|
|
|
|
Pinocchio (1940 film)
|
| |
|
| |
Pinocchio is the second animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was produced by Walt Disney and was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on February 7, 1940. Based on the story Pinocchio: Tale of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi, it was made in response to the enormous success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The plot of the film involves a wooden puppet being brought to life by a blue fairy, who tells him he can become a real boy if he proves himself "brave, truthful, and unselfish".
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Pinocchio (1940 film)' Start a new discussion about 'Pinocchio (1940 film)' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Pinocchio is the second animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. It was produced by Walt Disney and was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on February 7, 1940. Based on the story Pinocchio: Tale of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi, it was made in response to the enormous success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The plot of the film involves a wooden puppet being brought to life by a blue fairy, who tells him he can become a real boy if he proves himself "brave, truthful, and unselfish". Thus begin the puppet's adventures to become a real boy, which involve many encounters with a host of unsavory characters.
The film was adapted by Aurelius Battaglia, William Cottrell, Otto Englander, Erdman Penner, Joseph Sabo, Ted Sears, and Webb Smith from Collodi's book. The production was supervised by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, and the film's sequences were directed by Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, and Bill Roberts.
Plot
The movie starts with Jiminy Cricket singing "When You Wish Upon a Star". Then we see a dark, night street and the workshop of the woodworker Geppetto. Jiminy walks in the workshop to warm himself from the cold. He notices a puppet Geppetto is working on. Geppetto names the puppet Pinocchio and after making his marionette dance around for the amused and bewildered eyes of Figaro, his cat, and Cleo, his goldfish, he decides to go to bed. He notices a falling star in the sky and wishes that Pinocchio could be a real boy. While everybody is sleeping Jiminy wakes up and notices a Blue Fairy entering the room. She makes Pinocchio come alive since Geppetto has always been a good man and deserves his wish to come true. Pinocchio is alive, but still nothing more than a puppet. If he wants to become a real boy of flesh and blood he must prove himself to be brave, truthful and unselfish and able to tell right from wrong by listening to his conscience. Pinocchio doesn't understand what a conscience is and Jiminy appears to explain it to him. The Blue Fairy then assigns Jiminy with the official title of acting as Pinocchio's conscience and disappears again.
Jiminy teaches Pinocchio that whenever he needs guidance he should whistle, as exemplified in the song "Give a Little Whistle". Pinocchio tumbles over some furniture during the song and wakes up Geppetto, Figaro and Cleo who were still all asleep. When Geppetto discovers his wish has become true he is filled with joy and starts to celebrate. The next day Pinocchio goes off for his first day of school. He never arrives at his destination since two crooks, the fox Honest John and the mute cat Gideon convince him to become an actor in the puppet show of Stromboli while singing the song "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee". Pinocchio immediately becomes a sensation singing "I've Got No Strings" at the theater and makes a lot of money for Stromboli. Stromboli however refuses Pinocchio to return home and locks him up in a bird cage. During his captivity Jiminy reappears who warned Pinocchio not to walk away with strangers, but was pushed aside by Honest John and Gideon. He tries to open the lock on the birdcage, but the lock is too old and rusty, and he admits that only a miracle would help them get out of that mess. Suddenly, the Blue Fairy appears and asks Pinocchio to explain what happened. Pinocchio lies and to his surprise his nose starts to grow longer. The Blue Fairy explains to him that his nose grew because he lied. But when Pinocchio admits he lied, and Jiminy plead to the Blue Fairy to give Pinocchio one more chance, she forgives him and help them escape, by unlocking the birdcage, disappearing right after. Pinocchio and Jiminy get out of Stromboli's coach, and go back towards home.
Meanwhile, Honest John and Gideon have met The Coachman in a tavern. The Coachman promises them a large sum of money if they can bring him little boys he can lead to Pleasure Island. The mentioning of the island and the evil grin of the Coachman scare Honest John and Gideon, but again they lure Pinocchio away and deliver him to the Coachman. Jiminy Cricket, again unable to warn Pinocchio of the danger, travels with him incognito. During the travel to Pleasure Island Pinocchio befriends Lampwick, a misbehaving and destructive boy who is older than him. On the island boys are able to have fun and do all the things adults usually forbid them to do: such as gambling, drinking, brawling, smoking and vandalism. Pinocchio imitates Lampwick and has fun doing all these mischievous things. A furious Jiminy Cricket tries to make Pinocchio leave the location, but he is only ridiculed by Lampwick. Filled with anger and humiliation Jiminy leaves them alone, but while he tries to discover a way to leave the island he makes a horrible discovery. The Coachman orders hooded goons to close the gates preventing any escape from the island. Jiminy sneaks under the locked gate to find a now-deserted Pleasure Island in ruins and littered with debris, which Jiminy comments looks like a ghost town. Jiminy then proceeds to where he hears voices and crying. All the misbehaving boys on the island transform into literal donkeys for "behaving like jackasses" and are then sold by the Coachman as work forces in salt mines and circuses. Jiminy rushes back to warn Pinocchio, but it's already too late. At a pool hall, Lampwick gradually transforms into a real braying donkey and Pinocchio has already developed donkey ears and a donkey tail from tobacco and beer. Pinocchio stops drinking and smoking once he realizes what they are doing to Lampwick, thereby preventing any further transformation into a donkey, although it is too late for Lampwick, as he screams for help, only to lose his senses by braying and smashing a mirror with his new hooves. Pinocchio still has donkey ears and a tail, but keeps his mind and body, although at a later point when Pinocchio jokes about his donkey tail he starts braying like Lampwick, only to regain his voice when he realizes donkey ears are a mark of shame, not humor. Jiminy and Pinocchio quickly escape and swim back to their hometown.
Back home, they discover Geppetto is not home. He went to search for Pinocchio and took Figaro and Cleo with him on a raft to cross the sea. Pinocchio and Jiminy are informed by the Blue Fairy of Geppetto's whereabouts and decide to travel underwater at the bottom of the ocean to find him back. Pinocchio and Jiminy are swallowed by a large black whale called Monstro and discovers his father, Cleo, Figaro on the raft inside the whale's stomach. After a happy reunion Pinocchio comes up with an escape plan by burning wood on the raft to create smoke to make Monstro sneeze. The plan works, but the enraged sea mammal chases them. He destroys their raft and Geppetto almost drowns, only to be saved by Pinocchio who tries to swim him to the shore. Monstro swims after them, but bumps into a boulder of the rocky coastline, knocking him out and causing a tidal wave. Everyone washes onto shore and survives, except Pinocchio who was drowned by the enormous wave.
In Geppetto's home everybody mourns over Pinocchio's death. But the Blue Fairy decides that Pinocchio has proven his worth in being a brave, good boy and brings him back to life as a real boy. Everyone celebrates Pinocchio's revival and Jiminy is awarded a medal by the Fairy for acting well as Pinocchio's conscience. The movie ends with Jiminy once again singing "When You Wish upon a Star".
Production
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. Producer Walt Disney was displeased with the work that was being done and called a halt to the project midway into production so that the concept could be rethought and the characters redesigned.
Originally, Pinocchio was to be depicted as a Charlie McCarthy-esque wise guy, equally as rambunctious and sarcastic as the puppet in the original novel. He looked exactly like a real wooden puppet with, among other things, a long pointed nose, a peaked cap, and bare wooden hands. But Walt found that no one could really sympathize with such a character and so the designers had to redesign the puppet as much as possible. Eventually, they revised the puppet to make him look more like a real boy, with, among other things, a button nose, a child's Tyrolean hat, and standard cartoon character 4-fingered (or 3 and a thumb) hands with Mickey Mouse-type gloves on them. The only parts of him that still looked more or less like a puppet were his arms and legs.
Additionally, it was at this stage that the character of the cricket was expanded. Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards) became central to the story. Originally the cricket wasn't even in the film. Once added, he was depicted as an actual (that is, less anthropomorphized) cricket with toothed legs and waving anntenae. But again Walt wanted someone more likable, so Ward Kimball conjured up "a little man with no ears. That was the only thing about him that was like an insect."
Mel Blanc (most famous for voicing many of the characters in Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons), was hired to perform the voice of Gideon the Cat, who was Foulfellow the Fox's sidekick. However, it was eventually decided for Gideon to be mute (just like Dopey, whose whimsical, Harpo Marx-style persona made him one of Snow Whites most comic and popular characters). All of Blanc's recorded dialogue in this film was subsequently deleted, save for a solitary hiccup, which was heard three times in the film.
Many of these ideas were later used in Geppetto
The influential abstract animator Oskar Fischinger contributed to the effects animation of the Blue Fairy's wand.
Film critic Leonard Maltin would later write that "with Pinocchio, Disney reached not only the height of his powers, but the apex of what many critics consider to be the realm of the animated cartoon."
Cast and characters
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, Gideon's hiccups were provided by Blanc.Stromboli, voiced by Charles Judels. Stromboli is a large, sinister, bearded puppet maker who forces Pinocchio to perform onstage in order to make money. He speaks in an Italian Accent.The Blue Fairy, voiced by Evelyn Venable. She is the beautiful fairy who brings Pinocchio to life and turns him into a real boy at the end.The Coachman, voiced by Charles Judels, his evil smile and laugh is supplied by Billy Bletcher. A corrupt coachman who owns and operates Pleasure Island. He speaks in a Cockney accent.Lampwick, voiced by Frankie Darro. Lampwick is a naughty boy Pinocchio meets on his way to Pleasure Island. He turns into a donkey while the boys are shooting pool.Monstro is the whale that swallows Geppetto, Figaro, and Cleo during their search for Pinocchio.
Crew
- Supervising Directors: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske
- Sequence Directors: Bill Roberts, Norman Ferguson, Jack Kinney, Wilfred Jackson, T. Hee
- Supervising Animators: Fred Moore, Franklin Thomas, Milton Kahl, Vladimir Tytla, Ward Kimball, Arthur Babbitt, Eric Larson, Woolie Reitherman
- Story Adaptation: Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia
- Character Designers: Joe Grant, Albert Hurter, John P. Miller, Campbell Grant, Martin Provensen, John Walbridge
- Original Songs by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline
- Score Composed and Conducted by Paul J. Smith
- Art Directors: Charles Philippi, Hugh Hennessy, Kenneth Anderson, Dick Kelsey, Kendall O'Connor, Terrell Stapp, Thor Putnam, John Hubley, McLaren Stewart, Al Zinnen
- Backgrounds: Claude Coats, Merle Cox, Ed Starr, Ray Huffine
- Animators: Jack Campbell, Oliver M. Johnston, Berny Wolf, Don Towsley, Don Lusk, John Lounsbery, Norman Tate, John Bradbury, Lynn Karp, Charles Nichols, Art Palmer, Joshua Meador, Don Tobin, Robert Martsch, George Rowley, John McManus, Don Patterson, Preston Blair, Les Clark, Marvin Woodward, Hugh Fraser, John Elliotte
Music
Songs in film
The songs in Pinocchio were composed by Leigh Harline, Ned Washington and Frank Churchill. Paul J. Smith composed the incidental music score.
On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes When You Wish upon a Star on the blue disc, Give a Little Whistle on the purple disc, and I've Got No Strings on the orange disc.
And on Disney's Greatest Hits, this also includes When You Wish upon a Star on another blue disc, I've Got No Strings on the green disc, and Give a Little Whistle on the red disc.
- Little Wooden Head and Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee are not included on Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic or Disney's Greatest Hits.
Songs written for film but not used
- "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow" - Jiminy Cricket (this song eventually showed up in
Fun and Fancy Free)"As I Was Saying To the Duchess" - J. Worthington Foulfellow (this line is spoken briefly by Foulfellow in the film, however)"Three Cheers For Anything" - Lampwick; Pinocchio; Alexander; Other Boys"Monstro the Whale" - Chorus"Honest John" (this song appears as a bonus feature on the 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD)
Release
With the re-release of Snow White in 1944 came the tradition of re-releasing Disney films every seven to ten years. Pinocchio has been theatrically re-released in 1945, 1954, 1962, 1971, 1978, 1984, and 1992. The 1992 re-issue was digitally restored by cleaning and removing scratches from the original negatives one frame at a time, eliminating soundtrack distortions, and revitalizing the color. The film also received four video releases (and two DVD releases), being a hot-seller in 1985 (this print was re-mastered and re-issued in 1986). Then the more comprehensive digital restoration that was done for the 1992 re-issue was released on VHS,followed by the final VHS release (which was also the film's first release on Disney DVD as well as the first in the Walt Disney Gold Classics Collection VHS/DVD line) in 1999. The second Disney DVD release premiered the following year in 2000. The third DVD release and first Blu-ray Disc release (the second Blu-Ray movie in Disney's Platinum Collection) are scheduled for March 10, 2009 (March 11, 2009 in Australia), and like the 2008 Sleeping Beauty release, the Blu-ray package will feature two discs, and a bonus DVD of the film also included.
United States theatrical release history
- February 7, 1940 (World premiere, Center Theatre, New York City)
- February 9, 1940 (Los Angeles opening)
- February 23, 1940 (General release)
- July 4, 1944
- October 17, 1945
- July 4, 1949
- February 18, 1954
- January 18, 1962
- July 7, 1971
- December 16, 1978 (with The Small One featurette)
- December 21, 1984
- June 26, 1992
Worldwide release dates
| Country | Date |
|---|
| Brazil | February 26, 1940 |
|---|
| Argentina | March 13, 1940 |
|---|
| U.K. | May 21, 1940 |
|---|
| Australia | October 24, 1940 |
|---|
| Sweden | February 3, 1941 |
|---|
| Canada | October 10, 1941 |
|---|
| Eritrea | December 3, 1941 |
|---|
| Chile | February 12, 1942 |
|---|
| Switzerland | May 13, 1942 |
|---|
| Egypt | November 12, 1942 |
|---|
| Finland | January 31, 1943 |
|---|
| Spain | February 7, 1944 |
|---|
| France | May 22, 1946 |
|---|
| Belgium, Netherlands | June 13, 1946 |
|---|
| Norway | September 5, 1946 |
|---|
| Hong Kong | December 19, 1946 |
|---|
| Italy | November 5, 1947 |
|---|
| Poland | February 7, 1949 |
|---|
| Denmark | May 25, 1950 |
|---|
| West Germany | March 23, 1951 |
|---|
| Austria | April 1, 1952 |
|---|
| Japan | May 17, 1952 |
|---|
| Philippines | October 7, 1952 |
|---|
| Guyana | May 14, 1954 |
|---|
| Lebanon | March 25, 1967 |
|---|
| Saudi Arabia | March 13, 1971 |
|---|
| El Salvador | August 17, 1976 |
|---|
| Iraq | December 14, 1976 |
|---|
| Kuwait | October 6, 1985 |
|---|
Pinocchio USA home video release history
- July 16, 1985 (VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc, Classics edition)
- October 14, 1986 (VHS and Betamax, remastered Classics edition)
- March 26, 1993 (VHS and Laserdisc, restored Classics edition)
- April 16, 1995 (VHS, Spanish-dubbed Clásicos edition)
- October 26, 1999 (60th Anniversary Edition, as well as a Limited Issue DVD)
- March 10, 2009 (70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-Ray)
Reception
Pinocchio was not commercially successful when first released, and Disney only recouped $1.9 million against a $2.6 million budget. The film achieved some success at the American box office, but was not able to profit, due to its poor performance in Europe. The timing of the film's release was a factor, with World War II cutting off European markets. Although the United States had not yet entered the war, the mood of the times may have meant less interest among Americans in seeing fantasy stories as they were in the days of Snow White. It also lacked the romance element that had proven popular in Snow White. To add insult to injury, Paolo Lorenzini, nephew of the original story's author, had beseeched the Italian Ministry of Popular Culture to charge Disney with slander for portraying the Italian puppet "so he easily could be mistaken for an American."
Nevertheless, there were positive reactions to the movie as well. Archer Winsten, who had criticized Snow White, wrote: "The faults that were in Snow White no longer exist. In writing of Pinocchio, you are limited only by your own power of expressing enthusiasm." Also, despite the poor timing of the release, the film did do well both critically and at the box office in the United States. Jiminy Cricket's song, "When You Wish Upon a Star," became a major hit and is still identified with the film, and later as a fanfare for The Walt Disney Company itself. Pinocchio also won the Academy Award for Best Song and the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. In 1994, Pinocchio was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2001 Terry Gilliam selected it as one of the ten best animated films of all time and in 2005 Time.com named it one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years. Many film historians consider this to be the film that most closely approaches technical perfection of all the Disney animated features.
Pinocchio earned $84,254,167 at the box office.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Pinocchio was acknowledged as the second best film in the animation genre, after Snow White.
Awards and honors
American Film Institute recognition
Remake
- There was an animated, musical comedy remake of this 1940 flim, named Teacher's Pet (2004)
Media and merchandise
Theme Parks
- Many of the Pinocchio characters are meetable characters at Disney parks.
- Pinocchio Village Haus is a quick service restaurant at Walt Disney World that serves pizza and macaroni and cheese
Ice show
Disney on Ice starring Pinocchio, toured nationally and internationally from 1987 to 1992. A shorter version of the story is also presented in the current Disney on ice production "100 Years of Magic"
Video games
Pinocchio ,Geppetto and Cleo (the fish) appear as characters in the game Kingdom Hearts. Monstro is also featured as one of the worlds. Jiminy Cricket appears as well, acting as a recorder, keeping a journal of the game’s progress in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, and, Kingdom Hearts II.
External links
|
| |
|
|
.gif)
