Review: Pinocchio (DMC #2)
Last night we continued the Disnerd Movie Challenge with movie #2, Pinocchio!
For those of you who don’t know it, here’s a refresher. (If you watched it already, feel free to skip this section.)
Synopsis
Geppetto finishes making a wooden puppet and names him Pinocchio. As he readies for bed, he sees a wishing star and wishes that Pinocchio would be a real boy. While he sleeps, the Blue Fairy visits his home and brings Pinocchio to life as a wooden boy. She tells Pinocchio that in order to truly become a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish. She dubs Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio’s conscience to guide him.
Pinocchio faces several temptations: a not-so-honest fox named Honest John and his cat sidekick Gideon offer the allure of an actor’s life; a greedy puppeteer named Stromboli promises fame and riches; and a wayward boy named Lampwick shows how carefree a lawless life at Pleasure Island can be. Though Pinocchio falls for each temptation initially, he soon realizes he’s on the wrong path and must return to Geppetto. But Geppetto went to look for Pinocchio and was swallowed by a whale. Pinocchio sets off to rescue him, and although he succeeds, he loses his life in the escape. But the Blue Fairy recognizes Pinocchio’s bravery in his final, unselfish act, and she revives him, transforming him into a real boy at last.
Thoughts Before Watching
Kevin: So I’ll admit right now that the oldest Disney movies have never been at the top of my list, and have been the least watched. This movie is no exception, and so when I went into this I expected I would feel about the same as I have before. That is, that while I realize this film is a classic gem in the Disney canon, I wouldn’t miss it if I never saw it again. Although, I do own the Super Nintendo game, and I gotta say it’s a lot of fun.
Megan: It has been AGES since I last watched Pinocchio. I remember I definitely liked Figaro and Cleo (I once named a pet goldfish after Cleo and at the time I wanted to get a kitten and name it Figaro). I also remember thinking that the scenes with Monstro, the whale, were super scary. I didn’t watch this movie nearly as often as I watched the Disney Princess movies, and I think that’s largely because I was a goody-two-shoes who didn’t like how a large chunk of the movie was about boys breaking rules and being disobedient.
Thoughts After Watching
Kevin: After this recent watching, I’ve come away actually enjoying Pinocchio a little more.
Disney’s interpretation is better than the original.
I read the original story years ago and I prefer Disney’s version. In the original, Pinocchio is a far less likable character and I had trouble believing his transformation. With this movie, I like the interpretation that Pinocchio genuinely wants to do good, but is thrust into an unfamiliar world and therefore does not really know any better. There are some lessons to be learned, sure, but here Pinocchio acts just as any other curious yet naive boy who wants to have fun would.
The animation is more cartoon-like.
The animation in this film feels different compared to Snow White. I think this is partly because the gags that are used are more the type you might find in a Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck cartoon (i.e., when Pinocchio’s eyes literally fill with water and then seep out after he smokes the cigar). I don’t remember, is this a common thing with the older films? This will be something for me to keep an eye on as we move forward in this challenge! It’s also different since every character is designed as a caricature, compared to the more human-like appearances of Snow White, the Prince, and the Evil Queen in the previous movie. At the time, animating realistic looking humans was more difficult, so it would make sense why the animation in Pinocchio looks more fluid.
Jiminy Cricket is actually a terrible candidate for “official conscience.”
Megan and Kevin: So we didn’t notice this before, but when Jiminy Cricket first comes to Geppetto’s cottage he’s a vagabond. His hat is busted at the top, his toes poke out of his shoes, and all around he looks a bit disheveled. In and of itself it’s not a bad thing, but then he basically trespasses as he lets himself in and proceeds to make himself at home.
For a cricket, he also far too frequently objectifies women throughout the movie (which is quite a feat considering how few female characters there are).
Does he grow into the role of conscience? Yes, in which case we think the Blue Fairy knew what she was doing—improving multiple lives with one wave of her wand. But would we have nominated Jiminy Cricket as a conscience in the first place? Probably not.
Why is Geppetto so abusive to Figaro?!
We must have picked up on this as kids, but now that we both have cats of our own we were shocked at how Geppetto terrorizes Figaro! He almost drops Pinocchio on Figaro (saved only by Figaro running out of the way), and then he makes Pinocchio kick Figaro immediately after petting him! It’s no wonder that when Pinocchio first comes to life Figaro is suspicious of him, but we find that the real Pinocchio is nothing but kind to Figaro. Geppetto, however, makes Figaro open the bedroom window, fish for his supper, and fend for his own life in the final escape from Monstro. (It’s a miracle Figaro and Cleo even survived that ordeal.)
Figaro is our spirit animal.
Megan: Figaro is definitely my favorite character in this movie. He’s just so cute!!! Honestly, I find I relate more to him than any other character. I mean when he gets all cozy and snuggled in his bed and then Geppetto is all like “I forgot to open the window,” Figaro’s indignant look is totally the look any of us would give if someone made us get out of bed. (Also, who asks their tiny kitten to open a window for them?) And Figaro’s reluctance to show any affection to Cleo reminds me of how my siblings and I would react when told to give hugs or kisses to each other.
The women in this film are objects.
I think I relate more to Figaro because I can’t relate to a single female character in this movie. All the women are either objects of desire, objects of wish fulfillment, or literal objects. Think about it: the first “females” we see are the figures on Geppetto’s clocks—literal objects that portray women as beautiful creatures to be lust after (at least by Jiminy Cricket) or as strict/abusive disciplinarians (as demonstrated by the woman spanking the child). We next meet the beautiful Blue Fairy, who you’d think with her magic would be a powerful figure. However she’s nothing but an object of desire for Jiminy Cricket, and for the sake of the story she’s merely there to fulfill wishes and clean up the boys’ messes. The only other female “characters” are Stromboli’s puppets and the few vague figures who say goodbye to their sons before they go to school. Cleo is the only one who maybe avoids both those things, but she’s far from a three-dimensional character. It’s no surprise, then, that this movie dramatically fails the Bechdel test.
The whale Monstro just doesn’t hold up.
Fun fact: I was almost a marine biology major (until I learned I can’t snorkel to save my life, and I hate gutting fish). I am as fascinated by the ocean and its inhabitants as Kevin is about outer space. So, knowing what I know about blue whales, I can no longer suspend disbelief enough to buy into the whole whale part of this story.
For one thing, blue whales have baleen, not teeth. They have baleen because they use them to strain the water for krill and other tiny organisms. They don’t chase after giant schools of fish and eat them whole.
Also, whales and most aquatic creatures have to keep swimming at all times in order to stay alive. They can’t just settle in on the bottom of the sea floor to take a nap. Instead, many of them sleep with half their brain at a time in order to keep swimming. So Monstro just sitting in one place on the sea floor, and then again at the surface of the water? Yeah…that wouldn’t happen.
The talking fox and his mute cat sidekick I can totally get behind, but I know too much about marine biology to believe the whole whale thing. Little kid Megan might have been scared, but adult Megan is definitely not.
P.S. Disney Theory
Megan and Kevin: Were both Honest John and Gideon originally humans who went to Pleasure Island and were turned into animals befitting their actions? After all, the boys behaved like jackasses and so became donkeys. Is that why these villains are so terrified when the Coachman mentions sending boys to Pleasure Island? What do you think? Tell us in the comments!
The Verdict
On a scale of 1 to 10, here’s where we rank Pinocchio.
Kevin: 5
Megan: 3
Final score: 4
It’s still a classic, we’ll give it that, but Disney just gets so much better over time! Where does Pinocchio rank for you?
Next we’ll be taking a brief intermission from the Disnerd Movie Challenge for a special Thanksgiving mini movie marathon of all the Frozen movies, including Frozen 2!
