Pinocchio
Academy Award × 2·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio, is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish.
What critics thought
Near-universally regarded as a pinnacle of the animator's art, Pinocchio was greeted with ecstatic reviews on release and has only grown in stature since — critics single out the extraordinary fluidity of its animation, the genuine darkness of its fable, and an emotional depth that distinguishes it from mere fairy-tale entertainment. The one mild dissent in an otherwise unanimous chorus comes from those who feel it sits just outside Disney's absolute top tier, but even that is a minority position against decades of critical consensus calling it technically irreproachable.
“Pinocchio is here at last, is every bit as fine as we had prayed it would be—if not finer—and that it is as gay and clever and delightful a fantasy as any well-behaved youngster or jaded oldster could hope to see.”
Frank S. Nugent·The New York Times
“In craftsmanship and delicacy of drawing and coloring, in the articulation of its dozens of characters, in the greater variety and depth of its photographic effects, it tops the high standard Snow White set. The charm, humor and loving care with which it treats its inanimate characters puts it in a class by itself.”
Time
“it is really about something. It isn't just a concocted fable or a silly fairy tale, but a narrative with deep archetypal reverberations.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Not up there with the very top echelon of Disney classics, but Pinocchio will still work its magic on younger viewers.”
Alan Morrison·Empire Magazine
“This is not a film you'll ever fully wrap your head around, never 'solve', never stop finding things to wonder at. It's a singular work of depth and ambition, the kind that all artists would aspire to from the core of their being.”
Christian Blauvelt·IndieWire
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorHamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, T. Hee, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson
StarringDickie Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, Evelyn Venable, Walter Catlett
ComposerLeigh Harline, Paul J. Smith
Pinocchio
Academy Award × 2·National Film Registry
When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio, is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish.
What critics thought
Near-universally regarded as a pinnacle of the animator's art, Pinocchio was greeted with ecstatic reviews on release and has only grown in stature since — critics single out the extraordinary fluidity of its animation, the genuine darkness of its fable, and an emotional depth that distinguishes it from mere fairy-tale entertainment. The one mild dissent in an otherwise unanimous chorus comes from those who feel it sits just outside Disney's absolute top tier, but even that is a minority position against decades of critical consensus calling it technically irreproachable.
“Pinocchio is here at last, is every bit as fine as we had prayed it would be—if not finer—and that it is as gay and clever and delightful a fantasy as any well-behaved youngster or jaded oldster could hope to see.”
Frank S. Nugent·The New York Times
“In craftsmanship and delicacy of drawing and coloring, in the articulation of its dozens of characters, in the greater variety and depth of its photographic effects, it tops the high standard Snow White set. The charm, humor and loving care with which it treats its inanimate characters puts it in a class by itself.”
Time
“it is really about something. It isn't just a concocted fable or a silly fairy tale, but a narrative with deep archetypal reverberations.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“Not up there with the very top echelon of Disney classics, but Pinocchio will still work its magic on younger viewers.”
Alan Morrison·Empire Magazine
“This is not a film you'll ever fully wrap your head around, never 'solve', never stop finding things to wonder at. It's a singular work of depth and ambition, the kind that all artists would aspire to from the core of their being.”
Christian Blauvelt·IndieWire
Genres
Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Cast & Crew
DirectorHamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, T. Hee, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson
StarringDickie Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, Evelyn Venable, Walter Catlett
ComposerLeigh Harline, Paul J. Smith
Rent/Purchase