2. Pinocchio (1940)

I feel like Pinocchio is one of those stories that everybody just knows, even if you’ve never seen the movie. It just exists in our collective consciousness, this little wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy. I think any story of a thing wanting to become one of us is inherently appealing. It reaffirms our self-worth as human beings when something “other”, or almost human, aspires to be like you or me. But I’m getting ahead of myself. How does Pinocchio stand up to the test of time? Very well actually. If you can forgive a few mostly harmless racial caricatures, the film is exciting, fun, and brimming with charm. 

First off, the animation is noticeably improved from Snow White. The environments and the characters are more detailed and the fidelity of motion is astonishing, particularly the way Pinocchio topples around when he is still a lifeless marionette. The first scene in Geppetto’s shop includes a wonderful array of music boxes and clocks all adorned with little figures that move in unique ways. The attention to detail that these animators had is astonishing to say the least. 

The story itself is obviously a bit preachy but that’s kind of the whole point. Our main character is on a quest to learn right from wrong so it’s practically unavoidable. What’s pretty awesome is that the movie is still entertaining in spite of its moralistic overtones. This is an impressive feat of storytelling and I give most of the credit to Jiminy Cricket. They easily could have made Jiminy a know-it-all-goody-two-shoes who spells things out for Pinocchio (and us) every step of the way but that’s not what happens. Not at all actually. Jiminy Cricket is speechless when the Blue Fairy (oh by the way, our first fairy god mother in a Disney film! Way before Cinderella!) chooses him to be Pinocchio’s conscience. In fact, he’s even a bit cynical, “A conscience is that still, small voice that people don’t listen to,” he doubts himself more than once, he’s frequently missing when he’s most needed; all of these things make him a dynamic, believable character. Add to that his desire to do better and his dedication to Pinocchio and you have one of the most likeable and enduring characters in the Disney roster. I would say that this is just as much Jiminy Cricket’s movie as it is Pinocchio’s.

As the film progresses we see our little wooden boy get into trouble pretty quickly and frequently. His first pitfall is skipping out on school to be an “actor”. Our first pair of villains, a fox and a cat named Honest John and Gideon, lead him astray. This pair of mischief makers is an homage to the slapstick comedy of the Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons. Lots of sight gags (even a large wooden mallet) make for some pretty funny moments. This leads us to the famous “I’ve Got No Strings” number. I dare you not to laugh out loud when Pinocchio comes tumbling down the stairs on the very first note. But for all of the film’s comedic moments, when things go dark…. they go DARK. 

The first real moment of panic comes after Pinocchio’s performance and the travelling showman locks him up in a cage. The image of him all curled up crying for Jiminy to save him as the carriage rides out of town is a potent one. Luckily, our fairy godmother swoops in to save him and we are treated to one of the more famous scenes in the film: the growing nose. We all know this one, he lies and his nose grows. I thought they revisited this at some point again in the movie but it only shows up this one time. Goes to show how little moments can really leave big impressions.

Up next is more scariness. Pinocchio is tricked once again, this time our destination is an awesome place called Pleasure Island. And by awesome, I mean absolutely terrible. And by pleasure, I mean traumatizing. 

So this creepy guy, known only as the Coachman, rounds up young boys with a knack for misbehaving and takes them all to this little island where there’s a whole amusement park filled with things to break and cigars to smoke and all kinds of other “temptations” for kids. As time passes, Pinocchio and his new friend, Lampwick, find themselves alone, throwing back some beer, shooting some pool, turning into donkeys………… Yeah. The donkey thing happens. And it sucks. Lampwick transforms and completely loses his shit (understandably). There is something extremely visceral about this sequence, I’m not sure if there are any other moments in Disney history that I could compare to this one. Then Pinocchio sprouts ears too and after just seeing what happened to Lampwick, your stomach just drops. Just as upsetting is when Jiminy finds the rest of the boys (now all donkeys) being carted off in boxes but some of them can still talk and cry for their mothers. It’s awful. Let’s move on.

Pinocchio’s final test comes in the form of a colossal leviathan named Monstro who has swallowed up Geppetto. In his final hour, the little wooden puppet who dreams of being a real boy at last steps up to the plate and delivers. Seeing Pinocchio fail so much through the movie makes this last battle really pay off in a very satisfying way. He never flinches in the face of easily his most daunting challenge but he pays for it with his life. This of course proves to the Blue Fairy, that he has passed her test and learned how to be honest, brave, and selfless, the true qualities of a real boy. She revives him, he and Geppetto are reunited and all is right with the world.

VILLAINS: Wow take your pick! We’ve got Honest John and Gideon, we’ve got Stromboli, the Coachman, and of course Monstro the Whale. I almost didn’t include Monstro since he is just a big animal and presumably not acting out of malice but after watching him 
in that last scene, he is totally 
out for blood. And those sound effects! Scary! Stromboli the showman is probably the closest thing to an actual villain in the movie but he is barely in it and he is such a flat character, not a lot going on there. Same goes for the Coachman. Despite the wide range of choices here, I can’t help but feel that none of them are truly great villains. I think they are more representative of the “temptations” and evils of the world. As such, none of them are really interesting.

MUSIC: In this department, the film goes for quality over quantity. There are only a few songs throughout the film but the mere presence of “I’ve Got No Strings” is enough to rank this score near the top of Disney’s library. It’s full of energy, it’s catchy, and Pinocchio’s voice has exactly the right amount of glee and innocence, but also confusion since he doesn’t quite get that the audience is laughing at him rather than with him. When the all the girl puppets start dropping in, forget it. Poor kid lol. Also included in this film is arguably the most significant musical contribution in the nearly 100 year history of Walt Disney Studios: “When You Wish Upon a Star.” This is quite literally the theme song of Disney. It’s the jingle you hear at the beginning of every Disney film, every commercial for Disney World, it’s the company’s entire philosophy all wrapped up in just a few lyrics. That melody alone is enough to turn anyone who has ever had a wish into a wide-eyed child dreaming of the possibilities. This is what I’m talking about when I say, “Disney magic”. This right here.

STANDOUT MOMENTS: The Blue Fairy bringing Pinocchio to life. This is one of those images that has always stood out in my mind as being so magical and it comes from such a genuine place. Geppetto’s wish to have a real boy is so poignant because we never really learn why he doesn’t have a son of his own. As mentioned previously, Got No Strings is a show stopper. I LOVE the last scene where Jiminy gets his “official conscience” badge, a great cap to Jiminy’s story. And Donkeys.



CLOSING THOUGHTS/SCORES: Pinocchio is a surprisingly tight film and what I mean by that is there is very little time wasted. Snow White was guilty of this but nearly every moment in Pinocchio is spent either progressing the plot or developing its characters and this is so crucial to me when evaluating a film. I don’t like a movie that wastes time on fluff and thankfully that is not the case here. Each scene is vital to the story as a whole, it never drags, the characters are diverse and memorable, and there is just enough music to leave an impression. This film is still as great today as it was 75 years ago but don’t take it from me, just let your conscience be your guide ;)

OVERALL: 9/10
VILLAIN: 6/10
MUSIC: 8.5/10


Today's Shorts:

The Barnyard Concert (1930)
The Band Concert (1935)
Symphony Hour (1942)

Having met our big 3 (Mickey, Donald, and Goofy) in the previous block of shorts, now we take a closer look the mouse himself. In the next film on our Retrospective, Fantasia, we are going to see a full color Mickey Mouse looking very modern compared to Steamboat Willie. The challenge of creating a playlist of shorts in line with the feature films is that the shorts had gotten started more than a decade before Snow White. In that time, Mickey made the jump from black and white to color and went through various design revisions. How do you squeeze all of that into just a few short films? With a theme of course!

Mickey has a history of being the "leader of the band" so to speak, so I've picked one cartoon from each era of Mickey's career in which he is a band leader. This way, we can see a very clear development 
visually and stylistically. The Barnyard Concert is from Mickey's black and white era, The Band Concert is Mickey's very first color cartoon, and Symphony Hour shows Mickey as he will look in Fantasia and how he still looks today. These cartoons are still very funny today, especially Band Concert, still one of Mickey's best. Enjoy!