PINOCCHIO
Original title: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Characters: Pinocchio, Geppetto, Talking Cricket, Blue Fairy, Fire eater, the cat and the fox, Lucignolo
Author: Carlo Collodi
Production: Walt Disney Studios
Regia: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, Norman Ferguson, Jack Kinney, Wilfred Jackson, T. Hee | Country: United States
Year: 1940 mm
Gender: Tale
Episodes: 1 mm
Duration: 88 minutes
Recommended age: Movies for all ages |
After the great success obtained with the masterpiece of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , Walt Disney was called to another challenge. The public asked for other characters of the same charisma as Dotto, Grumpy, Cucciolo and so on, but Disney was trying above all to surpass itself from a technical point of view. He found in Carlo Collodi's fairy tale all the necessary ingredients to be able to make an animated film, which in addition to having very well characterized characters, called him to a greater commitment in the study of animation. After two years of intense work, in 1940 the film Pinocchio was released in American cinemas, which amazed above all for its sophisticated technical innovation, even if it did not obtain the hoped-for success. It is enough to look at the movement of Geppetto's clocks and music boxes, or the setting under the sea to understand the meticulousness with which Walt Disney approached this work.
He had real wooden models of Pinocchio and all the characters built, to study in depth their behavior to the laws of physics, in order to help the designers in the realization of the various frames. As for the story, ... well, Disney is not asked for respect for tradition, but for the magic of a story and in this film it does just fine, in fact there are original elements added for the occasion, such as the cat Figaro and the little fish Cleo by Geppetto,  as well as all his contraptions that make him look more like a watchmaker than a poor carpenter. The character who more than any other dominates the scene is undoubtedly the Jiminy Cricket, a true narrator of the story. Il Grillo has a specific task: he is officially appointed by the Blue Fairy as Pinocchio's guide and advisor, so he will follow him in all his adventures.
During one night the Jiminy Cricket enters a house to look for some warmth. Here he finds a laboratory of many objects and among these a puppet still being worked on. It belongs to Mastro Geppetto who, together with his inseparable cat Figaro, goes armed with paintbrushes to complete his work; the puppet is called with the name of Pinocchio. Geppetto wishes to have a child and seeing the passage of a shooting star, he prays for his wish to come true. In the middle of the night the Blue Fairy appears, who, under the eyes of an incredulous Jiminy Cricket, gives life to the puppet Pinocchio, giving him the opportunity to talk and walk. Pinocchio will have to demonstrate that he knows how to behave like a good and obedient child: if he keeps this commitment he can become a real child. Jiminy Cricket is named as his official conscience and will have to teach Pinocchio the difference between good and evil. Geppetto when he wakes up does not believe his eyes, and rejoices with joy for the realization of his great dream.  The following morning he sends Pinocchio to school, but on the way he meets the Cat and the Fox, two swindlers who amazed to see a wireless puppet talking and walking, after having tricked him with the promise of making him become an actor, they sell him to the terrible puppeteer Mangiafuoco. Poor Grillo, given his small size, can do nothing to prevent all this from happening and Pinocchio, after having enriched his master, is locked up in a cage and taken around the world. Fortunately, the Blue Fairy reappears, but Pinocchio tells so many lies, which will make his nose grow out of all proportion. However, the fairy frees him and gives him one last chance to follow Jiminy Cricket's advice and go to school to behave like a good child.On the way home, Pinocchio meets again the Cat and the Fox, who tell him about a place where instead of going to school, children spend their time eating sweets and having fun. The naive Pinocchio once again falls into the trap and is once again sold to the coachman who will take him to the Land of Toys. Here he meets Lucignolo, a child who does not want to study, whose only purpose is to have fun. The talking cricket continues to follow Pinocchio in a desperate attempt to dissuade him from these intentions, but it is all in vain. However, he discovers that the land of toys is an atrocious deception perpetrated against the unwitting children, who are transformed into donkeys and sold to carry out the most tiring jobs. Jiminy Cricket runs to warn Pinocchio, but it's too late and Pinocchio finds himself with a pair of donkey ears and a tail, while Candlewick has now become a real donkey and squirms in desperation. Pinocchio, however, manages to escape together with Grillo and receives a letter from Geppetto from a dove, which he writes from the belly of the whale. Pinocchio throws himself into the sea in order to find the great cetacean. After various searches at the bottom of the sea, Pinocchio is also swallowed by the whale and here he embraces Geppetto again accompanied by the cat Figaro and the little fish Cleo. Despite Geppetto's resignation, Pinocchio finds the solution to get out of the whale's belly and after making it sneeze, they are brought back to shore after various adventures. Pinocchio, after this heroic gesture of his, is thus transformed into a child, as promised by the Blue Fairy. All names, images and registered trademarks are copyright © Walt Disney Animation, and are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.
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