2 – Pinocchio
Now this is way closer to what I
consider a Disney movie. This is one of the movies that I'm sure I
saw as a kid but probably haven't seen since. Even though it was
released only a few years after Snow White, Pinocchio
is much much deeper in its storytelling and characters. In a lot of
ways it's much closer to what Disney was producing decades later. A
story with depth, really great fantasy moments and a very clear
message.
Beginning with the story, everything
is already leagues ahead of Snow White.
Where I felt like nothing really happened there, in Pinocchio
there are a ton of amazing
sequences and great moments. On top of that the music was even
better. “When You Wish Upon a Star” is such a classic I don't
even think I need to talk about it. Sure, it's overly hopeful and
optimistic, but isn't that what Disney should be at it's best?
Pinocchio
himself goes through so much character development throughout this
movie. He starts off kind of dumb and easy to trick but soon moves on
to making the wrong choice all on his own all the way until he
finally starts making the right choices all on his own. I did feel
sometimes that he was a bit stupid or kind of ungrateful for being
brought to life. Especially when poor Geppetto was out in the rain
looking for him after Pinocchio decided not to go to school. By the
end, though, I really felt like Pinocchio learned his lesson and
earned his wish to come true.
Geppetto
was a really cool character too. He was exactly what he needed to be.
A kind old man who wanted nothing more than a son and really deserved
one.
If
the story was about Pinocchio then I have to say the Jiminy Cricket
was the next one who did the most growing. He started off simply
wanting a warm place to live but soon ended up trying to be
Pinocchio's own conscience. He had plenty of times when he questioned
his abilities but it's pretty clear that he did a pretty good job at
the end.
Now,
there was one place in, terms of character, that could've possibly
been a bit more simplified and that was with the villains. There were
something like four villains in the whole story. Now, I don't think
any of them were very bad but let's just say I had to look up the
wikipedia article later to get them all straight. Honest John and
Gideon were pretty standard care more about money type villains who
then sold Pinocchio not once, but twice. First, to Stromboli a fat
Italian who forces Pinocchio to perform in his marionette show. Then
to the Coachman, who I think is much more interesting, who owns and
operates Pleasure Island where boys can go and have fun only to turn
into donkeys. Finally, there's Monstro, a giant sperm whale who
Pinocchio has to rescue Geppetto from at the end of the movie. I'd
argue he's more of an obstacle than a real villain though.
The
sequence with the coachman on Pleasure Island has to be some of the
best scenes from this movie. They could definitely not pull off that
kind of message quite that clearly again in modern movies. The idea
that doing all those bad things, fighting, drinking, smoking, would
turn kids into donkeys is a pretty clever idea. This really reminds
me of those old wives tales we hear as kids that kind of help guide
kids into making better choices. While it's a bit heavy handed, I
think the message of avoiding those things for kids is a good thing.
As
for the other themes, I think they’re great as well. The main one
for me would be the simple idea of trying to do the right thing. The
movie makes it really clear that this is what Pinocchio should be
doing even when he continuously keeps going off to do the wrong
thing. I really liked that, by the end, Pinocchio was able to finally
tell right from wrong and prove that he was brave and not selfish.
These are themes that, even 50 years later, are still relevant.
There's a reason many of these movies are considered timeless.
I was
impressed with Pinocchio.
A bit more impressed than I was with Snow White.
In just a short time everything from animation to storytelling has
gotten better and I'm even more excited to keep going. Tomorrow is
going to be something a bit less structured and something I've
definitely seen more of as a musician more recently.
2
Down. 51 to go.
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