Pinocchio (1940) (Wishing Upon a Star)

Tonight I watched Pinocchio for my second watch in about two years. I read up a little bit beforehand to get more context for the movie, and the story is based on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 Italian children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. It was the second full-length animated feature by Walt Disney, debuting in 1940. Pinnochio is another great example of Disney’s pure genius in the way of art and animation during this era. Also my apologies for the long review as I found it hard to discribe this movie without a lot of detail.

Non-spoiler brief review:

Our movie starts with a lovable cricket aptly named Jiminy Cricket, who will be our narrator/host for this movie, and introduces us to the main characters. An old woodcarver and toy maker, Geppetto, has carved a wooden puppet that he names “Pinocchio,” and wishes he were a real boy. Surely, if you haven’t seen this movie, you have heard the phrase “when you wish upon a star”. That song was written for this movie. Geppetto wishes upon a star that his new toy would magically become a boy. You’ll just have to watch it to see what happens from there.

For Parents:

The first part of this movie is as charming as it can be. However, this movie does deal with themes related to vices that children or adults can fall into, and it dives into those rather quickly. Geppetto warns Pinocchio to be a good boy, but he trusts some shady characters (like a sly fox) and runs into all kinds of trouble. There is kidnapping, as well as children drinking and smoking. One character (clearly portrayed as a bad guy) takes advantage of poorly behaved boys and brings them to an island where their delinquent behavior results in them turning into donkeys(yes, donkeys). So keep in mind that if you show it to your children, they’ll see vandalism, fighting, smoking, and drinking (including by children) in the movie. All of this is to make a point and teach a lesson or a warning, of course, but it is dark content for what at first seems like a very innocent and child-friendly movie.

My overall review(with spoilers):

This movie sits on the pedestal of the great animated Disney features. It has the beautiful animation, compositions, and backgrounds that you expect from the golden era of Disney. The soundtrack is priceless (We all know the song “When You Wish Upon a Star”, right?), and the main characters, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, and Geppetto, are as endearing as you could hope to find in any movie.

We have a great narrator in Jiminy Cricket, who is immediately my favorite character within two minutes of meeting him. Geppetto is the sweet grandpa that we’ve always wanted, and Pinocchio is sweet and lovable, though extremely naive. But maybe we should give him a break since, after all, he was a piece of wood mere hours ago.

Anyway, our host Jiminy makes introductions, finds Geppetto’s house/workshop, and cozies up to the fireplace. We see Geppetto finish off his latest masterpiece – a wooden puppet – and name him Pinocchio. What can I say about the introduction of this movie? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it is a masterpiece. The colors and animation pop off the screen, and every character is alive and enjoyable at every turn. Gepetto has a fish and a kitten with great personalities who are his companions, and his workshop is decorated with his works of art. The detail Disney put into the shots of Gepetto’s artwork to show that he is a master craftsman is simply incredible. You can tell that the artists who worked on this film put in the hours and hours of work to make this movie not only realistic, but a true joy to look at. As Geppetto settles in for the night, he sees a wishing star and wishes that Pinocchio would become a real boy.

Well, lo and behold, a beautiful fairy shows up in the middle of the night and grants his wish. Well, almost. She gives Pinocchio life, but with the condition that he be brave, truthful, and unselfish. If he does these things, he will change from a living puppet to a real boy. In the interim, Jiminy volunteers to be Pinocchio’s conscience, which the fairy grants and even says he’ll get a badge for it if he does a good job. Jiminy also gives us another Disney staple song, “Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide”. From here, Geppetto wakes up, and the whole household is startled by the fact that Pinocchio is now alive!

This is a great takeoff point for this movie; however, Things from here really go downhill fast for our hero, Pinocchio. When you watch this movie, some questions come to mind for sure. For example, if you haven’t kept up, all this happened in the middle of the night, and then everybody finally goes to bed with the new boy in the family. The next morning, Geppetto tells him that it’s time to go to school. That’s right, Pinocchio is already going to start school on his first day as a puppet come to life. Geppetto essentially tells Pinocchio off to school you go, and be a good boy. Now, to his credit, Jimmy Cricket did also try to warn Pinocchio to be a good boy, but frankly speaking, Jiminy falls short in being Pinocchio’s new conscience. I would even say he’s pretty terrible at his new job in the beginning.

Well, from here things just go south in the worst of ways. Pinocchio meets a fox named Honest John, who tricks him into joining a guy named Stromboli, who makes a mockery out of him for money. We see early on that Pinocchio has little to no willpower. Stromboli makes a ton of money off Pinocchio, and when Pinocchio tries to leave, Stromboli decides to throw Pinocchio in a cage and kidnap him to be his puppet slave. Well, Jiminy finds him in the nick of time and summons the fairy. She questions Pinocchio, and he lies to her. With each lie, his nose grows longer until he eventually comes clean. She gives him one more chance to be a good boy and frees him from Stromboli’s cage. Almost immediately, as Pinocchio is trying to get back on the straight and narrow, he meets Honest John again. To cut to the chase, Honest John met yet another shady character who told him he needs little boys to take to a place called Pleasure Island, where they will become his slaves. Once again, our friend Pinocchio is tricked by Honest John.

At this point, Pinocchio meets a fellow named Lampwick. They go to Pleasure Island, where they meet many other boys when they arrive. Everywhere they turn, the boys are engaging in delinquent behavior such as drinking and smoking, and vandalism. Pleasure Island is designed to look like a giant carnival with no rules, so the children think they can do whatever they please. In reality, because of their repeated bad behavior, they are turned into donkeys by some mysterious curse. When Jiminy Cricket finally shows up, he finds Pinocchio and Lampwick playing pool. There’s an argument, and suddenly Pinocchio’s friend starts turning into a donkey. Pinocchio himself starts turning into a donkey, but he and Jiminy somehow pull a Bugs Bunny and get off the island.

Now Pinocchio wants to go back to school and finally be a good boy. The final act starts when Pinocchio and Jiminy arrive back at Geppetto’s workshop and realize Geppetto, the fish, and the cat are nowhere to be found. They receive a letter from the fairy telling them that Gepetto was swallowed by a whale while he was in pursuit of Pinocchio. I will say this chapter redeems the story quite well when we find Geppetto sitting on his boat in the belly of the whale. In a Jonah-type way, Geppetto is now trying to fish and seemingly making a home for himself. Somehow, Pinocchio and Jiminy get into the whale, and Pinocchio finally is brave and kind and helps Geppetto make a fire so the smoke will make the whale sneeze them out. After a long struggle to get away when the giant whale that comes after them, they finally get to the shore. However, Pinocchio was killed in the struggle. Just when you think things have reached their final, terrible ending, the Blue Fairy shows up and grants Pinocchio life as a real boy, not just a living puppet, because he has now proven himself brave, truthful, and unselfish!

In my honest opinion, the first and last acts are the best parts of this film. The middle can be ugly, sad, and messy all around. Not that the middle part of the movie makes it a bad movie, but it’s hard to describe because it hits hard differently than I would expect based on the charming beginning of the movie. I might have expected Pinocchio to go to school, tell some lies, watch his nose grow, and learn some important lessons along the way. Then maybe return to Papa with a big nose, having learned a lesson. Then, maybe getting tricked by the fox and coming home having learned a second lesson. As for the Pleasure Island scene, I don’t know what to think about it. I always go away feeling mad at the enslaver and sad for the misfit, delinquent kids who see no redemption (other than Pinocchio). Yes, I know it’s just a cartoon, but the scene is just kind of weird to me. However, don’t let this ruin the movie for you. I think all the bad mess between the first and last acts of the movie serves a purpose, and the positives of the story truly outweigh the sadder, more negative bits. For the record, the bad things that happen to Pinocchio are a good illustration of good versus evil, temptation versus integrity, etc.

Bottom Line: Yeah, it’s got some weird, strange, sad stuff in it, but this movie has a lot going for it and is a story worth seeing. I give this one a 7 out of 10. I love the main characters and the overall story so much that it overshadows the parts of the story that aren’t my favorites. I think everyone should watch it, but kids might need the parental guidence.

Where to watch it:

You can find Pinocchio streaming platforms like Disney+ etc. Here are links to the Blu-ray and DVD if interested.

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