Flying Without Strings
Walt was hardly a person to rest on his laurels- as soon as he emerged triumphant from the Snow White gamble, the wheels were clicking for his next big risk. This would be even more ambitious, more spectacular, more beautiful. And Pinocchio certainly was- excepting only Sleeping Beauty and Fantasia, Pinocchio is the most artistically impressive film to come out of the Disney studios. And it was only number 2! Buuuut all the care and money poured into this film didn't pan out on the initial release. Ole Pinoch was the first of 2 box office bombs in 1940 for Disney.
For the majority of my childhood, I fell in with the crowd at Pinocchio's premier. The story, though not as bizarrely European in cruelty, darkness and an episodic nature as the source, is radically different from the most successful, and my favourite, of Disney films (namely those involving princesses). The title character is so terribly grating and naive, his innocence is more infantile than guileless. Fortunately, his wooden (can't resist) personality is overpowered by every other character in the film. Even the silent characters like Figaro and Gideon (save for one hiccup, courtesy of the great Mel Blanc) were forces of personality and pantomime. Though not the movie's namesake, I feel Jiminy Cricket is the true protagonist of the film. His lines are the first and last, and I am convinced the only reason we give a crap that Pinocchio doesn't end our misery as firewood is because Jiminy wills it otherwise. Despite the charisma of our hero, the film really belongs to the villains- a series of baddies who permeate every fiber of the movie. The weakest are the silliest: Honest John and Gideon, though slickly effective, cannot stain our memories with terror in the way Monstro and the Coachman do. Monstro, an unbridled force of mass and fury is unleashed on the screen in a scene of animated splendor. However, though not the adrenaline rush, the true terror of the film is the Coachman at Pleasure Island- a man who wants more than your life, he wants your humanity. It's more than your follies making a jackass out of you, it is you are going to die alone, unhuman and without your mommy! Harsh, and highly traumatizing for kids, heck, highly traumatizing for adults.
The only character complaint: here starts the tradition of talking animals that will mire the most illustrious of movies. As you will soon know all too well, my biggest peeve is the no-no line of believable interaction between humans and animals. Sure, a person can talk to animals, make believing the interaction indicates an understanding, but I hate hate hate animals holding conversations with people. Now, Pinocchio hedges against the rule very well, Pinocchio is obviously not a human, he is magical and only when he is in that state does he talk to other impossible objects, and no humans interact with talking objects besides Pinnoch. Though I cannot fault the film, I do bear it a slight grudge for opening the door for the tradition.
But back to a happier note: the songs. When You Wish Upon a Star- the Disney banner song- makes its debut here. Nowhere is it more poignant and beautiful that when sung here by Cliff Edwards. Give a Little Whistle is good too, and the rest kinda peters off from there, though none are offensive to the ear and I've Got No Strings is certainly catchy.
It's really impressive how much the animation improved since Snow White in only 3 years. Gepetto is convincing in a way the Prince could never have hoped to be. Figaro is wonderfully catty, and in Cleo I see the kind of work being done in Fantasia. Jiminy looks nothing like a cricket to me, but he is so much more relatable as a cute nondescript creature than an ugly cricket-thing. The pantomime started in Dopey is continued in Gideon, perhaps not as iconically, and Pinocchio himself makes up for all his flaws when he talks by moving so amazingly well. However, we all know the animation scene stealer is Monstro, the impossibly large, immeasurably fearsome whale. Moby Dick himself would turn tail from this concoction of mass and churning lines.
The backgrounds, done in oils as would become tradition, were wonderfully beautiful. Perhaps not as storybooky as the watercolors of Snow White, but so beautifully rendered, it seems more art than animation. A moment here to gush over the underwater sequences, where they took rippled glass and moved it in front of the camera to achieve the blurry effect. That is innovation and that is what makes Disney king.
So all in all, yeah Pinocchio has all the elements of a good film, even a borderline great film. But this one in particular seems so geared towards children, little boys in particular with the titular protagonist and his childish (not childlike- big difference) adventures, there is not as much fodder for adults to appreciate, unless they are into getting completely creeped out by evil donkey-magic, or the even more unlikely case they are as nuts about backgrounds as I am. I always find it entertaining and will bring it out when kids come around without protest, but as for myself, there are others that strike a more comforting chord.
Quote of the film:
-They never come back as BOYS!
My Rating:
7/10 *******
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