The Film: A-

Most things begin to show their age at 70. Not Disney films on blu-ray In fact they seem to get better and better as time passes by. Disney opens the vault once again for their version of Pinocchio, a sing-songy version of the morality tale “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi in this 70th Anniversary Blu-ray+DVD combo package.

Pinocchio has gone on to find other ways to seep into pop culture such as Astro Boy, Steven Spielberg’s A.I., and probably most successfully and recently by PCS readers in the comic book, Fables created by Bill Willingham. The sarcastic and often crude wooden boy in the Vertigo series is so popular with readers because it’s such a departure from the Disney adaptation, in reality is more like Collodi’s original story. But hand it to Walt Disney though, his version of the fable has graced history as one of the finest-crafted animated feature films. The story of an old and lonely toymaker and his finest creation coming to life has plucked the heart strings of several generations. Pinocchio also served as a public service announcement of “do’s and don’ts” showing the negative effects of lying, drinking and smoking.

Disney’s films did more than that though, and in Pinocchio he gave us characters that whether they’re singing or turning into a jackass, literally, we genuinely empathized with them. Disney turned Pinocchio into vibrant, gullible, and joyful slab of wood. We knew what Pinocchio was doing was wrong, but we wanted Pinocchio to turn it around. Jiminy Cricket became more than just an arbitrary character, he became almost the main character as we witness the impact Pinocchio has on Gepetto and those he comes into contact with. And the Cricket archetype continues to live on today, just look at most of Morgan Freeman’s career. Now while they Blue Fairy conveniently resolves things or corrects things with the wave of the wand, Pinocchio showed many at an early age, that there is consequence for your actions and no matter how many times we fail to see that in life, there’s usually at least one person out there who cares.

On the technical side, Pinocchio really turned animation on its side with its revolutionary recreation of movement and life underwater and the great chase scene with Monstro, the killer whale. The film is a real testament to the animators and what they were able to do to stretch the minds of viewer and allow yourself to believe that this world is almost real, for an hour and a half at least. There a lot of subtle brilliance in the craft behind Pinocchio and lots of the details can finally be seen in high definition for many more generations. I’m hoping that treasures like this are not forgotten in the often cynical scope of movie making and the three-dimensional animation we appear to be heading towards more and more. I still enjoy Pinocchio for its candy-coated simplicity, grand sense of adventure and the animation work of art that it continues to be.

Video: A

Pinocchio is presented in its original full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio in 1080p VC-encoded high definition. The sidebars can be viewed in either plain black, or you can view them with painted in art which fills them in to match the background art of that particular scene. It’s not bad most of the time as the change is gradual, but in some instances it switches back between and forth in color and can be distracting. In short, Pinocchio has never looked better, and that’s no fib. The multitude of colors in Gepetto’s workshop for example shows the detail of every cell and painted background have all come out, not to the point of over saturation, there’s still a soft appearance a look given off by the all of the painted work, but reds and greens do pop on the screen. Jiminy Cricket’s detail down the bridge of his nose is ever present and is something I never really paid attention to before because it’s never been so clear.

Audio: A-

There are two audio soundtracks, a new 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and the restored original mono soundtrack and surprisingly both are satisfying. Now the new surround track has a full-bodied sound with moderate use of the rear channels for music spill and sound effects that make you feel like your in a crowd or help you get into brute force and power of Monstro. The original mono track holds its own and that’s the way it’s been heard for years, with solid range and balance. The DTS-HD track is a nice upgrade and is a pleasurable experience for the family that doesn’t sound overproduced or unnatural, which can be a concern going from mono to surround sound.

The Extras: A+

Disc One

The big score starts with a great Cine-Explore commentary with critic, Leonard Maltin, animation historian Eric Goldberg and film historian, J.B. Kaufman. Every nuance and uncommon fact is explored in this track. The Cine-Explore experience is a great way to view the film with as many as three picture-in-picture windows showing storyboards, interviews with the original animators all while the commentary rolls along.

You can watch the film with on screen lyrics or just jump to the separate songs if singing in front of the TV is your thing. There’s a HD Music Video (3:15) by Meaghan Jette Martin, which is a 5.1, Dolby Digital, modernized butchering of “When you Wish Upon a Star.” There’s a Fun Facts track to choose while you’re watching the film, a trivia challenge, and sneak peek trailers for Disney Parks and Rewards, Bolt, Monsters Inc., Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition, Up, and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasures

Disc Two

Split into two categories: Games & Activities and Backstage Disney. All of the featurettes are in 1080p HD, VC-1 encoded, and in Dolby Digital Stereo.

GAMES & ACTIVITIES

Put together six jigsaw puzzles in the Puzzle Maker. These games lack much difficulty because you can already see the piece in the direction it’s going to fit, and all of the pieces are different shapes. Something a bit more amusing are the four Pleasure Island Carnival Games though that require some button mashing on your blu-ray remote. Most are designed for kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years but falls short of the 8-bit games of the Wall-E blu-ray.

BACKSTAGE DISNEY

No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio (55:58) – After the commentary, fans will want to race to the nearly hour-long documentary where the three men from the commentary come back to talk more about the evolution of the Disney film. Could there be some fatigue and repetition with the Cine-Explore? Yes, but not so much that you won’t feel like you’re wasting time, again especially if you love this film.

Deleted Scenes (10:23) – There’s some cut footage that never made it much father than the storyboards but they’ve included them here like the Story of the Grandfather Tree, (the tree from whichh he was cut from), In the Belly of the Whale and an Alternate Ending.

Sweatbox (6:25) – Film historians and former animators recall Walt Disney’s process of reviewing the progress of the animation with the animators and the director. This added pressure but opened dialogue to improve the film, a process widely used today, especially at Pixar.

Gepetto Then and Now (10:57) – A pretty cool extra that looks at how different real life toy makers and their approach in what they do for a living including a real Gepetto, a marionette maker, a toy collector, a Disney toy maker, a Tomy toy maker and Emotiv a video game that responds to your emotions.

Live Action Reference Footage (9:57) - Some revealing archive footage on how animators used live action film and trace over frames.

To wrap everything are three Pinocchio trailers (1940, 1984, and 1992), a deleted song about “Honest John” (2:37) and art galleries full of stills, storyboards and 360 degree videos of reference maquettes.

Disc Three

The third disc is actually the DVD with Quick Play which is great for parents who want to be able to take Pinocchio in the mini-vans and planes.

Overall Shock Value: A

If you still have it in you to enjoy Walt Disney films, or if you’re starting a library of movies for your family Pinocchio is a great addition. With plenty of extras to keep them busy afterwards and the included DVD, the high price of this combo package is well worth the investment. The story is still timeless, and the animation was and still ahead of its time. And perhaps you’ll think twice the next time you tell a lie.

Ernie Estrella