Watch Every Disney Movie Ever Made: Pinocchio
Mood
Amused
The movie Pinocchio is considered to be one of the best animated films of all time. Later it was considered second best after Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but at the time that it was made reviewers liked it much better. I can definitely see why. Pinocchio pulled you in, addressed the viewer directly, and really had lots of elements that got you involved in the story and caring about the outcome. Not that I didn't care about Snow White, it just seemed like, from a modern day point of view, that she could have taken care of herself a lot more than she did.
Anyway, we're here to talk about a puppet not a princess.
First off I thought it was amusing that the opening scenes contained clocks that were at first whimsical and then annoying, though later they were used for celebration, and nearly all of them contained foreshadowing of the plot to come. I didn't realize this until later, but after I did the clocks became a little creepy for me when before they were cute.
This movie had a lot of creepy elements actually, I remember when I was younger and thought that the scenes that took place at Pleasure Island were foreboding and scary, especially when the true reason for taking the boys there was revealed. It was even more so as an adult when, with my larger attention span, I realized that Pinocchio left and the other boys didn't, and he never even went to tell their mothers what had happened to them. But, since it was all symbolism anyway I suppose that's the way it had to be.
The symbolism of course being that if you skivved off school and played hooky and didn't get an education or learn a trade that you would become a jack ass (literally) and be forced to do manual labor the rest of your life.
Speaking of jack asses, I was surprised at the number of times jack ass was said throughout Pinocchio, and they weren't always strictly speaking talking about the donkey's, though I suppose a lenient review board could interpret it as such. Honestly with all the fighting, smoking, alcohol, hints at rowdy boys and slutty women and swearing I think for sure a modern day review would have given the movie a PG rating if not PG-13. And, it wouldn't be a classic, some religious group would have probably boycotted it regardless of the good message (think Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone).
I did think it was a little confusing to have the smoking be in a bad light but then to have Geppetto be a smoker himself. And, smoking in bed too! Generally considered nowadays to be a very Not Smart thing.
And, on a final note, I was surprised at how, well, horny Jiminy Cricket was. My husband watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with me and he was constantly making insuations about the dwarves, but no insuations were necessary with Jiminy, he said right out what he was thinking half the time. It was pretty funny.
Posted by Bitsy at 05:14 PM Comments
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