Tuesday Movie Review: Pinocchio

Hello and welcome back to the Tuesday Movie Review! Last week we took a break in order to prepare for the coming week's reviews. Now there's going to be a little change to the TMR. Over on The Mouse Knows Best Podcast we're starting a new series based on Disney Animated movies! Each week a different host will pick two movies to talk about and I thought it would be a great idea to incorporate one of those movies into the Tuesday Movie Review; so if you're just a reader, now's the perfect time to become a listener too! This past week, our very own Jared started the series with two great films: Pinocchio and 101 Dalmatians! I decided that today, I'd review Pinocchio, but 101 Dalmatians could be a review coming soon! As always on this blog, I'll be talking about the storyline, soundtrack/score, acting, and the movie's presence in the Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts! Let's start with Pinocchio!

movies.disney.com

Pinocchio is Disney's 2nd animated feature film and tells the story of a wooden doll and his adventures en route to becoming a real boy. The movie was released February 23rd, 1940 and is often called one of the greatest Disney animated films of all time. The film actually credits 7 men as the directors (both sequence and supervising): Norman Ferguson, T Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts, and Ben Sharpsteen. The film starred Dickie Jones as Pinocchio and featured the likes of Christian Rub (Geppetto), Evelyn Venable (The Blue Fairy), and Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket). All in all the film was pretty successful at the 1940 box office, earning a massive $84 million during it's theatrical run. Speaking of theatrical releases, the movie was re-released in 1945, 1954, 1962, 1971, 1978, 1984, and 1992.

hmvvideos.com

The music of Pinocchio could be argued that it is the most important of all the films. The music of the film was done by Leigh Harline and Paul J Smith, and won the Academy Award for Best Music Original Song ("When You Wish Upon A Star") and Best Music Original Score. The theme of "When You Wish Upon A Star" is often identified as the Disney theme song as it plays at the opening of all of the movies and prominently in the parks. However, that's not the only good song in the film. If you recall a couple years ago the company Beats By Dre released a commercial promoting their new headphones with a familiar song in the background: "I've Got No Strings" Pinocchio does a great job of incorporating good music into the scenes at the right times which makes the songs that much more lovable.

amazon.com

Pinocchio has a very quiet presence at the Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts. While his character is available to do meet and greets during parties, you're more likely to find Jiminey Cricket roaming around the parks! Pinocchio and Jiminey are featured in the Festival of Fantasy Parade at the Magic Kingdom daily. Geppetto also has a character that is available from time to time but it's really just if you're lucky! There is a quick service restaurant located in Fantasyland called Pinocchio's Village Haus that is based on Pinocchio! It sits above It's A Small World so you can see the boats sailing away, and serves really good macaroni and cheese and pizza!

disneyworld.disney.go

Overall, Pinocchio is a great movie, but it's not one of my favorite Disney ones. I can 100% see how people love this movie, as it is a classic and it does teach some very valuable lessons. It incorporates all of the things you want in a good Disney movie: good music, lovable characters, and great teaching lessons. For me, it just ages just a little bit and with the great movies put out while I was growing up in the Disney Renaissance, it's very hard to compare the older films to them. I'll give it a solid 3 of 5 stars because while it doesn't do a lot for me, it is a Disney classic and is valuable to Disney history! All in all it is a great film though and if you haven't seen it, I highly encourage you to check it out!

Kevin Scott is a contributing writer for The Mouse Knows Best Podcast. He is self proclaimed Disney addict and oftentimes annoys his family with how much he talks Disney. He enjoys walking around all Disney Parks and taking as many pictures as he can in one day. When he isn't at Walt Disney World, he is working to get back or re-watching Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movie. His spirit animal is a mix between Simba and Kylo Ren with a dash of Tony Stark. You can find him on Twitter @doubleoh_kevin and on Instagram @waltdisneyduo.