Pinocchio

For it's second full length animated feature, Walt Disney Studios picked the Carlo Collodi children's classic Pinocchio. The wooden puppet boy who turns into flesh and blood because of a heroic deed has been done a few times on screen, but the Disney version remains the standard.

In some of the animated features of recent years we've come full circle in the fact that a lot of well known Hollywood figures have sought to lend their voices to animated productions. Coming to mind immediately are Mel Gibson as Captain John Smith and Eddie Murphy as the donkey in the Shrek movies. It wasn't as chic a thing to do back in Disney's day, still Walt came up with several good ones like young Dickie Jones as Pinocchio, Walter Catlett as J. Worthington Foulfellow, Frankie Darro as Lampwick, and most important Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket.

These folks lend their voices to one of Disney's best musical scores with Catlett making immortal the thespians ballad An Actor's Life For Me, Jones celebrating the fact he's been liberated from all manner of restraint with I've Got No Strings and Cliff Edwards talking about his new responsibilities as the puppet boy's conscience in Give A Little Whistle.

Most important though is the Academy Award given to that most plaintive song of yearning When You Wish Upon A Star as introduced by Cliff Edwards. Edwards was a major performer in the Twenties and early Thirties with his ukulele Ike character and introduced many popular songs like It's Only A Paper Moon and Singing In The Rain. But he had come up on hard times with a lot of substance abuse problems when Walt Disney offered him the part of Jiminy Cricket's voice. The movie Pinocchio and the songs he sang there resurrected his career and even when down and out, Edwards could always get work at the Disney Studio because of Jiminy Cricket's enduring popularity.

Animation never really dates and the best animation in the world was pioneered at Disney Studio. People can see Pinocchio on the same bill as Shrek even today and I daresay the audience would be equally responsive.

And you can appreciate Pinocchio today as much as your grandparents and great grandparents did through the magic of YouTube or Amazon. If not wish upon a star and fate will step in and see you through.

'Pinocchio' benefits from one of the finest collection of songs to grace a Disney cartoon; from 'I Got No Strings', to 'An Actor's Life For Me', and (best of all) 'When You Wish Upon A Star' - brilliant sung by 'Ukelele Ike' Edwards as Jiminy Cricket.

This cute adaptation from Carlo Corolli's classic novel adds pets with the 'aw' factor (cat and fish), as well as a truly scary sequence involving donkeys. The characters are all memorable and Pinocchio is convincing in his move from a wooden puppet to a real boy, even in cartoon form. Good voice talent from Evelyn Venable as the Blue Fairy too, especially in the bits where Pinocchio can't help revealing he isn't telling the truth!

Short, sweet, funny, and involving, 'Pinocchio' is worth an hour of anybody's time, young or old.

When I - and I assume, most people - think of Pinocchio, we think of his nose growing longer when he tells a lie. Yet, that is only one scene in this movie - the first one ever done on this famous fictional character, I believe.

This is strictly a fantasy-adventure story, not a parable or a full story about lying, although that obviously is one of the messages. There are several moral messages in here, so it's a worthwhile story for kids to see.

Sometimes I think these totally-innocent first few Disney efforts (Bambi, Fantasia) are still better than all the stuff they have put out since.

The colorful scenes are another attraction. particularly in the beginning in the old man's house with all the fancy clocks and toys. That part is better than much of the adventure story, as it turns out. The story lags a bit in the middle and then picks up with a rousing finish with a big whale.

Overall, I enjoyed "Jiminy Cricket" the best and also appreciated that they didn't overdo the songs in here: short and sweet, and not that many. They don't make 'em (normally) like they used to!!

A very wonderful film - one I remembered from my childhood (but then again so are most of the classic Disney films). Pinocchio is a type of film the entire family can love. Nothing offensive about this motion picture, quite the contrary there are good lessons to be learned from Pinocchio. Pinocchio learns what it takes to be a good *human*. So the film is good for young kids.

This movie also contains another one of Walt Disney's most memorable songs: When You Wish Upon A Star sung by Cliff Edwards.

If you like Disney movies like "Peter Pan" or "Peter and the Wolf" then you might like Pinocchio.

8.5/10

Pinocchio is a true classic in the world of movies. Pinocchio is based on the Italian story about the puppet who became a real boy. Pinocchio is one of Disney`s finest and it beats all the new ultracommercial cartoons, which the company produces nowadays. The story is good, the characters are very likable and warmhearted, and the music is sheer perfection. These old Disney classics are cartoons that are suitable for the WHOLE family, not just the small kids. Watch it, and prepare to be stunned! 9/10