Pinocchio is hailed as one of the greatest animated movies of all time. Everyone rants and raves about how amazing it is. But I sat down to watch it again and liked it even less than when I was a kid (this is coming from someone who likes other Disney films more now, at age 20, than as a kid). Why? I honestly don't understand why everyone says this is Disney's best work.
I admit, for its day and even for now, the animation is superb. I only saw one or two flaws in the whole movie and they were pretty easy to miss. But as nice as it all looks, the continuity was pretty bad. There's a scene in which Jiminy Cricket hangs his coat and hat on a peg. Next shot, it's gone. We see Pinocchio with the hat and coat a few seconds later but they literally disappear off the peg. There's also a scene in which one of the characters is singing and his mouth literally doesn't move at all. And it's pretty dang obvious.
The music is good too. I don't have any complaints about it. It has solid music that's cute and charming and it's all good. So that's one thing the movie did well.
But the story... Hoo boy. First off, the story is a confusing mess. There's no real storyline weaving throughout unless you count Pinocchio's attempts to be a real boy. How does this lead him all over the place? It doesn't. The story of his attempts to be a real boy are scrapped during scenes that don't make a whole lot of sense to begin with. It is never explained how and why bad boys become donkeys (unless you count Jiminy Cricket's line about how they're acting like jackasses). It is also never explained what happens to them when they become donkeys. Are they sold somewhere? Who's the guy rounding them up? And wouldn't parents get worried if a huge crowd of little boys randomly disappear periodically? Why are the talking ones discarded? They're still donkeys. They can still be sold. I have so many questions about that scene. It just doesn't make ANY sense.
And then they return to the house to find that Pinocchio's father has been swallowed by a whale while he was looking for Pinocchio. Okay so the father was so stupid he actually went into the water looking for his wooden son or the whale jumped out of the water and swallowed him. Also, who left the note for them? Someone who saw it? How did they get the birds to deliver it? Was it Giselle from Enchanted sending her doves with a message again? And then there's the whale. So whales are vicious carnivores now? I admit I could be wrong but that whale looked like one of the ones known for only eating krill. And then there was the fire. So they make the whale sneeze by burning it from the inside? How does that make sense?? Smoke doesn't make you sneeze.
And those are just a few of my examples of why this movie is far from the best Disney movie ever made. It's not bad but it's certainly not good. It's adequate. Entertaining but nothing special. It looks nice but there really isn't anything beneath the surface. So yeah I'd recommend it to Disney fans. But I think I'll leave the title of "best animated movie" to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (if only because it features the introduction of characters that are now more popular than Mickey Mouse and friends... and it's my favorite too). Pinocchio is just another movie on the list of Disney animated features. Nothing more, nothing less.
I admit, for its day and even for now, the animation is superb. I only saw one or two flaws in the whole movie and they were pretty easy to miss. But as nice as it all looks, the continuity was pretty bad. There's a scene in which Jiminy Cricket hangs his coat and hat on a peg. Next shot, it's gone. We see Pinocchio with the hat and coat a few seconds later but they literally disappear off the peg. There's also a scene in which one of the characters is singing and his mouth literally doesn't move at all. And it's pretty dang obvious.
The music is good too. I don't have any complaints about it. It has solid music that's cute and charming and it's all good. So that's one thing the movie did well.
But the story... Hoo boy. First off, the story is a confusing mess. There's no real storyline weaving throughout unless you count Pinocchio's attempts to be a real boy. How does this lead him all over the place? It doesn't. The story of his attempts to be a real boy are scrapped during scenes that don't make a whole lot of sense to begin with. It is never explained how and why bad boys become donkeys (unless you count Jiminy Cricket's line about how they're acting like jackasses). It is also never explained what happens to them when they become donkeys. Are they sold somewhere? Who's the guy rounding them up? And wouldn't parents get worried if a huge crowd of little boys randomly disappear periodically? Why are the talking ones discarded? They're still donkeys. They can still be sold. I have so many questions about that scene. It just doesn't make ANY sense.
And then they return to the house to find that Pinocchio's father has been swallowed by a whale while he was looking for Pinocchio. Okay so the father was so stupid he actually went into the water looking for his wooden son or the whale jumped out of the water and swallowed him. Also, who left the note for them? Someone who saw it? How did they get the birds to deliver it? Was it Giselle from Enchanted sending her doves with a message again? And then there's the whale. So whales are vicious carnivores now? I admit I could be wrong but that whale looked like one of the ones known for only eating krill. And then there was the fire. So they make the whale sneeze by burning it from the inside? How does that make sense?? Smoke doesn't make you sneeze.
And those are just a few of my examples of why this movie is far from the best Disney movie ever made. It's not bad but it's certainly not good. It's adequate. Entertaining but nothing special. It looks nice but there really isn't anything beneath the surface. So yeah I'd recommend it to Disney fans. But I think I'll leave the title of "best animated movie" to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (if only because it features the introduction of characters that are now more popular than Mickey Mouse and friends... and it's my favorite too). Pinocchio is just another movie on the list of Disney animated features. Nothing more, nothing less.