Pinocchio (1940)

Pinocchio
Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske et al
Written by Ted Sears et al from the story by Carlo Collodi
1940/USA
Walt Disney Productions
#148 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Jiminy Cricket: You buttered your bread. Now sleep in it![/box]

I don’t think Disney’s second feature cartoon quite matches the first but it is good value anyway.

Jiminy Cricket illustrates the power of wishing on a star through the tale of Pinocchio. Kindly woodcarver Gepetto who lives alone with his cat Figaro and goldfish Cleo wishes that a wooden marionette he has made was a real boy.  The Blue Fairy animates the puppet but tells Pinocchio that he will only become real if he proves honest, brave, and unselfish.  She assigns Jiminy as Pinocchio’s conscience to help out.  But the naive gullible puppet gets into one scrape after another en route to boyhood.

 This film is undeniably a classic but is a little moralizing for my taste.  You can see the spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down all over the place.  I much prefer those crazy dwarfs.  Other than that, it is practically perfect and the songs are wonderful.

Lee J. Harlin, Paul J. Smith,  and Ned Washington won Academy Awards for Best Original Song (“When You Wish Upon a Star”) and Best Original Score.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQzZANZ4R14

Trailer