Thursday, February 23, 2023

Disney's Pinocchio released 1940



Walt Disney released its second full-length animated film Pinocchio February 23, 1940, after premieres in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Baltimore, and Washington DC in the weeks before.  It was based on a children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.  It is a story about a woodcarver Gepetto who cares a wooden puppet and hope that it might become a real boy.

I understand the novel is a bit darker than the movie.  One example is Pinocchio killing Jiminy Cricket in the book, but not the movie.  

It received critical acclaim, garnering a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it won two Academy Awards: Best Music, Original Score; and Best Music, Original Song for When You Wish Upon a Star.  However, it was a box office bomb when it was released mainly due to the outbreak of WWII (which didn't start for the US until another year and a half?)

Eventually, it made a profit when it was re-released in 1945.  It is considered on of the greatest animated films ever and in 1994, it was added to the National Film Registry. 

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