Movies / Animé and Toons

Pinocchio

By Hervé St-Louis
January 31, 2017 - 10:14

"I’ve got no strings," he sings and then dances and slips before smiling his nose caught in plank. Still innocent and trying his best, the puppet is picked up by Stromboli, the greedy puppet master who makes Pinocchio perform for an audience. But Pinocchio sings and continues to dance with a variety of marionettes. Little does he know that soon his life will change and that after spending time on an island that transforms bad boys into donkeys, he would have to rescue his father from Monstro, the giant whale.

If you have not seen Disney’s Pinocchio yet, you are missing out. The animation in the second full length feature from the studio is filled with secondary motion and extensive multiplane camera work. The character animation for Pinocchio is breathtaking and a fine example for animators. I’m an animator and I can’t imagine how much work was involved to get him to dance and have such coy expressions.

The Blu-Ray does not have enough behind the scenes and features to do justice to such an important animated film. The character animation alone for Pinocchio was problematic and needed much work to achieve. There is vague mention of this. There are other features such as a new rendering of the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" by a trio of telegenic Disney starlets. I wanted to have a lot more background information on Pinocchio’s production but for hardcore fans, you’ll have to rely on Disney’s The Illusion of Life instead.

One cool bonus feature is a short Oswald the Rabbit cartoon. There is also a DVD included in the set and access to a digital copy of the film. This new re-release is worth it just for the original Pinocchio feature though.

Rating: 10 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12