Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

Pinocchio is based on the character created by Florentine children's writer Carlo Lorenzini (better known by his pen name Carlo Collodi) that first appeared in the 1883 story "The Adventures of Pinocchio." Pinocchio, the film, was the second of Disney's full-length animated features and was first released in 1940 after the huge success of the studio's first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The film's success was by no means a guarantee. When it first went into production, the success of Snow White was being called into question. It seems many did not believe that people would actually want to pay to go sit through a full-length animated feature. The film was also not originally slated to be the second scheduled release on Disney's slot, but due to the enormous technical undertaking that was Bambi, the challenge of animating the motion of deer realistically, and other films on the roster that kept slipping, such as Alice in Wonderland, Walt himself kicked Pinocchio to the front of the line, feeling it was ready.

Pinocchio, however, faced challenges of its own. Originally drawn more stringently from Collodi's tale, Pinocchio's protagonist, the impudent, strong-willed, mean puppet, designed more like a real Italian marionette than a boy, wouldn't draw enough sympathy from audiences, Walt thought. So, about six months into the film's production, the entire film was scrapped and production was restarted, with Pinocchio being redesigned with more boy-like features. The character of Jiminy Cricket to act as Pinocchio's conscience was also added, and went through a few redesigns to make him less insect-like, and what Walt described as "cuter." In the original story, the talking cricket shows up only twice, the first time he is killed by Pinocchio with a mallet because Pinocchio is angered by him giving him advice; he then turns up a second time as a ghost. That is just one example of how unlikable Pinocchio is in the original Collodi stories.

That Disney "cuteness," however, is passed on through the significant changes made to the original story. Collodi's faerie tale, which painted Pinocchio as a mean-spirited troublemaker, was toned down significantly and shifted around much of the characters' roles. Much like Disney did with the tales of the Brothers Grimm, so was done here. The original tale's The Fairy with Turquoise Hair, who plays a much larger role in the original story, becomes the Blue Faerie who grants wood carver Geppeto's wish, bringing the puppet Pinocchio to life. She tells Pinocchio he must prove himself brave, courageous and truthful; learn the difference between right and wrong and then he can become a real boy.  He then sets out on an adventure that is sometimes dangerous, sometimes scary, that leads him closer to his fate.

Walt Disney's Pinocchio is a wide-eyed puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy and is led astray due to his naiveté, as he is on his way to school for the first time when a fox named Honest John and a mute cat named Gideon convince him to go with them and seek riches in show business -- cue the enduring song "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee." Failing to listen to Jiminy Cricket's advice to go to school, he leaves with Honest John and Gideon, and ends up performing in a marionette show for a man named Stromboli.

Pinocchio is a success after he performs, "I've Got No Strings," but Stromboli throws him in a cage and plans to keep him prisoner. The Blue Faerie returns and finds Pinocchio in the cage with Jiminy Cricket, and she asks him what happened, but he spins a tall tale. This prompts one of the most memorable scenes in the film, as Pinocchio's nose grows each time he tells a lie. After saving him, the faerie lets Pinocchio know that she will not save him again; he must learn on his own and listen to his conscience.

Pinocchio has long been held as one of the most technically accomplished films in the Walt Disney canon. Not only has it given the world a number of memorable songs like "When You Wish Upon a Star," "I've Got No Strings," and "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee," but it is an accomplishment of animation. Styled to resemble Old World illustrated children's books, watching the film today one is truly in awe at what was able to be done hand-drawn that would most likely be done with CGI today.

Released during World War II, Pinocchio did not fare well at the box office in the United States, recouping only $1.9 million of its $2.6 million budget and having its European market cutoff entirely. Still, the film managed to win the Oscars for Original Score and Original Song in 1941 and time has truly been kind to Pinocchio. Is there anyone who doesn't know the tale of the puppet who longed to be a real boy?

The Picture

Disney has done it again it seems. After the stunning success of what was last autumn's first ever Platinum Edition Blu-ray Disc release by the "House of Mouse" with the animated classic Sleeping Beauty, they have continued the brilliance with this amazing restoration of the even older classic Pinocchio. Once again for this 70th Anniversary Edition of Pinocchio (never mind that the actual 70th isn't until next year; pesky semantics) Disney animators and technicians have gone back to the original camera negatives and under the watchful eyes of the folks at Lowry Digital (who Disney utilizes for all of their animated restorations) have cleaned up Pinocchio, taking away the dust, the dirt, the scratches and specks,; they've revitalized the inks, suppressed the grain and made it look shiny and new.

Of course, Pinocchio cannot and does not look as processed and brilliant as Sleeping Beauty, it shows more of its age, but that it looks as clean and sharply rendered as it does shows the commitment Disney has to their classics. The extra resolution offered on Blu-ray makes it all the better, as the high bitrate AVC/MPEG-4 encoding of Pinocchio's original theatrical 1.37:1 aspect ratio shows every bit of line art clearly. Backgrounds are detailed and nearly flawless. There's not a compression artifact in sight on this release.

The Sound

Pinocchio on Blu-ray Disc has had its original soundtrack completely revitalized and restored in two options that Disney historians and home theater enthusiasts alike should appreciate. Provided here are both a brand new English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit) lossless remix and a newly restored version of the original English Mono Theatrical Theater mix in a welcome, true monaural, Dolby 1.0 variety.

In the case of Pinocchio, a 7.1 lossless mix may very well be overkill; the mix doesn't add much to the enjoyment of the film. There's not much in the way of discrete movement of effects, little in the way of stereo separation across the front channels, and ambience is minimal. Perhaps Disney should have stayed with a 5.1 or even 4.0 mix and offered the original mono mix in a lossless variety as well. Still, both mixes sound about as good as they can, considering the age of the original recorded tracks. In the 7.1 mix, the LFE is relatively subtle, until the scene with Monstro the whale, then it suddenly comes alive. Whichever option is chosen, the dialogue is clean and balanced -- the 1.0 mix probably has the edge here with a little bit of a meatier sounding midrange. The songs all come through clearly, with nice instrumental separation and depth, and warm, smooth high frequencies.

The Extras

As expected, Disney's loaded this release with extras that will please the kiddies and the adult Disney enthusiasts. Disc 2 is where you'll find most of the interesting historical background information on the film, including quite a few documentaries and materials from the Disney vaults as well as some fun games for the kids, but Disc 1 does offer up a good commentary by Leonard Maltin and company that can be viewed as Picture-in-Picture or listened to solely as an audio commentary if you'd rather not take up precious screen real estate.

Disc 1:

• BD-Live -- At the time of this review, the BD-Live features are not yet active for this release, but Disney plans to offer their Disney Movie Chat, Movie Challenge, Disney Rewards Live features and more when the service becomes active for this title (most likely on or before the street date of March 10th).
• Disney View -- Instead of simply watching Pinocchio in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio pillar-boxed with black bars on each side, Disney has provided the option to fill that blank space with paintings by artist Toby Bluth, inspired by the drawings of Pinocchio that change thematically, germane to each scene.
• Cine-Explore -- Picture-in-Picture commentary with Leonard Maltin, J.B. Kaufman and Eric Goldberg. This commentary also features a look at early character designs, storyboard sketches plus some commentary from members of the Disney crew that worked on Pinocchio.
• Music & More:
  • Music Video:
    • Meaghan Jette Martin -- "When You Wish Upon A Star" (4:3/HD/Dolby Digital 5.1)
  • Disney Song Selection -- Watch your favorite songs and sing along with on-screen lyrics; the option is offered to play all or select each in individually. Here, viewers can also select an option to view the entire film with on-screen lyrics.
    • "When You Wish Upon a Star"
    • "Little Wooden Head"
    • "Give a Little Whistle"
    • "I've Got No Strings"
• Games & Activities:
  • Pinocchio's Matter of Facts -- Trivia Track
  • Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge -- Answer a selection of multiple choice questions as the film meanders by in the background. Answer correctly, and you keep Pinocchio's nose from growing.
• Sneak Peeks:
  • Bolt
  • Monsters, Inc.
  • Disney Parks
  • On Blu-ray Disc
  • Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition
  • Up
  • Tinker Bell and The Lost Treasure
  • Disney Movie Rewards

Disc 2:

• Pinocchio's Puzzles (1.78:1/HD/Dolby Digital 5.1) -- Put together a puzzle with encouragement from Jiminy Cricket
• Pleasure Island Carnival Games -- Rescue the Kids by defeating the Coachman in a series of carnival games
• Backstage Disney:
  • No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio (1.78:1/HD) -- This 55-minute documentary digs into the history of Pinocchio with interview segments from Leonard Maltin and other film and Disney historians.
  • Deleted Scenes -- These storyboard sequences were uncovered in the Disney Animation Archives and are presented here in sequence as they may have been intended, narrated.
    • Introduction
    • The Story of The Grandfather Tree
    • In the Belly of The Whale
    • Alternate Ending
  • The Sweatbox (1.78:1/HD) -- The history of the Disney invention dubbed "The Sweatbox," which was a small projection room where one could view storyboards projected in sequence.
  • Live Action Reference Footage (4:3/HD) -- This featurette offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at Disney's process of setting up their live action reference productions for their animators.
  • Pinocchio Art Galleries
• Publicity:
  • Original Theatrical Trailer (1940)
  • Theatrical Trailer (1984)
  • Theatrical Trailer (1992)
• Deleted Song: "Honest John" (Dolby Digital 2.0) -- 1947 promotional recording of one of the songs that was not used in the film. This recording truly shows its age, as scratches are present in the sound. Clearly this  was recorded directly to shellac.
• Geppetos Then and Now (1.78:1/HD) -- This interesting documentary gives a brief history of toymakers, with an emphasis on traditional toymakers and woodcarvers, in keeping with the spirit of Pinocchio. Naturally, it also includes a look at a contemporary marionette carver.
• Bonus DVD -- Contains Bonus DVD of Disc 1 of the Platinum Edition DVD release of Pinocchio

Final Thoughts

Pinocchio is unquestionably one of the most beloved and memorable animated films of all time. The skill and technical innovations in the animation and the unforgettable songs make it an enduring classic - one that never gets old. Disney has given Pinocchio the royal treatment on Blu-ray Disc and the film has never looked or sounded better. Grab it while you can, because as with all of their Platinum Editions, it will only be available for a limited time -- you'll definitely regret it if you don't.

Where to Buy

• Pinocchio 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Mel Blanc, Don Brodie, Walter Catlett, Frankie Darro, Cliff Edwards
• Directors: Ben Sharpsteen;Hamilton S. Luske
• Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
• Language: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit) & English Dolby 1.0
• Region: A
• Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: G
• Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: March 10, 2009
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• List Price: $35.99
• Extras:
  
  • BD-Live
  • Bonus DVD
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Disney View
  • Cine-Explore
  • Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge
  • Pleasure Island Carnival Games
  • No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio
  • Audio Commentary
  • Geppetos Then and Now