A visual masterpiece turns 85

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, April 18th.

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Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a Disney classic turns 85.

Pinocchio may sparkle with charm, but beneath the wish-upon-a-star magic lies a story that has weight. As reviewer Max Belz puts it, the tale echoes C.S. Lewis—where reckless choices turn boys into beasts and real life begins with sacrifice.

MAX BELZ: Pinocchio is a feast for the eyes. It was Walt Disney’s second feature movie and it looks markedly better than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which had come out three years earlier. Here’s film historian JB Kaufmann,

JB KAUFMANN: Pinocchio represents kind of an all-time pinnacle in the craft of making animated films… It’s one of the most lavishly detailed, gorgeously produced films that anyone has ever made.

The animation is dynamic and detailed. We see shadows dancing against the wall. A sequence under the ocean water is complete with bubbles and reflected sunlight. Early shots in the workshop have a short depth of field, drawing the main characters into crystalline focus.

MOVIE CLIP: Little puppet made of pine.. The gift of life is …

In addition to the beautiful animation, Pinocchio is a story with lasting themes about the pursuit of life. The movie opens with the toymaker Geppetto putting the finishing touches on a new marionette. Before climbing into bed, he wishes that his puppet could be a real boy.

MOVIE CLIP: Star bright…

Much to his surprise, a fairy partially grants his request: In order to become a fully real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself by being brave, truthful, and unselfish.

MOVIE CLIP: Prove yourself.. And some day you will be a real boy.

This quest for true humanity is key to the movie.

But if you remember the story, poor Pinocchio is turned aside by temptations from the start. He doesn’t even make it to the first day of school, but instead finds his way into a theater act and locked in a cage. Later he takes up with a bad kid named Lampwick who goes with him to Pleasure Island.

MOVIE CLIP: Ever been to pleasure island…tear the join apart…

All through these missteps his conscience–Jiminy Cricket–tries to keep him on the straight and narrow.

MOVIE CLIP: Now you see the world is full of temptations…

But beneath the schmaltz of wishing on a star and dreams coming true, the story is frightening, reminiscent of a Grimm fairytale. The stakes are high for Pinocchio in both his actions and the results of his actions.

MOVIE CLIP: O look at my nose… perhaps!

On the one hand, Pinocchio is promised full boyhood—or full life—if he behaves himself. On the other hand, the more he indulges himself, he actually moves farther away from enjoying real life, sprouting ears and a tail. Much like Eustace in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader whose greed changes him into a dragon. So too Pinocchio starts to become a jackass, a beast of burden.

MOVIE CLIP: Hey you laugh like a donkey…. did that come out of me.

The other boys drink, carouse, and fight. They smash a home with baseball bats and clubs. But as they indulge these vices they also change into animals. Once their transformation is complete, their overlords corral them into crates and ship them away to work in salt mines. They are transformed—and ultimately enslaved—by their own reckless living.

MOVIE CLIP: Where’d all the donkeys come from… and what’s your name.

It’s a troubling consequence. But like an old fairytale, the curse of becoming an animal looms large. To fully lose your humanity is to lose connection and love. What could be better than being a human being, even with all the pain or loss that comes with it?

MOVIE CLIP: So this is where I find you… you’re coming home with me right this minute

The groundbreaking visual effects with water, smoke, and shadows pushed animation towards new possibilities. Disney’s 9 Old Men—the studio’s legendary team of artists—also worked hard to imbue the characters with human traits. They had mirrors above their desks so that they could copy their own facial expressions and movements. Here’s Disney animator Ollie Johnston describing his own process,

OLLIE JOHNSTON: I have to think… if he’s terrified and then I try to make these drawings..and I feel the terror myself.

By the end of the movie, Gepetto gets what he wished: the fairy transforms Pinocchio into a real boy after he rescues Gepetto from the terrible whale Monstro. His selflessness is tied to greater life. And the boy and his father live happily after.

Sight and sound are the basic elements in a movie, and this classic brings them together in a fresh and enduring way. Even at 85 years old Pinocchio still crackles with life.

I’m Max Belz.

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