Pinocchio (1940)

Directors:

Hamilton Luske
Ben Sharpsteen

Writers:

Carlo Collodi (story)
Ted Sears (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

Disney's all-time family classic is back ...No strings attached! [1987 re-release Australia]

Plot:

A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.

Plot Keywords:

Pinocchio | Cricket | Conscience | Jiminy Cricket | Fairy

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Mel Blanc	...	Gideon (voice) (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Carnival Barkers (voice) (uncredited)
Walter Catlett	...	J. Worthington Foulfellow (voice) (uncredited)
Marion Darlington	...	Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Frankie Darro	...	Lampwick (voice) (uncredited)
Cliff Edwards	...	Jiminy Cricket (voice) (uncredited)
Dickie Jones	...	Pinocchio (voice) (uncredited)
Charles Judels	...	Stromboli / The Coachman (voice) (uncredited)
Jack Mercer	...	Rough House Statue (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Patricia Page	...	Marionettes (voice) (uncredited)
Christian Rub	...	Geppetto (voice) (uncredited)
Evelyn Venable	...	The Blue Fairy (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Hamilton Luske		(supervising)
Ben Sharpsteen		(supervising)

Writing credits
Carlo Collodi		(story) (as Collodi)
Ted Sears		(story adaptation) &
Otto Englander		(story adaptation) &
Webb Smith		(story adaptation) &
William Cottrell		(story adaptation) &
Joseph Sabo		(story adaptation) &
Erdman Penner		(story adaptation) &
Aurelius Battaglia		(story adaptation)
Bill Peet		uncredited

Original Music by
Leigh Harline
Paul J. Smith

Art Direction by
Ken Anderson		(as Kenneth Anderson)
Hugh Hennesy
John Hubley
Dick Kelsey
Kendall O'Connor
Charles Philippi
Thor Putnam
Terrell Stapp
McLaren Stewart
Al Zinnen

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ford Beebe	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Lou Debney	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jim Handley	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Mike Holoboff	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Larry Lansburgh	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Lloyd Richardson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Wah Chang	....	character maquettes (uncredited)
Gustaf Tenggren	....	conceptual designs (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Edwin Aardal	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Jerome Brown	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Paul Busch	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Brad Case	....	effects animator (uncredited)
George De Beeson	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Ugo D'Orsi	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Andy Engman	....	effects animator (uncredited)
James Escalante	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Art Fitzpatrick	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Frank Follmer	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Joseph Gayek	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Harry Hamsel	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Paul B. Kossoff	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Dan MacManus	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Fred Madison	....	effects animator (uncredited)
John McDermott	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Ted Parmelee	....	effects animator (uncredited)
John Reed	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Sandy Strother	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Noel Tucker	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Jim Will	....	effects animator (uncredited)
Cornett Wood	....	effects animator (uncredited)

Animation Department
Art Babbitt	....	animation director (as Arthur Babbitt)
Preston Blair	....	animator
Jack Bradbury	....	animator (as John Bradbury)
Jack Campbell	....	animator
Les Clark	....	animator
Claude Coats	....	background artist
Merle Cox	....	background artist
John Elliotte	....	animator
Hugh Fraser	....	animator
Campbell Grant	....	character designer
Joe Grant	....	character designer
Ray Huffine	....	background artist
Albert Hurter	....	character designer
Ollie Johnston	....	animator (as Oliver M. Johnston)
Milt Kahl	....	animation director (as Milton Kahl)
Lynn Karp	....	animator
Ward Kimball	....	animation director
Eric Larson	....	animation director
John Lounsbery	....	animator
Don Lusk	....	animator
Robert Martsch	....	animator
John McManus	....	animator
Joshua Meador	....	animator
John P. Miller	....	character designer
Fred Moore	....	animation director
Charles A. Nichols	....	animator (as Charles Nichols)
Art Palmer	....	animator
Don Patterson	....	animator
Martin Provensen	....	character designer
Wolfgang Reitherman	....	animation director (as Woolie Reitherman)
George Rowley	....	animator
Ed Starr	....	background artist
Norman Tate	....	animator
Frank Thomas	....	animation director (as Franklin Thomas)
Don Tobin	....	animator
Don Towsley	....	animator
Bill Tytla	....	animation director (as Vladimir Tytla)
John Walbridge	....	character designer
Bernard Wolf	....	animator (as Berny Wolf)
Marvin Woodward	....	animator
Dick Anthony	....	animator (uncredited)
Mike Arens	....	animator (uncredited)
Dick Brown	....	animator (uncredited)
Bruce Bushman	....	layout artist (uncredited)
Lars Calonius	....	animator (uncredited)
Bob Carlson	....	animator (uncredited)
Walt Clinton	....	animator (uncredited)
Sam Cobean	....	animator (uncredited)
Shamus Culhane	....	animator (uncredited)
Phil Duncan	....	animator (uncredited)
Blaine Gibson	....	inbetween artist (uncredited)
Franklin Grundeen	....	animator (uncredited)
William T. Hurtz	....	animation assistant (uncredited)
Walt Kelly	....	animator (uncredited)
Murray McClellan	....	animator (uncredited)
Bob McCrea	....	animator (uncredited)
Bill Melendez	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Paul Murry	....	inbetween artist (uncredited)
Milt Neil	....	animator (uncredited)
Lester Novros	....	animator (uncredited)
Ken O'Brien	....	animator (uncredited)
Frank Oreb	....	animator (uncredited)
Chic Otterstrom	....	animator (uncredited)
William Shull	....	animator (uncredited)
Robert Stokes	....	animator (uncredited)
David Swift	....	animator (uncredited)
Howard Swift	....	animator (uncredited)
Harvey Toombs	....	animator (uncredited)
Kay Wright	....	inbetween artist (uncredited)
Robert W. Youngquist	....	animator (uncredited)

Music Department
Ned Washington	....	lyrics
Frederick Stark	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles Wolcott	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Walt Disney	....	presenter
Norman Ferguson	....	sequence director
T. Hee	....	sequence director
Wilfred Jackson	....	sequence director
Jack Kinney	....	sequence director
Bill Roberts	....	sequence director

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO (1952) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Distribution Company (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-releases from 1956 onward)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Disney Blu-ray (2009) (France) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Disney Channel (1986) (USA) (TV)
• Gativideo (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• PolyGram Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1985) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1987) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (19??) (USA) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity Sound System)

Certification:

Denmark:A | Iceland:L | Peru:PT | South Korea:All | USA:Approved (certificate #4646) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:F (Ontario) | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

After a year of meticulous restoration, which included cleaning and removing scratches from the original negatives frame by frame, eliminating age-old distortions on the sound track, and revitalizing the color, the now-pristine film was reissued in 1992.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Jiminy inspects his image reflected in a copper pot, it is reflected as magnified. Images reflected off convex surfaces are reduced in size.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jiminy Cricket: [after singing "When You Wish Upon a Star"] Pretty, huh? I'll bet a lot of you folks don't believe that, about a wish comin' true, do ya? Well, I didn't, either. Of course, I'm just a cricket singing my way from hearth to hearth, but let me tell you what made me change my mind.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)

Soundtrack:

When You Wish Upon A Star

"I've Got No Strings"

For it's second full length animated feature, Walt Disney Studios picked the Carlo Collodi children's classic Pinocchio. The wooden puppet boy who turns into flesh and blood because of a heroic deed has been done a few times on screen, but the Disney version remains the standard.

In some of the animated features of recent years we've come full circle in the fact that a lot of well known Hollywood figures have sought to lend their voices to animated productions. Coming to mind immediately are Mel Gibson as Captain John Smith and Eddie Murphy as the donkey in the Shrek movies. It wasn't as chic a thing to do back in Disney's day, still Walt came up with several good ones like young Dickie Jones as Pinocchio, Walter Catlett as J. Worthington Foulfellow, Frankie Darro as Lampwick, and most important Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket.

These folks lend their voices to one of Disney's best musical scores with Catlett making immortal the thespians ballad An Actor's Life For Me, Jones celebrating the fact he's been liberated from all manner of restraint with I've Got No Strings and Cliff Edwards talking about his new responsibilities as the puppet boy's conscience in Give A Little Whistle.

Most important though is the Academy Award given to that most plaintive song of yearning When You Wish Upon A Star as introduced by Cliff Edwards. Edwards was a major performer in the Twenties and early Thirties with his ukulele Ike character and introduced many popular songs like It's Only A Paper Moon and Singing In The Rain. But he had come up on hard times with a lot of substance abuse problems when Walt Disney offered him the part of Jiminy Cricket's voice. The movie Pinocchio and the songs he sang there resurrected his career and even when down and out, Edwards could always get work at the Disney Studio because of Jiminy Cricket's enduring popularity.

Animation never really dates and the best animation in the world was pioneered at Disney Studio. People can see Pinocchio on the same bill as Shrek even today and I daresay the audience would be equally responsive.

And you can appreciate Pinocchio today as much as your grandparents and great grandparents did through the magic of YouTube or Amazon. If not wish upon a star and fate will step in and see you through.