; a Paramount production. Captain Starrett . . . . . Preston Foster Soldier Burns . . . . . Harry Templeton Soldier Kells . . . . .

Cecil Kellogg When somebody got the happy notion of setting a hard-bitten, wise-cracking vaudeville performer like Metro's Maisie Ravier down in the heart of darkest Africa with only a satchel full of props between her and a bubbling kettle, the fat was already in the fire for a pleasing twist on the familiar tom-tom-and-witchcraft story. And that, in an unpretentious way, is what "Congo Maisie," now at Loew's Criterion, offers. This Maisie, as those who saw her in an earlier adventure may recall, is a spitfire with a heart of gold—a combination of Pollyanna and a cleaned-up Sadie Thompson whose specialty act is magic and feats of sleight-of-hand. Thus, when a hoofer's luck strands her in an isolated medical station far up the Congo River, it is natural that she should go into her act in more ways than one. She assists in an emergency appendectomy, persuades a homesick wife not to run out on her doctor husband for a romancing rubber planter, argues the rubber planter into resuming a neglected medical Career and finally falls for the handsome dog herself. Apparently such things happen often in the Hollywood jungle.

But the real fun comes when Maisie, gowned in a black sequin dress, turns off the inevitable attack of the angry natives, aroused by the witch-doctors, by giving them the old carnival spieler's line, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" and a running exhibition of hankie tricks. Credit for her final feat, which is the sudden fabrication of rain, must go, however, to a desperate scenarist, not to her. In his direction, H. C. Potter has followed a fine line between solemnity and farce. You can literally take your pick. And Ann Sothern, well heeled with gags, plays the bedizened Maisie with just enough flounce and impudence to keep her fixit role from going gummy. Altogether this corner sees it as a nice bit of harmless fun. At Loew's Criterion CONGO MAISIE, screen play by Mary McCall Jr., based on the book "Congo Landing," by Wilson Collison; directed by H. C. Potter for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Maisie Ravier . . . . . Ann Sothern Dr. Michael Shane . . . . . John Carroll Kay McWade . .

. . . Rita Johnson Dr. John McWade . . . . . Shepperd Strudwick Captain Finch . . . . . J. M. Kerrigan Horace Snell . . . . . E. E. Clive Jallah . . . . . Everett Brown Pinocchio (1940) | The Disney Project The Disney Project Pinocchio (1940) A scene from Pinocchio depicting Geppetto's creation of the little wooden boy. Pinocchio was Walt Disney’s second full length animated feature. Using the same filming techniques and much of the same production technology as Snow White, the film secured The Walt Disney Company as North America’s leader in animation. The story, a blatant morality tale, covers a wooden boy who must learn the difference between right and wrong in order to become “a real boy.” Lying, betrayal and vice all come with physical and often devastating consequences.

Stromboli remains one of the cruelest Disney villains to ever see the screen (locking a child in a cold wooden cage and threatening death if he doesn’t make enough money is top-bar villainy even Maleficent would have a hard time matching.) Pinocchio also introduced the world to one of the most recognizable musical scores ever written: “When You Wish Upon a Star.” The tune even became part of Walt Disney’s open sequence for all subsequent films and is almost synonymous with the Disney brand. Pinocchio was also the first animated film to win an Academy Award in a competitive category. It won Oscars for both original score and original song. Snow White was the first to win a non-competitive category for significant screen innovation, and was nominated for best score, but did not win. The story was originally written by an Italian journalist, Carlo Lorenzini. But on the side of his newspaper writing, Lorenzini began to build a reputation as a translator of French fairy tales. He then started to write his own children’s stories. Pinocchio was originally published as The Adventures of Pinocchio between 1881 and 1882 . The English translation was first published in 1892.

The film also began a tradition — which Pixar now continues — of teasing future film releases. As Jiminy Cricket sings “When You Wish Upon a Star” he leans against two books, whose covers can be clearly seen. They are Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. Disney had begun working on scripts and story boards for those two films while animators were putting the final touches on Pinocchio. Pinocchio was not a dream of success for everyone, though. Mel Blanc started his career doing voices in animation — including Porky Pig — and ended his career with Hanna Barbara’s Jetsons movie, released in 1990. Blanc was originally hired to voice Gideon (aka Kitty), even recording an entire script’s worth of dialog. The voice was cut from the film, though, when Walt Disney decided Gideon’s character should be mute. Instead, Blanc’s voice appears only as a general background voice for donkeys and marionettes. The film was Blanc’s only work with the Walt Disney company, except for some voices in Who Framed Roger Rabbit , though he only touched Warner Bros. characters.

Squabbles among staff aside, though, Pinocchio is one of the most endearing morality tales to be released by a major studio in the 21st century. It’s no surprise that Pinocchio was Disney’s first release on DVD. Share this post: Especially love the dichotomy between Stromboli and Maleficent. Almost ironic how one of the most evil characters of them all, was in fact a regular human. I look forward to this post to show up in my feeds! 🙂 Detail view of Movies Page Summary: Geppetto, a kindly old woodcarver, creates a little puppet boy of pine and names him Pinocchio. Because the old man, who has been generous and good all of his life, loves children and has none of his own, the Blue Fairy brings the marionette to life to be a son to him. She tells Pinocchio, however, that he must earn his right to become a real boy by exhibiting the virtues of truth, courage and selflessness.

To aid him in his task, she makes Jiminy, a vagabond cricket who has snuck into Geppetto's workshop to spend the night, Pinocchio's conscience, dubbing him the "Lord High Keeper of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong." Pinocchio's first test comes the next morning, when, on his way to school, he is accosted by J. Worthington Foulfellow, a wily fox also known as "Honest John." Along with his daffy companion Gideon, Foulfellow convinces Pinocchio that he should become an actor in the puppet show belonging to Stromboli, a tyrannical puppeteer. Jiminy's protests that Pinocchio must go to school fall on deaf ears, and the little puppet is soon a big hit with Stromboli's audience. Seeing that Pinocchio is doing well, Jiminy decides that a successful actor does not need a conscience and leaves. All is not well, however, for the cruel Stromboli locks Pinocchio in a bird cage when he tries to leave after the show.

After deciding to say goodbye to "Pinoc," Jiminy returns to Stromboli's wagon, where he is horrified to discover the puppet's predicament. Jiminy's efforts to pick the lock do not succeed, and as the companions despair, they are astonished to see the Blue Fairy, who questions Pinocchio about why he did not go to school. The flustered Pinocchio tells lie after lie, and his nose grows with each falsehood. The Blue Fairy rebukes Pinocchio, explaining that "a lie grows and grows until it's as plain as the nose on your face." After Pinocchio promises to reform, the beautiful fairy sets him free, and Pinocchio hastens with Jiminy toward home. Pinocchio is stopped again by Foulfellow, who tempts him to go to Pleasure Island, a magical place where boys can do anything they want. Pinocchio joins the other boys on the coach driven by a mysterious coachman, and soon is indulging in the cigars, beer and billiards offered at Pleasure Island. As Pinocchio plays with his new friend Lampwick, Jiminy discovers that the boys on the island transform into donkeys, which are then sold by the coachman.

He then returns to the terrified Pinocchio, who has just seen Lampwick turn into a donkey. Pinocchio sprouts ears and a tail, but escapes with Jiminy before his transformation is complete. Upon their return home, they discover that Geppetto, Figaro, the kitten, and Cleo, the goldfish, have been swallowed by Monstro, a gigantic whale. With no thought for his own safety, Pinocchio voyages to the bottom of the sea, where he finds Geppetto, Cleo and Figaro alive in the whale's belly. After a joyful reunion with his father, Pinocchio hits upon the idea of making Monstro sneeze. After setting Geppetto's boat on fire, the little group escape on a raft when the smoke causes Monstro to sneeze. The irritated whale chases his former captives, and Pinocchio bravely rescues Geppetto at the cost of his own life. Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo and Jiminy sorrowfully return home, and as they are mourning, the Blue Fairy appears and turns Pinocchio into a real boy as a reward for his actions.

She also gives Jiminy a gold badge for his services as Pinocchio's conscience, and as Geppetto and his son celebrate, Jiminy sings that "when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true." Production Company: Whales and whaling Note: According to material contained in the production file for this film at the AMPAS Library, the original Carlo Collodi story was written in installments for an Italian weekly magazine. Although the onscreen credits do not specify which animators worked on which characters, these credits were obtained from a 4 Mar 1940 ad in HR , in which producer Walt Disney thanks his staff. It is possible that animators credited with work on specific characters also worked on other animation for the film. The onscreen credits list Leigh Harline, Ned Washington and Paul J. Smith as writing the music and lyrics, although contemporary sources indicate that Harline and Washington collaborated on the songs while Smith wrote the film's score. According to contemporary sources, work on Pinocchio , which was Disney's second feature-length cartoon, began while Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was being completed in 1937.

A 6 Mar 1938 NYT article noted that Pinocchio had been "held up by story difficulties," and therefore Bambi , which was also in production, would probably be released first. ( Bambi was ultimately not released until 1942, due partially to the difficulty of drawing the animals realistically.) A 12 Jun 1938 NYT article reported that Disney "had just discarded 2,300 feet of Pinocchio because it had missed the feeling he had in mind." According to a modern source, this footage was the result of at least five months of work. Another modern source asserts that this footage was supervised by David Hand, who did not receive onscreen credit but is credited in the HR ad mentioned above. According to contemporary sources, a large part of the problem was the characterization and "look" of Pinocchio, who in the original stories was not a very appealing hero. Disney and his staff gave the puppet a more sympathetic personality, and the depiction of him progressed from an angular stick-like figure to a more rounded, "cute" shape.

One NYT article stated that when they first began work on the production, Disney artists used the drawings of Attilio Massino, which accompanied Collodi's story, as a basis for Pinocchio. According to modern sources, children's book illustrator Gustaf Tenggren drew the initial sketches and paintings that inspired the picture's "European storybook flavor." Tenggren left the project before it was completed, however, and did not receive onscreen credit for his work. A 20 May 1938 HR news item noted that the studio had created a new department to design and manufacture character models, and that Disney had placed Bob Jones in charge of the department.

According to the 1985 reminiscences of Jones, located in the Disney Archives, "at least 12 Disney artists struggled over an 18 month period--each contributing their own ideas--before the design [for Pinocchio] was finalized." Jones states that Joe Grant was in charge of the character model department, which produced models of all of the characters and "scenic 'props' such as unusual furniture, tools, toys, clock, and other items for Geppetto's workshop and anything else that needed designing." In addition to the character designers and animators listed above, Jones states that the following people helped to create the designs and models: Charles Cristadoro, Teddy Kline, Helen McIntosh, Shirley Sodaholm, Duke Russell and Wah Ming Chang. As Pinocchio's features were refined, Disney decided to include the cricket character from Collodi's story (although in Collodi's version, the puppet kills the cricket).

Naming him Jiminy, Disney asked his artists to create a cricket who looked "like a human being" and "talked and wore clothes." Also according to a NYT article, Cliff Edwards, who provided the voice of Jiminy, was originally tested for the voice of Pinocchio, "but Disney had turned him down because there was a 'drop of adult' in his voice." According to a 11 Mar 1940 Life article, the "voice actors" worked intermittently for nineteen months "projecting dialogue and song into a microfone [sic] for transfer to a sound track. When this track was broken down into charts allotting footage for every vowel, consonant and syllable, Disney animators drew pictures to fit." According to a 1984 LAT article on Dick Jones, who was the voice of Pinocchio, "the facial expressions and lip movements of Jones and the other actors were shot on 8-millimeter film as a reference for the animators." Jones also dressed as the character and acted out various scenes. A 7 Apr 1940 NYT article on sequence director T.

(Thornton) Hee, reported that Hee "donned a Stromboli costume, got up in front of Walt [Disney] and the other story men, spoke the dialogue and acted exactly as Stromboli would." Other contemporary sources also note that the animators often acted out scenes for each other for visual references on expressions and movements. Marjorie Bell, who was also known as Marge Belcher and Marge Champion, was the model for Snow White as well as The Blue Fairy, and was married to animation director Art Babbitt at the time of production. A 25 Feb 1940 NYT article noted that although Walter Catlett provided the voice of J. Worthington Foulfellow, "the characterization was based upon a couple of famous actor brothers whose last name begins with B." It is likely that the article is referring to Lionel and John Barrymore. A contemporary study guide for the picture stated that 2,000,000 drawings were created, of which 300,000 were used in the final film. The studio's use of the multiplane camera helped create the realism and detail lauded in contemporary reviews.

The multiplane camera was first used in the 1937 Disney short The Old Mill , and Disney's first feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . According to Life and NYT , the picture cost $2.5 million, and modern sources note that much of this cost went into the scenes filmed by the multiplane camera, single sequences of which cost up to $48,000. According to a 1940 NYT article written by Disney, the cameras were much improved from those used previously. Disney stated: "Among the most important [new development] is a type of universal camera crane, a development whereby instead of using a vertical method of shooting, as on the original Disney multiplane camera, the camera dollies into a scene or away from it, on the same principle as motion-picture photography in a live action studio. The backgrounds which we were able to use on this camera for Pinocchio were twice as big as those which fitted into the original multiplane set-up used in Snow White ." For more information on the multiplane camera, please see the entry below for Snow White .

Another advance Disney describes in the NYT article is "the blend," a "technique which gives roundness and dimensions to the characters." "The blend" was accomplished by twelve ink and paint "girls," who would use a variety of special paints and rouge to add depth, roundness and highlights to the scenes. The example Disney gives is the scene in which Geppetto, thinking that someone has broken into his workshop, looks around while holding a candle. The highlights on his turning head and body as reflected by the candle are a result of "the blend." The film had its world premiere in New York at the Center theatre on 7 Feb 1940. A HR news item noted that the picture had "one of the biggest and most widespread exploitation and merchandising campaigns seen in years." According to the news item, stories and pictures about Pinocchio had appeared in sixty-three national magazines and hundreds of newspapers. A 10 Feb 1940 MPH article reported that "The Pinocchio opening...received one of the largest foreign coverages in motion picture history. Sixty-seven representatives of foreign publications, news syndicates and wire services, covering thirty-eight countries with a total population of more than one billion attended.

The notices by the foreign writers are expected to be read by over one million persons in seventeen different languages." MPH also reported that "art shows have been arranged in three New York galleries, including a special exhibit of three Walt Disney originals at the Brooklyn Museum. A comprehensive display showing a Disney film in the various stages of production is on view at the New York Museum of Science and Industry in Radio City. Two hundred original paintings from Pinocchio are displayed inside the Center theatre." The day after the premiere, HR reported: "One of the greatest ovations ever accorded a motion picture was given Walt Disney's Pinocchio ....At least ten times during the running of the picture the audience broke into applause, and the close was cheered for several minutes." According to articles in MPH , publicity stunts for the picture included mayors in Los Angeles, Buffalo and Niagara Falls proclaiming the opening day of the film "Pinocchio Day," and in numerous cities, leading citizens bought theater tickets for underprivileged and handicapped children to attend the show.

RCA Victor released a three-record set of songs and selected scenes from the film, which were recorded "exactly as in the picture." According to information in the film's file at the AMPAS Library, Paolo Lorenzini, author Collodi's nephew, asked the Italian ministry of popular culture to sue Disney because he distorted the character of Pinocchio to make him seem more American. Lorenzini stated that "Pinocchio's adventures are an Italian work of art and must not be distorted to make it American." No indication that action was taken on his complaint has been found. A modern source states that the character of Gideon, who is mute in the film, was originally conceived as a chatterbox, and that Mel Blanc recorded his dialogue. After Gideon's personality was changed, all that remained in the finished film of Blanc's work was two hiccups.

In a 3 Nov 1940 NYT article, Disney "dismissed as 'false rumor' the report that he suffered a severe financial jolt because Pinocchio was a dud." Contemporary sources noted that the picture did not gross as much money as did Snow White , only because of war conditions ( NYT stated that "Disney's European market fell 80 percent with the start of the war"), and that Pinocchio was only translated into two foreign languages, Spanish and Portuguese, whereas the earlier film had been translated into many more. Although some modern sources state that the film did not make a profit in its initial release, others say that it made a profit of approximately $1,000,000. According to a modern source, RKO, which distributed the picture, actually lost $94,000, but was nonetheless pleased because the quality of the product enhanced RKO's standing with exhibitors. The picture won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, and Leigh Harline and Ned Washington won an Academy Award for their song "When You Wish Upon a Star," which has since become a signature Disney song.

John Garfield performed in a version of Pinocchio , inspired by the yet-to-be released Disney film, for the Lux Radio Theatre , broadcast on 25 Dec 1939. The film was re-issued in Oct 1945, Feb 1954, Jan 1962, Jul 1971, Dec 1978, Dec 1984 and Jun 1992. It was released on video in Jul 1985, and appeared on cable television on The Disney Channel Sep--Oct 1986. According to modern sources, a 16-millimeter extract from the picture, entitled Pinocchio: A Lesson in Honesty , was released for use in schools. Modern sources also note that Jiminy Cricket is one of the few characters from Disney feature films to be used repeatedly in later Disney projects, such as the I'm No Fool series of shorts. He also appeared in the 1947 Disney feature film entitled Fun and Fancy Free .

In the later film, Jiminy (Cliff Edwards) sings "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow," which according to a modern source, was originally written and recorded for inclusion in Pinocchio . Among the many filmed versions of Collodi's story are a feature-length color cartoon made in Italy and distributed in the U.S. in 1936; a 1938 feature-length 16-millimeter picture produced in the U.S. by Jerry Bresler; a 1965 color Swallow Ltd.-Belvision cartoon directed by Ray Goossens entitled Pinocchio in Outer Space ; a 1974 X-rated live-action version, directed by Corey Allen and starring Alex Roman and Karen Smith; and a 1987 Filmation Studios animated feature entitled Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night , which featured the voices of Edward Asner, Tom Bosley and James Earl Jones.

Television productions of Pinocchio include a 13 Oct 1957 NBC live-action broadcast, directed by Paul Bogart and starring Mickey Rooney and Walter Slezak; an animated series, entitled The New Adventures of Pinocchio , produced by Arthur Rankin, Jr., which ran for 130 episodes beginning 25 Sep 1961; and a live-action Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation on 8 Dec 1968 that was directed by Sid Smith and starred Burl Ives and Peter Noone. Bibliographic Sources:

Question: On whose book did Walt Disney base his 1940 feature film "Pinocchio"?
Answer: Carlo Collodi