Pinocchio (1940 film)
A wooden puppet's journey to become a real boy.
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated musical fantasy film loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film follows a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, who is created by an old woodcarver, Geppetto, and brought to life by a blue fairy, and must prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish to become a real boy. It was a groundbreaking achievement in effects animation and is considered one of the greatest animated films ever made.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Supervising Directors / Ben Sharpsteen / Hamilton Luske · Sequence Directors / Bill Roberts / Norman Ferguson / Jack Kinney / Wilfred Jackson / T. Hee
- Story
- Ted Sears / Otto Englander / Webb Smith / William Cottrell / Joseph Sabo / Erdman Penner / Aurelius Battaglia
- Based On
- The Adventures of Pinocchio · Carlo Collodi
- Producer
- Walt Disney
- Music
- Leigh Harline / Paul J. Smith
- Studio
- Walt Disney Productions
- Distributor
- RKO Radio Pictures
- Runtime
- 88 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Gross
- $164 million
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film was produced during the late 1930s, with animation supervised by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, and sequences directed by Bill Roberts, Norman Ferguson, Jack Kinney, Wilfred Jackson, and T. Hee. It premiered at the Center Theatre in New York City on February 7, 1940, and was released in theaters on February 23, 1940. The story follows Pinocchio, a puppet brought to life by the Blue Fairy, who assigns Jiminy Cricket as his conscience. After being led astray by con artists Honest John and Gideon, Pinocchio joins Stromboli's puppet show, is imprisoned, and later escapes to Pleasure Island, where boys are transformed into donkeys. He eventually rescues Geppetto from the whale Monstro and proves himself worthy of becoming a real boy.
Reader's Guide
Pinocchio was a groundbreaking achievement in effects animation, giving realistic movement to vehicles, machinery, rain, water, lightning, smoke, and shadow. Although it received critical acclaim and became the first animated feature to win a competitive Academy Award—winning two for Best Music, Original Score and Best Music, Original Song for 'When You Wish Upon a Star' (which later became the Walt Disney Company's signature song)—it was initially a commercial failure due to World War II cutting off European and Asian markets. It eventually made a profit after its 1945 rerelease. The film and characters remain prevalent in popular culture, featuring at various Disney parks and other forms of entertainment. In 1994, Pinocchio was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
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