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Post by joplin4 on Mar 30, 2009 22:16:03 GMT -5
Disney's second feature film told about a puppet who had to be brave, truthful, and unselfish to make his father's wish come true. With Jiminy Cricket helping him, Pinocchio tries to do what's right. But, it's not as easy as it seems. With the help of two swindlers named Foulfellow and Gideon, Pinocchio skips school to join Stromboli's puppet show, and then heads off to Pleasure Island. But, he ultimately proves himself to be brave by facing Monstro the whale and risking his life to unselfishly save his father.
Disney once again called on his 9 old men for the project. Ward Kimball had the task of creating Jiminy Cricket. Models were created to help the animators with their work. Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen directed the film.
Songs were written by Leigh Harline, Ned Washington, and Paul J. Smith. The songs included in the film were: "When You Wish Upon a Star", "Little Woodenhead", "Give a Little Whistle", "Hi Diddle Dee Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)", and "I've Got No Strings".
The voice cast included Dickie Jones (Pinocchio), Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket), Christian Rub (Geppetto), Evelyn Venable (Blue Fairy), Walter Catlett (Foulfellow), Frankie Darro (Lampwick), Charles Judels (Stromboli/Coachman), and Don Brodie (Barker)
Following in the footsteps of Snow White, Pinocchio also had a character who, like Dopey, didn't speak. This was Foulfellow's sidekick, Gideon.
But Pinocchio's legacy was perhaps bigger than Snow White. Although Snow White led to every other film Disney would ever produced, many of Pinocchio's stars have been cast in other roles by Disney. Figaro went on to become Minnie Mouse's cat, as well as Pluto's friend/rival. Cleo earned a part with Jiminy Cricket in "Fun and Fancy Free". Jiminy Cricket was a frequent guest on "The Mickey Mouse Club". He appeared as The Ghost of Christmas Past in "Mickey's Christmas Carol". He also appeared in Disney's "House of Mouse".
Perhaps the biggest contribution this film has to offer is "When You Wish Upon a Star". This song has become a Disney anthem, which embodies the ideals of Walt Disney himself. He believed in dreaming, but he also knew that you couldn't just sit around and wish for something to happen. Just as Pinocchio had to work to make Geppetto's dream come true, we must work to make our dreams come true. I think that's one of the main messages in the film.
"All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them."--Walt Disney
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dacey
Mouseketeer
Posts: 781
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Post by dacey on Mar 31, 2009 7:49:28 GMT -5
This has never really been one of my favorite Disney movies. Can't even explain why. It just isn't.
Having said that, I can definately appreciate all of the effort that went into it, and I'm still blown away by the fact that it was made in such a short period of time...and released in the same year as "Fantasia" no less!
But...I just can't get myself to "love" the film. That's not to say that I dislike it or anything, because I don't, but I don't get the same warm feeling watching it that I get while watching, say, "The Little Mermaid" or something like that.
Hope that all made sense.
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Post by joplin4 on Mar 31, 2009 21:59:55 GMT -5
Makes perfect sense. You're not alone in this, you know. I know lots of folks that don't think much of the film. I'm not one of them, but I can see why some folks feel this way.
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Post by meggyc on Apr 1, 2009 8:59:02 GMT -5
When You Wish Upon a Star is a beautiful song and it really should be the Disney anthem. It really symbolizes the magic of the company.
I always liked Jiminy Cricket. I can't remember if I saw him first on tv or in Pinocchio, he's a likable character. This film is full of likable characters.
I think what really stands out in Pinocchio is the beautiful backgrounds. The early films really had some gorgeous layouts.
I love this film. Like the song that came to represent the company, I feel that the film really represents Disney magic to the fullest.
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hmouse81
Poor Unfortunate Soul
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Post by hmouse81 on Apr 1, 2009 17:17:44 GMT -5
Ah yes. This was the first Disney movie I saw, so natch it's one of my all time favorites.
I agree with you, meggyc. Jiminy is one of my all time faves, for this movie alone. He had some of the best lines I thought. ("You've buttered your bread! Now sleep in it!" never fails to crack me up.)
I also like how Pinocchio in this movie is more innocent and has no real grasp on the concept of right and wrong whereas in Collodi's (sp?) version he was a bit of an obnoxious brat.
All the characters were well voiced, and I always think Disney always chooses the right voices. They did right when casting a little boy for Pinocchio rather than an adult.
I could wax poetic all day, but let's just say in my opinion this was Disney at it's best.
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Tonichelle
Mouseketeer
I'm wishing... for the one I love... to find me... today!
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Post by Tonichelle on Apr 3, 2009 21:53:23 GMT -5
I love the music from the film. I love the secondary characters.
I can't put my finger on why I don't have more of an emotional connection with the film. Maybe the darkness of the film has a lot to do with it, I don't know, but Jiminy is so classic Disney... and Geppetto is adorable.
and I'm not a cat person but I wouldn't mind taking Figaro home with me!
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Post by joplin4 on Apr 3, 2009 22:01:14 GMT -5
I think a lot of folks have a problem with how dark the film is. Although, I would think Snow White is much darker, but I guess that's my personal ideas.
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Tonichelle
Mouseketeer
I'm wishing... for the one I love... to find me... today!
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Post by Tonichelle on Apr 3, 2009 22:31:10 GMT -5
Not to me... there are a lot of light hearted moments in Snow...
whereas Pinnochio goes from one dark scene to the next without a lot of humor or light inbetween if you think about it... and the scenes get worse and worse... there's really nothing to break it up.
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Post by PearlSparrow13 on Apr 7, 2009 11:32:22 GMT -5
I just watched this the other day with the audio commentary. Now, looking at it from a film making perspective, I'm amazed at what they were able to do with animation. Especially the blue fairy's sparkles!
And yes, it is really dark, but the story is so well put together, and actually has clear morals of right and wrong. Something that seems to be lacking in current films for children.
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Tonichelle
Mouseketeer
I'm wishing... for the one I love... to find me... today!
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Post by Tonichelle on Apr 25, 2009 20:11:58 GMT -5
agreed, that' really my big problem with Pirates. There is no right or wrong, no good guy or bad guy. Sure Will starts out that way but by movie three the ends justify the means for him just as much as they do for Jack.
Which isn't surprising, most of the time it's the person in the wrong who rubs off on the person in the right...
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Post by meggyc on Apr 26, 2009 21:14:48 GMT -5
agreed, that' really my big problem with Pirates. There is no right or wrong, no good guy or bad guy. Sure Will starts out that way but by movie three the ends justify the means for him just as much as they do for Jack. Which isn't surprising, most of the time it's the person in the wrong who rubs off on the person in the right... I personally like movies that don't have a bad guy. And there are some really great protagonists that aren't exactly model citizens. It makes things more realistic. Don't get me wrong. I also love really despicable villains, but I think it's interesting to realize things are rarely black and white. No matter how good or evil a person is, there should be a gray area. That makes a character seem human.
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Post by joplin4 on Apr 27, 2009 8:43:16 GMT -5
I agree with the protagonist not always being as good as gold, as the saying goes, but I think you can definitely have a guy that's as evil as they come. A lot of folks in history were completely evil.
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Tonichelle
Mouseketeer
I'm wishing... for the one I love... to find me... today!
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Post by Tonichelle on Apr 28, 2009 23:41:04 GMT -5
agreed, and I don't believe that the ends should justify the means...
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Post by meggyc on Apr 29, 2009 12:28:20 GMT -5
Like I said, I like evil, despicable villains. But sometimes, I want to see something different and a bit deeper in which the villain is not evil to the core. Maybe they do have a redeeming quality somewhere. This honestly isn't seen much in Disney movies. I guess some examples would be Denahi from Brother Bear and Amos Slade from The Fox and the Hound. Perhaps they aren't the best examples of particularly memorable antagonists, however.
Even Maleficent, mistress of all evil, seems to have her own sort of soft spot (No matter how vague that may be) for her pet crow. It's like the stereotypical hardened villain who loves his cat sort of deal. That doesn't stop her from being evil.
And then there are villains who are evil, but they somehow justify it in their own warped minds, like Frollo.
By definition, an antagonist is not necessarily an evil person. He or she just have goals that are in conflict with the protagonist's goals. While I don't think every antagonist needs to be weak or have any shown remorse or redeeming quality at all (that would get boring and silly) there isn't anything wrong with making a multi-layered villain. Besides, the whole "I do this because I'm EVIL" excuse gets really lame and boring after a while.
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Tonichelle
Mouseketeer
I'm wishing... for the one I love... to find me... today!
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Post by Tonichelle on Apr 29, 2009 23:23:16 GMT -5
yeah but her love for that bird only goes so far... and really I think she only likes him because he's smarter than the goons... but that isn't saying a whole lot about him! LOL
but yay for DRAGON talk!!!!
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