Pinocchio

Now I'm going to honest here, I've never like Pinocchio. I saw the film when I was young and I don't remember enjoying it. I re-watched it as an adult and that is still the case.

I also recently read the original story by Carlo Collodi. I didn't really enjoy that either.

Let's talk about some differences.

• Pinocchio kills Jiminy Cricket with a mallet in the original story. Jiminy also comes back to life with no explanation.
• Pinocchio is given several more opportunities to prove he is a good boy in the original story than the film. And always fails.
• Monstro is a shark not a whale
• Figaro and Cleo are not in it.

Pinocchio in general is just a creepy concept. A puppet that comes to life. I mean dress it up all you want to with fairies, a magic cricket, and wishing on stars but that is a terrifying concept. Did anyone else see Chuckie? Or those creepy episodes of Family Matters where Urkel's doll comes to life? A walking, talking puppet is just plain frightening.

Now as a character I can appreciate the fact that Pinocchio at least has somewhere to go. He doesn't understand the basic difference between right and wrong. He needs to learn and understand how to be good, truthful and unselfish. This at least is more of a character arc than Disney's previous protagonist Snow White. However, in the book Pinocchio is given so many second chances to be good that I really had lost any enthusiasm to root for him. 

The best part of the Disney version for me was the addition of Figaro and Cleo. These two characters actually helped make Gipedo much more likable and understandable. In the original story it seemed very strange to me that this old wood carver would suddenly want a wooden son. But the fact that he already has pets that he cares for in the Disney version helped make him appear more as a kind grandfather figure rather than  some creepy guy who suddenly has an attachment to a wooden object resembling a young boy. Also Figaro and Cleo are pretty darn cute.

Oh and I feel I should point out that in the original story how Pinocchio came to be Pinocchio was a little different. In the Disney version Gipedo makes a puppet, wishes upon a star for him to be real and the Blue Fairy comes down and gives him life. In the book this other character has a piece of pine and keeps thinking that he hears it talking to him. It freaks him out so when Gipedo comes to his shop he sells Gipedo this piece of wood. Then Gipedo makes the puppet out of this pine and names him Pinocchio. And there he is. 

Now the Blue Fairy still comes into play in the original story and tells Pinocchio he has to be good. But the problem with the Disney version is the Blue Fairy created the life of Pinocchio. Why wouldn't she have just created a good boy? Why would she give Gipedo only half his wish? I guess she was giving Pinocchio the freedom to make his own choices. But still...

I feel compelled to add that the whole sequence of Pleasure Island of boys being turned into donkeys and shoved into crates and calling out for their moms gave me nightmares as a little kid. I don't understand how this film is revered as a classic for children. 

My rating of the film: 5/10.

Films in order of preference so far:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Pinocchio.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

I am embarking on a new writing assignment for myself. I've decided to watch every feature length Disney animated film. And write about it. And if the story isn't an original Disney story then I'm going to read the original source and talk about both. So here we go from the beginning...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...


The Disney version doesn't actually stray all that far from the original story. Some of the key differences for me were;

• The number of times the queen tried to kill Snow White
• The fact that the dwarfs had no names in Grimm
• The fact that the Prince never met Snow before she was poisoned in Grimm
• Grimm has no First Love's Kiss

And of course the film added a lot of it's own Disney flare. But those were the big ones for me. 

The main thing I noticed while I was re-watching Snow White (I have seen it before a long time ago. There are a few films on the list I've never seen which I feel will change how I feel about them since they are not part of my childhood memories.) was how long the film felt. The story in Grimm's took me less then ten mins to read. The film felt long,

The film had eight songs in it which according to IMDB had been dwindled down from over a dozen. And I've got to say for the most part I still love the music. As I was listening to it I realize I strongly associate the music from the film with going to Disneyland, particularly being in Fantasyland.  Hearing the songs immediately brought feelings of childhood nostalgia. 

That being said the film spent a lot of time showing life at the cottage with Snow White and the dwarfs. The amount of time spent on the dwarfs approaching her sleeping in the bed, the sequence where they are all washing up and the whole scene where they are playing music and dancing altogether felt very long. A little too long for me.

Frankly I'm surprised so much of the dwarfs were kept in the movie when the two other times the queen tries to kill Snow were cut. She goes to the cottage in multiple disguises tricking Snow into taking things like a suffocating bodice and a poisoned comb. Also if Snow was fourteen like she is supposed to be in the film that would make her a little gullible but in the book she was seven so I guess I can excuse it. I guess...

And in the book Snow never meets the Prince in the beginning of the story. After Snow is poisoned by the apple and placed in the glass coffin the dwarfs take turns keeping a vigil over her. The prince goes by and sees how beautiful she is and asks the dwarfs if he can take her (Weird right?). Then as the Prince's men are carrying the coffin one of them stumbles and a piece of the poisoned apple pops out of Snow's mouth and she wakes up. 

I definitely understand Disney changing the ending. Snow spitting out a piece of apple is not nearly as romantic as First Love Kiss breaking the spell of Sleeping Death. And I love the classic Disney usage of starting and ending the film with the opening and closing of a story book. And this being the first full length animated feature film I understand why this movie was such a big deal. 

But...

Snow White really should not be the main character. The Queen should be.

The Queen is the character that struggles with a fatal flaw; jealousy and insecurity. She can't stand the idea of anyone being prettier than her. She continually tries to kill Snow and eventually meets her own demise in her attempts. It's her character's journey that the viewers can get something out of. Snow White on the other hand is pretty. She wishes for a prince and she gets a prince. She doesn't have any character growth through the story. The only thing she does for herself is she cooks and cleans for the dwarfs in exchange for somewhere to live. Although the animals do like 90% of the cleaning so I'm not sure that even counts as her doing anything. 

I've never really understood the appeal of Snow White as a princess to be admired. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with her but I guess I just don't see what all the fuss is about. She's pretty, she sings and she seems sweet. That's fine. Nothing to condemn but nothing to really admire either.

I guess I wouldn't place Snow White very high on my list of favorite Disney films. Though I definitely enjoy the feeling I get when I here the music from the film.

My rating of the film: 6/10.