This is a special from 1980 from this group of people I have reviewed (and consistently praised) the works of many times. Besides Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass usual composer Maury Laws and writer Romeo Muller are back. I love this group of guys, and I love Pinocchio. On paper this is a wonderful project for me, but I find it mediocre (from me that is a bad sign). The real problem is they cannot figure out Pinocchio. Is he malicious or just really gullible? He keeps going back and forth.
It was released on the Disney version’s 40th anniversary. I think they wanted to make a faithful film version like their adaptation of The Hobbit, but they had to settle for this.
In the opening scene Pinocchio sees snow and Christmas for the first time, and like the other late Animagic works this looks great. Big props to them for using toys for everybody and making Pinocchio look so different from the rest. I think Geppetto calling Pinnocchio “My little acorn” is cute, but also a mean reminder he is not a real boy. It is an interquel to the book. It is not a great adaptation by any means, as Pinocchio is too nice, Cat is too dumb, the general people are way too nice, and The Blue fairy has a name, but this is a much better adaptation than I expected with many things I assumed would be cut.
This leads to the first song where Geppetto sings about the difficulties of buying a present. It is a mediocrely written song, but I like the small details. I am a sucker for showing an internal debate my making the character talk to himself in the mirror, and I really like that the craftsman moves his hands around so much when thinking. It ties in to the themes that presents are not important (I also appreciate a Christmas special for going against them), and his double voice synchonizes with himself nicely, but the song is just not that interesting for an opening number. Just contrast it to “Immortality” from Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
Geppetto pinches his pennies to buy Pinocchio a math book, which Pinnocchio of course sells back for a lower price. I think Pinocchio is one of the greatest fictional characters ever made. You can put him in different genres and stories, and he is amazing. This version has the basic qualities of a great truer to the text Pinocchio except for one problem- he is way too dumb. Getting the book back for a 1/9 value reduction is already a small problem, but it is then shown he cannot count past 1 anyway, and… In the original book Pinocchio is not the brightest, but he does quite often show great cunning, and it takes real work to fool him. Here this foreshadows that he will fall for any trick. Tell him name is actually “Idiot,” and he will believe it.
After this come Fox and Cat’s real introduction, and they are my favorite characters (aside from how they are clearly designed to look like Gypsies). Cat casually asks if she should beam him with a brick before Fox stops her, and that is a great introduction. Fox is the sole brain of the outfit. Cat is pointlessly evil and dumb, while Fox is a plotter. In an adaptation of a chapter in the book they trick Pinocchio into planting a money tree, and they then dig it all up to steal it (In the books Pinocchio is an amazing fighter, so just mugging him was out of the question).
To make the money back he gets a job performing for a puppet master, and he really messes this up. This whole sequence shows that this version of Pinocchio is not a good natured but gullible kid like in The Disney version (I love the Disney version to pieces despite its adaptational deficiencies), but I am happy to see him presented as a very bad boy here. He falls in love with a lifeless puppet named Julietta. When that happens in the show the camera cuts to the puppet master voicing her words making sure we know she is lifeless. Pinocchio steals her under the hopes she will come to life and not be remade despite as shown later (and hinted earlier with the acorn line) Pinocchio knows he was alive even as a tree, so that cannot happen. After stealing her now the police are after him, and Pinocchio is now a fugitive hiding in the enchanted forest. The only good thing for him is the cops were too scared to follow him there.
In all of this is a Geppetto bit I cannot decide if it is dumb or brilliant. He hears about the living puppet, but he sees the stage name and assumes it is another living puppet and leaves. In the book there are other living puppets, so it can be a reference to that or mean there are others, just not with the puppet master. It might just also mean he is dumb.
After that is the best scene in the movie. Like in the book Pinocchio was alive as a tree, and he narrates that part to Julietta in a surprisingly book faithful scene. Instead of him biting Geppetto he kicks him in the butt, which is the general idea. It has some very good father-son moments, and a desire by both to help each other. It captures the lesson from the book that being part of a family makes all the parties better by focusing on self improvement.
After that he is shown making all sorts of problems. Unlike Fox he does evil for evil’s sake, and… Sadly the designs and voice just do not fit how they are writing him. After that he has no friends… That is not book faithful. Instead of having no friends due to his evilness in the book he easily makes friends, evil friends. He befriends Fox and Cat who teach him to be eviler.
The next piece with the Cricket really shows the special problems. Pinocchio like in the book takes out the cricket with a book. It is actually more evil than in the book, as there it was 3rd degree murder, and here it is second degree murder. It is then ruined when it is presented as an accident he did not mean to happen.
In the same inn from the book (but clearly based off the Disney version) Fox and Cat make a deal with a coachman to sell Pinocchio to a rich man as a gift to his children. After this they find him in the forest (I actually can see why Pinocchio views them as friends), and they make up a thing he needs to bring Julietta to life and then sing the best song in the special “It’s The Truth.” Basically Fox says it is the truth or lightning should strike him down, and instead the lightning keeps hitting cat or a tree and knocking it on her.
It is so dumb, but I have to laugh at it. In Pinocchio’s defense lightning never actually strikes Fox (does God have sucky aim in this universe?) It is a great comedic song. Before this there have been quite a few skippable songs, but this is one of three that actually are good.
The puppet master makes a new lifeless Pinocchio. After he bombs the lifeless puppet is thrown out, and Geppetto mistakes him for the real Pinocchio and thinks he is dead. It does not go anywhere, but it is a nice scene. Again that is part of the problem, is there is not much plot. In fact I just skipped over an entire scene because it gets undone right after.
In all seriousness, that scene contributes to the theme that presents are not important, so Pinocchio no longer wants to cheat himself to a present for Geppetto, but Fox and Cat tell him he is going to help Santa Claus with… That upcoming imagination suck really sucks. It is just repeating the same word over and over.
He is taken by the Coachman with his donkey driven carriage to the rich man as a Christmas present, and the ending is pretty basic. The rich man is a Duke who can only see his children for three minutes per year, and Pinocchio convinces him to instead spend more time with his children (how disastrous are the international relations if the Duke needs to work on them that much). At least it contributes to the message time is more important than presents.
In the closing action he is reunited with Geppetto, and some scenes from the book are foreshadowed. Again, this makes me think Rankin and Bass wanted a full movie, but it might be for the best they did not make one. By their standards this is a bad adaptation.
This short is fine. It has some really nice animation and messages, but many character and pacing issues. As a big Rankin-Bass fan (outside of their really early work) and Pinocchio fan that is not good praise.
Coming up is my end of the year posts and maybe another quick post or two about Christmas and/or the blog’s future posts.
The Animation Historian 