Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The production was supervised by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, and the film's sequences were directed by Bill Roberts, Norman Ferguson, Jack Kinney, Wilfred Jackson and T. Hee.
With the voices of Cliff Edwards, Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Walter Catlett, Charles Judels, Evelyn Venable, Frankie Darro, Mel Blanc and Clarence Nash, the film follows a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who is created by an old woodcarver, Geppetto, and brought to life by a blue fairy. Wishing to become a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself to be "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Along his journey, Pinocchio encounters several characters representing the temptations and consequences of wrongdoing, as a cricket named Jiminy, who takes the role of Pinocchio's conscience, attempts to guide him in matters of right and wrong.
Pinocchio was a groundbreaking achievement in the area of effects animation, giving realistic movement to vehicles and machinery as well as natural elements such as rain, water, lightning, smoke, and shadow. After premiering at the Center Theatre in New York City on February 7, 1940, Pinocchio was released in theatres on February 23, 1940.
Although it received critical acclaim and became the first animated feature to win a competitive Academy Award — winning two for Best Music, Original Score and for Best Music, Original Song for "When You Wish Upon a Star" (the latter that would later serve as the Walt Disney Company's signature song) — it was initially a commercial failure, mainly due to World War II cutting off the European and Asian markets. It eventually made a profit after its 1945 rerelease, and is considered one of the greatest animated films ever made, with a rating on the website Rotten Tomatoes. The film and characters are still prevalent in popular culture, featuring at various Disney parks and other forms of entertainment. In 1994, Pinocchio was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Plot
In a sleepy village in Italy, Jiminy Cricket arrives at the shop of a woodworker and toymaker named Geppetto, who lives with his pet cat Figaro and fish Cleo. He creates a puppet that he names Pinocchio. As he falls asleep, Geppetto wishes upon a star for Pinocchio to be a real boy. Late that night, the Blue Fairy visits the workshop and brings Pinocchio to life, although he remains a puppet. She informs him that if he proves himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish, he will become a real boy. When Jiminy reveals himself, the Blue Fairy assigns him to be Pinocchio's conscience. Geppetto awakens upon hearing the commotion from Pinocchio falling, and is overjoyed to discover that he is alive and will become a real boy.
The next morning, while walking to school, Pinocchio is led astray by con artist fox Honest John and his sidekick Gideon the Cat. Honest John convinces him to join Stromboli's puppet show, despite Jiminy's protestations. Pinocchio becomes Stromboli's star attraction, but when he tries to go home, Stromboli locks him in a bird cage and leaves to tour the world with Pinocchio. After Jiminy unsuccessfully tries to free his friend, the Blue Fairy appears, and an anxious Pinocchio lies about what happened, causing his nose to grow and become a tree branch with a bird's nest. The Blue Fairy restores his nose and frees Pinocchio when he promises to make amends, but warns him that she can offer no further help.
Meanwhile, a mysterious Coachman hires Honest John to find disobedient and naughty boys for him to take to Pleasure Island, a notorious and infamous place. Honest John, despite the legal risks and the Coachman's implication of what happens to the boys, accepts the job out of fear, and finds Pinocchio, persuading him to take a vacation on Pleasure Island. On the way to the island, Pinocchio befriends Lampwick, a delinquent boy. At Pleasure Island, without rules or authority to enforce their activity, Pinocchio, Lampwick, and many other boys soon engage in vices such as vandalism, fighting, smoking and drinking. Jiminy eventually finds Pinocchio in a bar smoking and playing pool with Lampwick, and the two have a falling out after Pinocchio defends Lampwick for his actions. As Jiminy tries leaving Pleasure Island, he discovers that the island hides a horrible curse that transforms the boys into donkeys after making "jackasses" of themselves, and they are sold by the Coachman into slave labor. A terrified Pinocchio witnesses Lampwick transform into a donkey, and with Jiminy's help, he flees before he fully transforms, though he still grows a donkey's ears and tail.
Upon returning home, Pinocchio and Jiminy find Geppetto's workshop deserted, and obtain a letter from the Blue Fairy in the form of a dove, stating that Geppetto had set out to sea in search for Pinocchio on Pleasure Island, but got swallowed by a gigantic and vicious sperm whale called Monstro and is now trapped in its belly. Determined to rescue his father, Pinocchio jumps into the Mediterranean Sea with Jiminy and is soon swallowed by Monstro, where he reunites with Geppetto. Pinocchio devises a scheme to make Monstro sneeze and allow them to escape, but the whale chases them and destroys their raft with his tail. Pinocchio selflessly pulls Geppetto to safety in a cove just as Monstro crashes into it, and both the whale and Pinocchio are seemingly killed in the process.
Back at home, Geppetto, Jiminy, Figaro, and Cleo mourn the lifeless Pinocchio. However, having succeeded in proving himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, Pinocchio is revived and turned into a real human boy by the Blue Fairy, much to everyone's joy. As the group celebrates, Jiminy steps outside to thank the Fairy and is rewarded with a solid gold badge that certifies him as an official conscience.
Voice cast
Dickie Jones as Pinocchio, a wooden puppet carved by Geppetto and brought to life by the Blue Fairy. Jones also voiced Alexander, a boy who is turned into a donkey at Pleasure Island, but still talks. Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket, a cricket who acts as Pinocchio's "conscience" and is the partial narrator of the story. Christian Rub as Geppetto, an elderly wood-carver and Pinocchio's creator, who wishes for him to become a real boy. Clarence Nash as Figaro, Geppetto's pet cat who is prone to sulk. Cleo, Geppetto's pet goldfish with a habit of being Figaro's counselor, is unvoiced. Figaro and Cleo were original characters not present in the original story, and were added to the script by the Disney team. Nash also voices the rough house statue and makes the braying sounds for the donkeys on Pleasure Island, after the boys have been transformed into them. Walter Catlett as "Honest" John Worthington Foulfellow, an anthropomorphic red fox con artist who swindles Pinocchio. Mel Blanc as Gideon the Cat, Honest John's mute anthropomorphic feline partner and sidekick who serves as comic relief. He was originally intended to be voiced by Blanc, in his last work for Disney until his final work in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but the filmmakers instead went with a mute performance for the character. However, Gideon's hiccups were provided by Blanc. Charles Judels as Stromboli, a puppeteer who buys Pinocchio for a miserable amount of money from Honest John and Gideon, and intends to force Pinocchio to perform onstage to make money and use as "firewood" once he gets "too old" to perform. He speaks English with an Italian accent, and curses in Italian gibberish when angry. He is called a "gypsy" by Honest John, likely due to his theatre and caravan always travelling, as well as other names like "rascal" and "faker". Judels also voiced the Coachman, the owner and operator of Pleasure Island with a Cockney accent. Evelyn Venable as the Blue Fairy, who brings Pinocchio to life and promises to turn him into a real boy if he proves himself brave, truthful, and selfless. Live-action references for the Blue Fairy were provided by Marge Champion, who also served as the live-action reference for the titular heroine in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Frankie Darro as Lampwick, a boy whom Pinocchio befriends on his way to Pleasure Island and is turned into a donkey for his mischief. Stuart Buchanan as the Carnival Barker, the announcer at Pleasure Island. In a book adaptation of the film, "Barker" is the Coachman's name or alias. Thurl Ravenscroft as Monstro, the sperm whale. He swallows Pinocchio, Geppetto, Figaro, and Cleo, then tries to kill them after they escape from his belly by making him sneeze.
Production
Development In September 1937, during the production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, animator Norman Ferguson brought a translated version of Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio to the attention of Walt Disney. After reading the book, "Walt was busting his guts with enthusiasm," as Ferguson later recalled. Disney then commissioned storyboard artist Bianca Majolie to write a new story outline for the book, but after reading it, he felt her outline was too faithful. Pinocchio was intended to be the studio's third feature, after Bambi (1942). However, due to difficulties with Bambi (adapting the story and animating the animals realistically), Disney announced that Bambi would be postponed while Pinocchio would move ahead in production. Ben Sharpsteen was then reassigned to supervise the production while Jack Kinney was given directional reins.
Writing and design Unlike Snow White, which was a short story that the writers could expand and experiment with, Pinocchio was based on a novel with a very fixed, although episodic, story. Therefore, the story went through drastic changes before reaching its final incarnation. In the original novel, Pinocchio is a cold, rude, ungrateful, inhuman brat that often repels sympathy and only learns his lessons the hard way. The writers decided to modernize the character and depict him as similar to Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy, but just as rambunctious as the puppet in the book. The story was still being developed in the early stages of animation.
Early scenes animated by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston show that Pinocchio's design was exactly like a real wooden puppet with a long pointed nose, a peaked cap, and bare wooden hands. Disney, however, was not impressed with the work that was being done on the film. He felt that no one could really sympathize with such a character and called for an immediate halt in production. Fred Moore redesigned the character slightly to make him more appealing, but the design still retained a wooden feel.
Young and upcoming animator Milt Kahl felt that Thomas, Johnston, and Moore were "rather obsessed with the idea of this boy being a wooden puppet" and felt that they should "forget that he was a puppet and get a cute little boy; you can always draw the wooden joints and make him a wooden puppet afterwards." Co-supervising director Hamilton Luske suggested to Kahl that he should demonstrate his beliefs by animating a test sequence.
Kahl then showed Disney an animation test scene in which Pinocchio is underwater looking for his father. From this scene, Kahl re-envisioned the character by making him look more like a real boy, with a child's Tyrolean hat and standard cartoon character four-fingered (or three and a thumb) hands with Mickey Mouse-type gloves. The only parts of Pinocchio that still looked more or less like a puppet were his arms, legs, and little button wooden nose. Disney embraced Kahl's scene and immediately urged the writers to evolve Pinocchio into a more innocent, naïve, somewhat coy personality reflecting Kahl's design.