Pinocchio is the secondanimatedDisney movie, made byWalt Disney Productions and first released tomovie theaters byRKO Radio Pictures on February 7, 1940. Based on the storyPinocchio byCarlo Collodi, it was made in response to the huge success ofSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Along with Fantasia, it was one of the first ever Disney animated movies released in the same year as each other.
The movie tells the story ofPinocchio, a woodenpuppet made by a man named Geppetto and brought to life by the Bluefairy, after Geppetto wishes he could have a son. She tells him he can become a real boy if he proves himself "brave, truthful and unselfish." Pinocchio must try to be good so he can become a real boy, with the help of his friend, Jiminy Cricket. Thus begins the adventures of the puppet into a real boy, which involve many encounters with a series of unpleasant characters.
The movie was adapted byAurelius Battaglia,William Cottrell, Otto Englander,Erdman Penner,Joseph Sabo,Ted Sears, andWebb Smith from Collodi's book. The production was supervised byBen Sharpsteen andHamilton Luske, and the film's sequences were directed byNorman Ferguson,T. Hee,Wilfred Jackson,Jack Kinney andBill Roberts.
It features the song, "When You Wish Upon A Star", which has immediately become the official anthem of the Walt Disney Company and has been used at the start of most Disney movies since 1985.
A man called Geppetto makes a wood puppet called Pinocchio. He wishes that Pinocchio were a real boy, and the Blue Fairy makes Geppetto's wish come true. But to become a real boy instead of a live puppet, Pinocchio has to prove that he's good. The Blue Fairy assigns acricket named Jiminy Cricket to guide him and keep him out of trouble. This is a hard job, and Pinocchio does a lot of things wrong.
On his first day of school, two crooks, a fox named Honest John and hismutesidekick named Gideon, trick Pinocchio to join Stromboli's puppet show instead. Pinocchio is popular in the show, but Stromboli is cruel to him and locks him in a bird cage. The Blue Fairy asks Pinocchio how this happened, but Pinocchio lies, and his nose grows longer. With the help of the Blue Fairy and Jiminy, Pinocchio escapes from the cage.
The crooks trick Pinocchio again, and tell him to go to Pleasure Island. He meets Lampwick, a bad boy who convinces him togamble,smoke,drink,vandalize and other bad things. The island is magical, and the boys who act like "jackasses" (donkeys)turn into donkeys. These donkeys are sold to work in the circus and in thesalt mines.
Lampwick becomes a donkey, but Pinocchio only changes part way, with donkey ears and a donkey tail. He escapes from Pleasure Island and returns to Geppetto's house. But Geppetto is not there. He has gone to sea, to search for Pinocchio on Pleasure Island.
Pinocchio and Jiminy go looking for Geppetto, but they are eaten by the hugewhale Monstro. Monstro has also swallowed Geppetto while trying to look for Pinocchio on Pleasure Island. Pinocchio builds a fire to make Monstro sneeze, and this frees them all. But they are lost in the ocean and Geppetto is drowning. He tells Pinocchio to swim to shore and save himself, but Pinocchio grabs Geppetto and carries him to shore. Geppetto survives, but Pinocchio appears to be dead.
Geppetto and Jiminy are sad and return home with Pinocchio's body. The Blue Fairy decides that Pinocchio has proven that he is good enough, and brings him back to life... and also turns him into a real boy. Everyone is happy and they celebrate. The movie ends with Jiminy Cricket getting abadge of solidgold and achorus sings a reprise of the song "When You Wish Upon A Star" as the word "The End" appears, and the movie ends as the song finishes.
The original plan for the movie was very different from what they made. Many characters and events from the original book were used in early versions. ProducerWalt Disney was unhappy with this version and had them change a lot of the story and characters.
At first, Pinocchio was going to look like a real wooden puppet, with a long pointed nose, a pointed hat, and bare wood hands. He was going to act more grown-up and do bad things on purpose, instead of being tricked into doing bad things. But Walt Disney did not think that people would like this character, so they changed his appearance and the way he acted. They made him look more like a real boy, with a small nose, a child's hat, and regular hands with gloves. The only parts of him that still looked like a puppet were his arms and legs.
Jiminy Cricket (voiced byCliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards) became a more important character. He was not included in the first version of the story. When they added him, he looked more like a real cricket, but Walt wanted more people to like him, soWard Kimball changed him into "a little man with no ears. That was the only thing about him that was like an insect."
- Jiminy Cricket, voiced byCliff Edwards, is acricket who acts as Pinocchio's "conscience" and tells parts of the story.
- Pinocchio, voiced byDickie Jones, is a woodenpuppet made by Geppetto and turned into a living puppet by the BlueFairy.
- Geppetto, voiced byChristian Rub, is a toymaker who creates Pinocchio and wishes for him to become a real boy.
- Figaro and Cleo are Geppetto's black and whitehousecat andgoldfish.
- J. Worthington "Honest John" Foulfellow, voiced byWalter Catlett, is a slyanthropomorphicfox who tricks Pinocchio twice in the movie.
- Gideon is Honest John's dumb, mute, anthropomorphiccatsidekick. He was originally to be voiced byMel Blanc, but they deleted his dialogue in favor of a mute performance. However, Gideon's hiccups were provided by Blanc.
- Stromboli, voiced byCharles Judels, is a large, sinister, bearded puppet maker who forces Pinocchio to perform onstage in order to make money. He is a primary antagonist to Pinocchio. He speaks Italian with an Italian accent.
- The Blue Fairy, voiced byEvelyn Venable, is the beautiful fairy who brings Pinocchio to life and turns him into a real boy at the end.
- The Coachman, voiced byCharles Judels. A corrupt coachman who owns and operates Pleasure Island. He speaks with a Cockney accent.
- Lampwick, voiced byFrankie Darro, is a naughty boy Pinocchio meets on his way to Pleasure Island. He turns into adonkey while the boys are hanging out. He speaks Brooklyn with a Brooklyn accent.
- Monstro is thewhale that swallows Geppetto, Figaro, and Cleo during their search for Pinocchio. Monstro is the final main antagonist.
- Supervising Directors:Ben Sharpsteen,Hamilton Luske
- Sequence Directors:Bill Roberts,Norman Ferguson,Jack Kinney,Wilfred Jackson,T. Hee
- Animation Directors:Fred Moore,Franklin Thomas,Milton Kahl,Vladimir Tytla,Ward Kimball,Arthur Babbitt,Eric Larson,Woolie Reitherman
- Story Adaptation:Ted Sears,Otto Englander,Webb Smith,William Cottrell,Joseph Sabo,Erdman Penner,Aurelius Battaglia
- Character Designers:Joe Grant,Albert Hurter,John P. Miller,Campbell Grant,Martin Provensen,John Walbridge
- Original Songs and Lyrics by:Ned Washington andLeigh Harline (both of them are listed as "Music and Lyrics by")
- Music by:Paul J. Smith
- Art Directors:Charles Philippi,Hugh Hennesy,Kenneth Anderson,Dick Kelsey,Kendall O'Connor,Terrell Stapp,Thor Putnam,John Hubley,McLaren Stewart,Al Zinnen
- Backgrounds:Claude Coats,Merle Cox,Ed Starr,Ray Huffine
- Animators:Jack Campbell,Oliver M. Johnston,Berny Wolf,Don Towsley,Don Lusk,John Lounsbery,Norman Tate,John Bradbury,Lynn Karp,Charles Nichols,Art Palmer,Joshua Meador,Don Tobin,Robert Martsch,George Rowley,John McManus,Don Patterson,Preston Blair,Les Clark,Marvin Woodward,Hugh Fraser,John Elliotte
With the re-release ofSnow White and the 7 Dwarfs in 1944 came the tradition of re-releasing Disney movies every seven to ten years.Pinocchio has been theatrically re-released in 1945, 1954, 1962, 1971, 1978, 1984, and 1992. The 1992 re-issue was digitally restored by cleaning and removing scratches from the original one scene at a time, getrting rid of blurry sound, and making the color lighter. The movie also received four video releases (and two DVD releases), being a big-seller in 1985 (this print was re-mastered and re-issued in 1986). Then the more complex digital restoration that was done for the 1992 re-issue was released onVHS, followed by the final VHS release (which was also the movie's first release onDisney DVD as well as the first in theWalt Disney Gold Classics Collection VHS/DVD line) in 1999. The second Disney DVD release (a 60th anniversary) premiered the following year in 2000. The third DVD release and firstBlu-ray Disc release (the second Blu-ray in theWalt Disney Platinum Editions series) were released on March 10, 2009 (March 11, 2009 in Australia), and like the 2008Sleeping Beauty release, the Blu-ray package featured two discs, and a bonus DVD of the movie also included.[4]
| Country | Premiere |
|---|
 United States | February 23, 1940 |
 Canada | February 25, 1940 |
 Brazil | February 26, 1940 |
 Argentina | March 13, 1940 |
 United Kingdom | May 13, 1940 |
 Australia | May 16, 1940 |
 Mexico | July 19, 1940 |
 Ireland | September 6, 1940 |
 Portugal | October 7, 1940 |
 Sweden | February 3, 1941 |
- Argentinian inChilean Spanish | August 1, 1941
(Pinocho) |
 Hungary | December 21, 1941 |
| Chile | February 12, 1942 |
 Switzerland | May 13, 1942 (German speaking region) |
 Egypt | November 22, 1942 |
 Finland | January 31, 1943 |
 Belgium | June 13, 1946 |
 Norway | September 5, 1946 |
 France | October 2, 1946 |
 Hong Kong | December 19, 1946 |
 Italy | November 5, 1947 |
 Poland | February 7, 1949 |
 Netherlands | July 15, 1949 |
 Denmark | May 25, 1950 |
 West Germany | March 23, 1951 |
 Austria | April 1, 1952 |
 Japan | May 17, 1952 |
 Guyana | May 14, 1954 |
 East Germany | 1967 |
 Lebanon | March 25, 1967 |
 El Salvador | August 17, 1976 |
 Kuwait | October 6, 1985 |
- July 16, 1985 (VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc, Classics edition)
- July 16, 1986 (VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc, Hendring UK)
- October 14, 1986 (VHS and Betamax, remastered Classics edition)
- November 3, 1986 (VHS, A.M.T. Video Gems/Screen Legends UK)
- March 26, 1993 (VHS and Laserdisc, restored Classics edition)
- 1995 (VHS, restored Disney Video UK)
- April 16, 1995 (VHS, Spanish-dubbed Clásicos edition)
- October 26, 1999 (60th Anniversary Edition, as well as a Limited Issue DVD)
- March 7, 2000 (VHS and DVD, Walt Disney Golden Classic Collection)
- March 10, 2009[4] (70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray)
- February 9, 2016 (Diamond Edition DVD and Blu-ray)
Pinocchio was not successful at the box office when first released, and Disney only earned $1.9 million against a $2.6 million budget. The movie made some success at the American box office, but was not able to profit, due to its poor performance in Europe.[5] The timing of the movie's release was a reason, withWorld War II cutting offEuropean markets. Although the United States had not yet gotten into the war, people's interests may have not have meant much among Americans in seeing fantasy stories as they were in the days ofSnow White and the 7 Dwarfs. It also lacked the romance element that had proven popular inSnow White.
Nevertheless, there were positive reactions to the movie as well.Archer Winsten, who had criticizedSnow White, said that "The faults (mistakes) that were inSnow White no longer exist. In writing ofPinocchio, you are limited only by your own power of expressing enthusiasm". Also, despite the poor timing of the release, the movie did do well both critically and at the box office in the United States. Jiminy Cricket's song, "When You Wish Upon a Star," became a major success and still is today, and is thefanfare forThe Walt Disney Company.Pinocchio also won theAcademy Award for BestSong and the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. In 1994,Pinocchio was added to the United StatesNational Film Registry as being very important inculture,history, oraesthetic. In 2001Terry Gilliam picked it as one of the ten best animated movies of all time[6] and in 2005 Time.com named it one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years. Many movie historians consider this to be the movie that is the closest to technical perfection of all the Disney animated features.[7]Pinocchio earned $84,254,167 at the box office.[8]
In June 2008, theAmerican Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten movies in ten "classic" American movie genres. After polling over 1,500 people from the creative community,Pinocchio was acknowledged as the second best movie in the animation genre, afterSnow White.[9] Pinocchio was re-released a lot of times after the war and ended up making a lot of money. Afterinflation, it's theninth highest grossing animated movie that anyone has made yet. In 2014, Time Out magazine named Pinocchio the best animated film ever in a ranking of 100 animated films.[10][11]
The songs inPinocchio were composed byLeigh Harline,Ned Washington andOliver Wallace, who had no screen credit as the film conductor whilePaul J. Smith composed the incidental music score.
- "When You Wish upon a Star" - Jiminy Cricket; Chorus; this song is heard in the opening credits
- "Little Wooden Head" - Geppetto; this song is heard in the movie
- "Give a Little Whistle" - Jiminy Cricket; Pinocchio; also heard in the movie
- "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" - J. Worthington Foulfellow; again heard in the movie
- "I've Got No Strings" - Pinocchio; once again heard in the movie
- "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (reprise)" - J. Worthington Foulfellow; and again, heard in the movie
- "When You Wish upon a Star (reprise)" - Jiminy Cricket; Chorus; this song is heard in the ending
There is a collection of CDs named Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic. It includesWhen You Wish upon a Star on the second disc (the blue one),Give a Little Whistle on the fourth disc (the purple one), andI've Got No Strings on the fifth disc (the orange one).Another collection of CDs named Disney's Greatest Hits includesWhen You Wish upon a Star on the Volume 1 disc (another blue one),I've Got No Strings on the Volume 2 disc (the green one), andGive a Little Whistle on the Volume 3 disc (the red one).
- "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow" - Jiminy Cricket (this song eventually showed up inFun and Fancy Free, and was sung by the same voice actor of Jiminy Cricket)
- "As I Was Saying To the Duchess" - J. Worthington Foulfellow (this line is spoken briefly by Foulfellow in the movie, however, but this song is not even heard anywhere)
- "Three Cheers For Anything" - Lampwick; Pinocchio; Alexander; Other Boys
- "Monstro the Whale" - Chorus
- "Honest John" (this song appears as a bonus feature on the 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD, although this song is not heard anywhere)
Disney on icestarringPinocchio, toured nationally & internationally from 1987 - 1992. A Shorter version of the story is also presented in the current Disney on ice production"100 Years of Magic"
