Pinocchio (1940) (Not Rated)

Pinocchio (1940) (Not Rated)

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen & Hamilton Luske

Voices: Dick Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett

Daddy Says:

Pinocchio is one of my all-time favorite animated features. In my family, I seem to be the only one of that mindset, but I shall attempt to explain why I find it to be such a wonderful film.

I'm sure I don't have to go into a great deal of explaining when it comes to the story. When a film like Shrek can simply stick a little wooden boy into a scene, have him tell a lie and have his nose grow, without having to explain who this is supposed to be, I think it's safe to say that as a culture we've all come to know the story of Pinocchio.

But if it's possible, when watching this great film, try to see it through fresh eyes, the way people saw it for the first time seventy years ago when it was released. Even for it's time, this was groundbreaking animation. Walt Disney was one of the first pioneers of using different layers in his animation. Watch how the scene almost looks 3D when we get the first-person perspective of Jiminy Cricket as he hops over to Geppetto's workshop. Also, watch when Honest John and Gideon are walking down the street singing with Pinocchio. It's not done the usual way of having them walk sideways against a moving backdrop. We see them from above in a three-quarters perspective and the camera travels down and to the right diagonally, then back up and to the right. Just another example of not following the traditional rules of animation.

The dialogue is also very amusing. Jiminy Cricket's dialogue especially. As he warms his posterior near a lump of fiery coal, he says "As I stood there warming my (pause)... myself", as if he realizes there might be young ears in the audience and doesn't want to offend their sensibilities. Another throwaway line of his ("What does an actor want with a conscience anyway?") made me laugh out loud. This is really good writing, the kind I've come to expect only from Pixar these days. Great animation, great characters, great writing, what more could you want from a classic animated film?

Rating for Pinocchio: *****.

My Son Says:

Pinocchio is kind of funny, but in one scene it's scary. The scene that I'm talking about is when you see the shadow of a boy and he turns into a donkey. It scares me. I liked the part where they're fighting Monstro the whale. I liked it because it was action, and I love action. I liked the part where Jiminy Cricket is finally falling asleep when all the clocks ticking and the snoring and other sounds are keeping him awake, so he yells "Quiet!" and suddenly everything stops moving. The old man was quite forgetful.

Rating for Pinocchio: ****1/2.