Pinocchio (1940)

Directed by

T. Hee, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Wilfred Jackson

Written by

Erdman Penner, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Otto Englander

Genre

fantasy film, buddy film, musical film, coming-of-age film, cinematic fairy tale

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 28m

Rated

G

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 6,283 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A wooden puppet carved by the old toymaker Geppetto is magically brought to life by a blue fairy. To become a real boy, he must learn to be brave, truthful, and unselfish while a helpful cricket tries to guide his choices.

whimsicalheartfeltcautionarymusicalvisually lushwarmanxiousmoralistic

What happens

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 100% 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 added to the United States National Film Registry for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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