Movie Description
Walt Disney's second full-length animated feature is a timeless, breathtakingly beautiful classic. Based on an 1800s story by Carlo Collodi, it stars Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards) as a vagabond insect who spends a rainy night at the shop of toymaker Geppetto. The Blue Fairy brings a marionette to life after Geppetto wishes on a star for a son, and Jiminy Cricket is appointed the new boy's conscience. He has a devil of a time keeping up as Pinocchio is willingly lured through various forms of temptation, the most frightening of which leads him to Pleasure Island, where he drinks, smokes, and is almost turned into a jackass. This sequence, as well as Pinocchio's brave rescue of Geppetto from the belly of a whale, ranks among the most memorable in the history of animation. With such songs as "When You Wish Upon a Star," this is about as magical as cinema can get, a sublimely beautiful coming-of-age story for all to treasure.
| Credits | | Writer: | Aurelius Battaglia, Erdman Penner, Joseph Sabo, Otto Englander, Ted Sears, Webb Smith, William Cottrell | | Producer: | Walt Disney | | Cast: | Charles Judels, Don Brodie, Evelyn Venable, Frankie Darro, Walter Catlett |
| Details | | Edition: | 2-Disc Set; 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition |
Editorial Reviews
"...Awesomely restored..." -- 4 out of 4 stars
USA Today - p.3D - Mike Clark
"...Every element in PINOCCHIO shimmers with the energy of young artists reveling in their newly discovered powers of creation..."
Los Angeles Times - Charles Solomon (06/26/1992)
"...The movie looks great....The movie is genuinely exciting and romantic, great to look at, and timeless..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (06/26/1992)
"...Visually, the movie remains the peak of the studio's craft..."
Entertainment Weekly - Ty Burr (01/11/2002)
"Arguably the best told of all the Disney fairy tales....And, as ever, the animation is near flawless..."
Empire - Empire Staff (03/01/2008)
"The rollicking adventure, about a lonely old toy maker whose wooden puppet comes to life and dreams of becoming a real boy, is tender and timeless." -- Grade: A
Entertainment Weekly - Chris Nashawaty (03/13/2009)
"PINOCCHIO remains a technical summit of hand-drawn animation, executed with a grace and expressiveness of movement that even Disney's artists were neve quite able to recapture."
New York Times - Dave Kehr (03/06/2009)
Awards
1940Academy AwardsBest Original ScoreLeigh Harline, 1940Academy AwardsBest Original ScoreNed Washington, 1940Academy AwardsBest Original ScorePaul J. Smith, 1940Academy AwardsBest Original SongLeigh Harline, 1940Academy AwardsBest Original SongNed Washington
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