Wow! What else can I say?
70 years is a long time for a movie to be around. 70 years is enough time for film to degrade, to look worn and to just show its horrible age. 70 years and we’ve got a classic that is still kicking, even more so on Blu-ray.
I won’t go into the story of Pinocchio, as the majority of people have it ingrained in their heads. The original story was developed in 1883 and Walt Disney picked it up in 1940 for the world to see it. That is a large amount of time for a film to continually exist. It was one of Disney’s greatest hits (and the follow-up to a very successful Snow White), winning two oscars. Sure it strayed ever so slightly from the original story, but it certainly brought a fantastic set of songs (which was one of the oscars) and it introduced us to one of the most popular crickets of all-time, Jiminy Cricket.
Aside from awards and famous bugs, the movie also provided some strong morals and wishful thinking. A wooden boy is given a chance to become a real boy if he proves himself worthy. He has to listen to his elders, respect himself and not be selfish. Out of all the movies that Disney has come out with, especially in recent years, this still holds a solid set of moral dilemmas that could still relate to youth today. Sure it’s a bit goofy and most kids today probably wouldn’t give it a once-through, but it certainly isn’t preachy or steadfast with its rules of life. That’s where the charm of Pinocchio sets it, it knows you’re going to make mistakes, but it’s all about how you recover and hold true to your virtues and morals. Most the garbage that kids watch today isn’t nearly as powerful as what you’ll find in this 88 minute film. You have a strong lead character who is innocent to the world’s evils and is led by a cricket who is just trying to live another day. The message of respecting one’s family (Geppetto), respecting one’s self (see Pleasure island for that reference) and doing what’s right (giving yourself up so that someone else can live to see another day — see Monstro for that) is so elegantly, playfully displayed that you don’t know you’re learning until it’s over.
I wish more things like this would subtly find its way into what kids are watching.
Anyway, I’ll step off my soapbox and just say that this classic is flawless. I’m not quite sure why it’s getting an average of 7.7 on IMDB, but it deserves much better. It’s classic Disney, and it’s classic Disney done very well. The story is solid, the animation is even better (compared to Snow White there are significant improvements in what you’re seeing onscreen — se Monstro for details), what’s not to love? It’s got the whole package.
If you’re a Disney lover, this is the movie for you. If you’re looking for something to watch with your kids (or friends), this is the movie for you. This has all the entertainment you could hope for in a Disney animated film and much more.
Yeah, well-preserved.
I watched this and had to get a few opinions around me. I had not anticipated animation looking this sharp on blu-ray, especially animation that was 70 years old. There no flaws in the picture. There are no bits of graininess. There is no indication that this was made for a war-laden audience in 1940. There is no indication of age whatsoever. The colors in this animated classic are brighter and more colorful than anyone could have imagined. Whatever Disney did to preserve or clean up the film, they really need to keep doing this. My jaw dropped, as did the other three folks who I had to pull into the room to show. Literally, the colors are flawless. The animation is so crisp that you can identify the pencil strokes that the original sketches came in on. This movie looks so good that you would swear it was made in the last decade if you didn’t know better. Add that to the fact the audio was remastered for 7.1 usage and… my God this is truly what sets Blu-ray apart from the rest of the video world.
Simply brilliant.
As for the features, it’s loaded with DVD and Blu-ray features. This includes exclusive games for the kids, behind the scenes for those interested and deleted scenes. You also get a very imaginative alternate ending and some very insightful commentary from Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg and J.B. Kaufman. You get everything that you could imagine for a Pinocchio release. In fact, I’m not sure they can do anything else with this movie after experiencing the features and the film itself on Blu-ray.
This is truly one of the finest bits of work that Disney has released on the HD format since Sleeping Beauty. In some respects, I think this is the best out of the bunch right now.