Pinocchio

History and review written by Michael J. Ruhland

Year Released: 1940

Michael's Movie Grade: A+


                                                                            History

After the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it was an unlikely choice to follow it with Pinocchio, One of the reasons for this is that there is nothing automatically likable about the character of Pinocchio. In the book, he was a bit of a brat. Also that there is very little visually appealing about a living puppet. This caused much problems for how to design the character, because if he looked too much like a puppet, he would not be very relatable, and could even come off as creepy. While a living puppet could work as a villain easily, it is much harder to make one work as a protagonist. Much work was done to make him look likable enough without losing the feeling of being a puppet. After a few tries it was decided that Fred Moore should redesign the character, because of the likability the Dwarfs had under his influence. However even this was not working for Walt. It took six months before another animator, Milt Kahl, finally came up with a design that pleased everyone. Although some were supersized by how little it resembled a puppet, everyone admitted it was very likable so this design was used in the film.  After the design was taken care of there was still the matter of the puppet's personality. Walt would not let a Disney film have such an unlikable character as the lead. However simply stripping away the rough edges of the character away, made him bland and boring. They had to come up with a completely new personality for him. After much work he became more naive. This was made the new reason for all the trouble he got in. He however did keep a level of childlike mischief though (For instance he enjoyed himself on Pleasure Island at first). All this made Pinocchio himself much more relatable, likable, and much more of a Disney character.

Pinocchio was a film that was having serious story problems from the beginning. During a story meeting, that happened mid-production, Walt Disney simply said the film wasn't going to work the way it was being done. What was already done was scrapped and work on the film started all over. This much of a reworking of a film was not done on another Disney film until The Lion King and later The Emperor's New Groove. Much was of course, as mentioned before, done to change Pinocchio's personality. However another important change was to heighten the role of a character that played a bit part in the book. This character was an unnamed small cricket that tried to tell Pinocchio to do what was right, but Pinocchio killed him. The character's life was spared and he was christened Jiminy, and became one of the main characters of the film. The reason for Jiminy playing such an important role in this film, is much the same reason the dwarfs played such an important role in Snow White. He was there to not only help Pinocchio, but to help bring an emotional and comic touch to the story.

As I stated when writing about Snow White, animator Ward Kimball animated two whole scenes completely by himself for that film, both of which were cut. So partly to make up for that, Ward Kimball was promoted to a supervising animator for Pinocchio. His promotion lead him to become the supervising animator for the character of Jiminy Cricket. Kimball was especially gifted at comic scenes and characters, so he was perfect to add to Jiminy a lighthearted touch that would be essential to adding the Disney touch to the un-Disney source material.  

The protagonists were not the only characters to undergo complete changes. Another was Gideon. Gideon was the cat partner to con-man Honest John. Like Dopey it was originally planned for him to talk, but as production moved along it was decided he would be mute. Voice actor, Mel Blanc recorded entire vocal tracks for Gideon. Mel claimed that he felt supersized to see the film in theaters and all that was left of his vocal work was a single Hiccup.

After all this work when Pinocchio was finally released, it did not do very well at the box office, despite being a critical success (some critics even saying it was superior to Snow White). Part of this may be due to with war going on in Europe, much of the foreign market was cut off, lessening how much the film will make. Walt felt this was because the film was technically superior to, it lacked the heart of Snow White (at least in his opinion). However what ever the reason the film lost money. However over time with re-releases, and home video, audiences discovered what a classic film Pinocchio is, and it has more than made back the money it lost.

Extra facts:

• Geppetto's cat Figaro was Walt's favorite character, and appeared in many shorts, often as Minnie Mouse's pet.
• Dickie Jones, the voice of Pinocchio, was a prominent child actor at this time and appeared in many films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Sands of Iwo Jima.
• Christian Rub, the voice of Geppetto, was a Nazi sympathizer who drove much of the Disney staff crazy with his ravings about Adolf Hitler. He never worked on another Disney film. 
• First animated feature film to win Academy Awards (competitive award not the honorary one awarded to Snow White), won for best original music and best original song ("When You Wish Upon a Star").
• Animator Shamus Culhane left the studio before the film was released. Therefore he did not receive a credit in the finished film. He was very upset by this.    
• The character of lampwick was a visual caricature of animator Fred Moore       

                               

Review

Pinocchio may be one of the most visually impressive films of all time. Every scene brings visuals that are breathtaking to look at, and transport you into another world. Unlike other films in that category though (I'm looking at you, Avatar) Pinocchio also has an engaging story, and great characters. Also unlike other films of this kind the visuals never overshadow the story. The visuals as impressive as they are, are truly in service to the story, and the film-makers never forget that.

Like Snow White, here in Pinocchio every emotion is played upon, including horror, wonder, humor, sadness and joy. Each one is played upon effectively.  This is especially shown through the villains of the film. Honest John and Gideon are probably the funniest villains in any Disney movie, and they crack me up whenever they are onscreen. They bring great Marx Brothers-esque humor into every scene they are in. In fact in many ways, Gideon is almost like an evil Harpo Marx. His pantomime slapstick is on par with the best live-action pantomimists. Despite how evil the things he does are, he seems almost like a mischievous child more than an evil villain, giving him a very unique and memorable place in the history of Disney villains. Honest John is a great pompous conman who is not really as smart as he thinks he is. Unlike Gideon his humor is mostly conveyed mostly through dialog. Like Gideon though his humor is hilarious.  On the other hand, the coachman is downright terrifying. Perhaps no other Disney film gives such a sense of sheer horror than does Pinocchio. The coachman's speech about "collecting stupid little boys", the look on the coachman's face as the boys enter Pleasure Island, Lampwick's transformation (the music, pacing, animation, and direction in this scene is outstanding), and definitely the coachman testing out the "new" donkeys is as downright terrifying as anything in any horror film. This adds a level of suspense, and intensity that is absent from many family films, and this movie is all the better for it. 

The villains are not the only great characters in the film. The changes done to Pinocchio really do make him very likable and sympathetic. He feels like for lack of a better phrase, a real boy. His desire to be human is genuine and we root for his plight. He also has a believable side of childhood mischief. This works because he never tries to be mean, he is just a kid and doesn't know any better. Another thing that makes this film work so well is that Jiminy Cricket is not just a comedy relief, the way he easily could have been. He in fact grows over the course of the movie. He is late to be with Pinocchio on his first day as conscience, he leaves Pinocchio with Stromboli when he thinks he would be better off as an actor ("what does an actor need with a conscience anyway"), he nearly leaves Pinocchio to turn into a donkey on Pleasure Island, but at the end he goes with his buddy to save Geppetto from Monstro. He does not start off as a good conscience, but by the end he truly helps Pinocchio become a real boy. This change feels natural, and never comes off as forced.

Another thing I love about this film is that it is often times slower paced, and more atmospheric than many later Disney films. While I love the later Disney films a lot, I miss this slower feel. It almost makes the movie feel a lot more sophisticated, and magical.     

Overall this is another one of the great achievements in film history. While many have tried (including other Disney films) to make a film like this one none have succeeded. Pinocchio remains one of Disney's greatest achievements, and a rare one of a kind masterpiece of a film by any standards.

 Film Credits

Supervising directors: Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen

Sequence Directors: Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts

Original Story: Carlo Collodi

Story Adaption: Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia, Bill Peet

Voices: Dickie Jones (Pinocchio, Alexander), Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket), Mel Blanc (Figaro, Donkeys, Gideon, Puppet Show Marionettes), Christian Rub (Geppetto),  Evelyn Venable (Blue Fairy), Charles Judels (Stromboli, The Coachman), Frankie Darro (Lampwick), Walter Catlett (Honest John), Clarence Nash (Roughhouse Statue, Donkeys), Patricia Page (Puppet Show Marionettes), Don Brodie (Carnival Announcer),  Marion Darlington (Birds)

Producer: Walt Disney

Songwriters: Leigh Harline (Music), Ned Washington (Lyrics)

Music: Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith

Art Direction: Ken Anderson, Hugh Hennesy, John Hubley, Dick Kelsey, Kendall O'Connor, Charles Philippi, Thor Putnam, Terrell Stapp, McLaren Stewart, Al Zinnen, Bruce Bushman, Arthur Heinemann, Charles Payzant

Assistant Directors:  Ford Beebe Jr., Lou Debney, Jim Handley, Graham Heid, Mike Holoboff, Larry Lansburgh, Lloyd Richardson

Character Maquettes: Wah Chang

Conceptual Designs: Gustaf Tenggren

Atmosphere Sketches:  Don Christensen

(Special) Effects Animation: Edwin Aardal, Jerome Brown, Paul Busch, Ugo D'Orsi, James Escalante, Frank Follmer, Dan MacManus, Fred Madison, John McDermott, Ted Parmelee, Sandy Strother, Cornett Wood

Animation Directors: Art Babbitt, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, Fred Moore , Wolfgang Reitherman, Bill Tytla, Frank Thomas

Character Design: Campbell Grant, Joe Grant, Albert Hurter, John P. Miller, John Walbridge, Charles Cristadoro, Teddy Kline, Helen McIntosh, Duke Russell, Shirley Sodaholm

Supervising Animators: Norman Ferguson,  Ward Kimball

Backgrounds: Claude Coats, Merle Cox, Ray Huffine, Ed Starr, Dick Anthony, Eric Hansen, Mique Nelson, Art Riley

Layout Artist: Bruce Bushman

Assistant Animators: William T. Hurtz, Hank Ketcham, Willis Pyle, Bill Melendez

Inbetween Artists: Blaine Gibson, Paul Murry, Kay Wright

Ink and Paint Department: June Patterson

Animators: Preston Blair, Jack Bradbury, Jack Campbell, Les Clark, John Elliotte, Hugh Fraser, Ollie Johnston, Lynn Karp, John Lounsbery, Don Lusk, Robert Martsch, John McManus, Joshua Meador,  Charles A. Nichols, Art Palmer, Don Patterson, George Rowley, Norman Tate, Don Tobin, Don Towsley, Bernard Wolf, Marvin Woodward, Mike Arens, Bill Berg, Dick Brown, Paul Busch, Lars Calonius, Bob Carlson, Brad Case, Walt Clinton, Sam Cobean, Shamus Culhane, George De Beeson, Phil Duncan,  Andy Engman, Art Fitzpatrick, Joseph Gayek, Franklin Grundeen, Harry Hamsel, Walt Kelly, Paul B. Kossoff, Murray McClellan, Bob McCrea, Richard McDermot, Art Moore, Milt Neil, Lester Novros, Ken O'Brien, Frank Oreb, Tom Oreb, Chic Otterstrom, John Reed, William Shull, Howard Smith, Robert Stokes, David Swift, Howard Swift, Harvey Toombs, Noel Tucker, Jim Will, Robert W. Youngquist

Musicians:Louis Kaufman, Frederick Stark, Charles Wolcott

Live-Action Models: Don Barclay, Walter Catlett, Marge Champion, Christian Rub, Val Stanton

-Michael J. Ruhland