Based the incredibly dark fairy tale, a toy maker named Gepetto wishes for a real boy. A Blue Fairy grants his wish and gives life to his wooden puppet Pinocchio. In order for Pinocchio to become a real boy, he must understand the lessons in life with the help of his conscience Jiminy Cricket. The film is very surreal and some stuff don't add up, however, Disney and the film itself, is good at taking these strange and odd ideas and make it seem natural and have you go along with the atmosphere and story.
Our main character and focus Pinocchio is what I like to call a really identifiable character. He's not one of those perfect and nice kids that you would expect him to be, he actually carries the characteristics of a "Real boy". He's nice, he gets confused, he loves his Father, he gets tricked easily, he even makes mistakes such as listening to strangers, lying, smoking, drinking, being bad but at the end he does realize his mistakes and tries to do better and to me that's a good moral. Pinocchio is indeed a lovable character to learn about right and wrong from and that makes him an even more lovable as well as being a character that we can learn from.
Now the supporting characters. Pinocchio's father Gepetto is a really really sweet, fun and lovable character. Every time I see him, I feel the emotions the character has, I just wish I knew his backstory because that would make him a lot more interesting. His pets Figaro the cat and Cleo the fish are very fun and very cute and to see a cat get along with a fish is another surreal aspect to the film. The Blue Fairy is like the god of this movie, she's very pretty, very wise and on top of it she even gives life to our lead, that's very god like if you ask me. Of course the character that most of us love is Jiminy Cricket. He's very cute, he has a fun personality, he's very suttle, he can be very funny, he's charming and man is his singing voice so good that I wish crickets in real life had that voice.
The film is chunk full of villains and you know what, none of them get a bad fate and they don't get defeated, they survive and go on their marry evil ways which is very hard core epically in a Disney film. First we have the two life sized animals Foulfellow (Aka Honest John) the Fox who is very smart, classy and good at tempting our lead and Gideon the Cat who is the funny silent character and the slapstick and humor between the two is really funny. Next we have Stromboli the Italian gypsy puppeteer who goes from being a fun jolly fellow to a dark greedy man who has villainous plans for Pinocchio. Then there's the Coachman who takes young boys to an amusement park and turns them into donkeys. The character is not only scary and unsettling but the scenes that involves the kids being Donkeys is very harsh and scary. Pinocchio's bad influential friend Lampwick is fun and mean but when we see him turn into a donkey we actually feel bad for him then thinking "He got what he deserved". Finally there's the whale Monstrou who is like the "Jaws" of Disney villains do to it's eerie music, quick movement, intelligence, monstrous behavior, scary design and has the roar of the great Thrul Ravenscrof.
The songs are all great and very memorable. "I've Got No Strings" sung by Pinocchio is very cute, catchy and a lot of fun and the scene itself is awesome. "My Little Wooden Head" sung by Geppetto is the cutest song in the film and how Geppetto plays with his puppet makes you feel happy but also makes you bad for him since he's alone with no wife or child. The villain song "Hi Diddle Dee Dee" is a really catchy song but sadly we barley hear the whole song. On top of all the songs, the song "When You Wish Upon A Star" is not only the best and most remembered song in the movie but it's also the best Disney song ever. Yeah there are nitpickers out there that say the song promotes laziness but first off it's a fairy tale and fits the fairy tale atmosphere. On top of it, as a kid I knew that wishing doesn't get you anything (And I bet a lot of kids knew that too) but the reason why the song is so great and why we do wish is because it's a symbol of hope that we have and a dream for us to hopefully achieve one day. Calm down and quit over analyzing things that don't need to be over analyzed.
The animation in this film is Disney at it's best. Alright it's not all perfect such as the continuity when Pinocchio burns his hand or the faces of the kids of when the Coachman is taking them to "Pleasure Island" but hey since when has anything been perfect? What makes it so great is it brought some new and very groundbreaking animation and even the stuff that animators have used before makes it only better. Some of the highlights are the scooping of the town, the blurriness of Pinocchio getting sick, Pinocchio's reflection in Cleo's bowl, the big chase at the end, Lampwicks transformation, Pinocchio in the dark around lifeless puppets, the creative designs, his nose growing and the whole film itself also has that fairy tale look. This animated film shows that you don't CGI to make a great or impressive animated film.
It's truly one of Disney's best films and every time I see it, it gets better and better.
RATING 5/5
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