Disney Movie Challenge: Saludos Amigos (1942)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Saludos Amigos

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.  I will be watching each film in chronological order. 

A few things happened around the same time that created this film.  First there was the animators strike in 1941 during production of "Dumbo" and "Bambi".  With Walt Disney on site it only created more tensions.  One of the solutions was for Disney to get out of the country and he headed down to South America. While Walt was out of the country the strike was settled and the strikers won everything they wanted.  The other major world event that happened was the United States entering WWII.  The war had many effects on Disney Studios. From less income to fewer animators available  to make sophisticated animations they had been making.  Then the U.S. Government stepped in.  Disney was enlisted by the U.S. Government to make propaganda films and one of the reasons for Disney’s trip to South America was to help ease tensions between the United States and South America.  Since Mickey Mouse was popular down there they thought Disney would be perfect for a “Good Will Tour”.  Disney went down there with a group of animators and they took inspiration from what they saw and put together 4 shorts to make "Saludos Amigos".  The government also gave loan guarantees to Disney for the film. 

Each short is supposed to reflect a specific country in South America. Originally they were going to be released individually but Disney felt that they would largely go unseen except by people of those countries so he packaged them up with some documentary footage of the animators on their trip shown between each short.  The first of the  four shorts is “Lake Titicaca'' with Donald Duck making his feature film debut. It has a series of familiar Donald Duck mishaps with a Llama. The next short is called “Pedro”. It is about a small airplane who is tasked with retrieving mail from Argentina and bringing it back to Chile.   It’s a perilous journey over some scary mountains but he proves he can do it. The third short is Goofy’s feature film debut in “El Goucho Goofy”.  Here he plays an American Cowboy who learns the way of The Goucho (a South American Cowboy) in Argentina.  The fourth short is “Aquarela do Brasil” and we get the introduction of the character Jose Carioca.  Jose brings Donald Duck on a musical tour of Brazil. 

The stand out short in the package  is “Aquarela do Brasil”.  The short has some of the best animation and best music in the film.  It feels more similar to the animation in "Bambi" and "Pinocchio".  It’s a colorful and fun short highlighting dances and music of Rio.  “Pedro” is an interesting short.  As far as story goes it is probably the best one in this bunch. A young plane has to make a dangerous journey by himself. Things are going well but then he gets stuck in a storm.  It has elements of suspense and triumph and could see kids really liking this one.  It also definitely feels like the Disney film “Planes” took some inspiration for the designs of their plane from this short.  “Lake Titicaca'' and “El Goucho Goofy” feel like shorts you would have come to expect from a Donald and Goofy shorts at the time. Neither feel that inspired or interesting.

Alfred Charles Richard Jr., a film historian,  said that the movie "did more to cement a community of interest between peoples of the Americas in a few months than the State Department had in fifty years". Most credit the documentary style parts of the film for giving Americans a new perspective of South America. Most Americans of that time thought of South America as primitive and was surprised to see that they had modern cities.   

Overall: As with most packaged or anthology films it’s a mixed bag.  Besides “Aquarela do Brasil” none of the other shorts felt worthy of being in a feature film.  There also seemed to be too much live action footage between the shorts.  Not sure why this film is considered an animated feature since it’s less than 60 minutes and a big chunk of it is documentary style footage.  Coming a few months after Bambi the decline in animation quality is quite remarkable.  

Random Facts:

The first Disney film to premiere in South America before the United States.  The movie premiered in Rio de Janeiro in August of 1942 before premiering in the U.S. in February of 1943.  

First of 6 packaged films to be released in the 40’s.  

The first appearance of the character José Carioca, the Brazilian cigar-smoking parrot

 Shortest Disney Animated Film at 42 minutes barely qualifies as a feature film. 

First appearance by Donald Duck and Goofy in a feature film. 

El Goucho Goofy was edited on home video releases to remove a short scene where he smokes a cigarette. 

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Bambi II (2006)

What’s fun about watching a movie on Disney+ is it gives a recommendation on what to watch next. After I watched Bambi it said I should watch Bambi II and figured why not? The movie was released as a direct to video film in 2006. Despite the direct to video status it somehow was able to get Sir Patrick Stewart to do the voice of the Great Prince.


One of my complaints about Bambi is that they time jump and skip large parts of Bambi growing up. The most noticeable time jump is when Bambi’s mother dies and we just skip ahead to him as a young adult. Well if you want to know what happened during that time watch Bambi II. The movie is not much of a sequel as a fill in the blank left in the original. The movie starts right after Bambi’s mother dies and we see him with his father The Great Prince.. The movie then follows as The Great Prince struggles with being a single dad and doesn’t know how to raise a kid. Bambi II ends right before the part in the original movie where Friendly Owl explains Twitterpatted.


I kind of wish that they had included at least some of this story in the original film. It gives more depth to Bambi’s character and also gives The Great Prince an expanded role. Coming over 60 years after the original film it kind of feels out of place. The biggest thing the movie has going for it is Patrick Stewart. He brings a gravitas to the character that is very much needed. The story itself is pretty generic. A father doesn’t know how to raise a kid but realizes that he does have a lot of knowledge he can pass down.


Overall: A good story but kind of generic. It feels like the made for video movie it is. I wish this part of the story was included in the original film.

Disney Movie Challenge: Bambi (1942)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Bambi

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. I will be watching each film in chronological order.   

Bambi was many years in production. It was intended to be Disney’s second film after Snow White. The detailed animation that Walt Disney wanted was taking so much time it kept getting pushed back. It finally went into full production in 1939 and got released as the 5th Disney Feature Animation film in 1942. The movie is based on the book Bambi: A Life in the Woods Written by Viennese author Felix Salten.

The story is pretty basic. Bambi is born and dubbed the next Prince of the Forest. All the animals come to see the new prince. As Bambi grows up he becomes friends with a bunny Thumper, a skunk named Flower, and a doe named Faline. Bambi is shy but is really close to his mother. One day hunters come into the forest and Bambi’s mother is shot and killed. Bambi leaves with his dad then comes back as a young buck. He meets up with Thumper and Flower again and learns from “friend owl” about being “Twitterpated”. He then meets up with Faline and after fighting off a rival buck they begin a quick romance. The romance is interrupted by man again when there is forest fire. Bambi is able to save Faline and at the end he has a fawn of his own and is seen standing on a high rock with his dad.

The story if pretty boring. When talking about Bambi most remember it being sad because his mom dies. While that scene is shocking and a bit sad it’s undercut because almost immediately there is a time jump to an older Bambi and we never get to really see him deal with his grief. Bambi grows up so fast it is really hard for any of his experiences to have a big emotional impact.

What was most impressive about the film was the animation. Once again Disney outdid himself with the look of the film. You can tell great care went into making this film. Every frame looks like a fantastic painting. You could pause it at any point and just admire the artwork. Disney wanted something realistic and the animators delivered. The biggest complaints the movie had at the time of its release was the realism. A lot of the critics complained that the film didn’t have enough “fantasy”. By today’s standards it’s hard to see the animation as realistic but feels more impressionistic. To me that works even better.

Looking at how the film was animated took me on a deep dive into one of the animators, Tyrus Wong. Wong was a Chinese artist who designed most of the background art for the film. He won over Disney with his initial design for Babmi, but took inspiration from Chinese art for the background for the film. Tryus was fired after Bambi was released due to his involvement in the animators strike in 1941. While he moved over to Warner Brothers he mostly did set design and eventually retired from show biz to design kites. He lived to be 106 years old and was a fascinating guy. I encourage anyone who is even a little intrigued to look him up. 

Last thing I want to mention is the music. The music really helped create a great atmosphere for the film. The songs aren't very memorable but fit the mood of the scenes.  


OVERALL: Bit of a boring story but great to look at. I am in awe of the art that went into the film even if it doesn’t hold up as a sad film that people remember.


Random Facts

First Disney film to be released after US involvement in WWII

During the production the animators visited parks and studied deer.

Only villain is man

A lot of people were upset at the time of release about the anti hunting message. 

Bambi was used by the U.S Forest Service to help spread forest fire awareness. But Disney only let them use it for 1 year. After that they had to create their own mascot and that is when Smokey the Bear was created.

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Dumbo (2019)

Originally this project was only going to focus on the Disney Animated films, but after watching Dumbo (1941) I decided to watch the new live action remake from 2019.  I figured since I watched it I might as well do a short review.

The movie starts off very similarly to the original Dumbo. An elephant gives birth to a baby with big ears.  Dumbo goes on to star in a circus routine that ends up getting ruined because he trips over his big ears.  Because he gets big laughs he is sent to be part of the clown routine.  It is during the clown routine that he shows he can fly.  The biggest difference is that the updated film also introduces us to a host of human characters that were mostly absent in the original film.  Colin Farrell plays a veteran who lost an arm in the war. He returns to the circus and finds that his cowboy act has been eliminated from the show. Danny Devito plays the ringmaster who is trying to keep the circus alive and thriving during difficult times.  He tells Farrell’s character that the only position he has available is as the elephant handler.  Farrell’s kids take a liking to Dumbo and are the ones that teach Dumbo to fly.  Similar to the first movie they convince him that to fly he needs to have a feather.  This is where the original movie ends but this one takes the story further.  Once news gets out that the circus has a flying elephant a big city promoter (Michael Keaton) takes a keen eye on Dumbo and wants to make him the centerpiece to his show.  

Since the original movie was so short it is easy to see where a lot can be done to expand the film.  I think they took the idea of the main parts of the original and built an interesting story around it. Since I was kind of expecting a more direct adaptation it was a bit shocking when the film moved to the city.  I usually love Michael Keaton but just didn’t think he worked for the character he was playing.  On the flip side Danny Devito was awesome and loved every minute he was on screen.  I think Colin Farrell did fine but I think his character could have been written better.  

It was great to see a lot of nods to the original film in the adaptation. There are storks flying away after Dumbo is born, and while the train doesn’t sing we get Danny Devito humming the tune. While Timothy the mouse was a big part of the original film there is a mouse character in this film but it doesn’t play a very big role.  They did eliminate all of the outdated racist stereotypes that were in the original which was a good decision.  

OVERALL: Takes the original story and expands it in a way I didn’t expect but once I got over the initial shock I was able to go with it.  It also keeps the same themes about bullying and believing in yourself that the original had, but also added an anti animal cruelty theme to it.  

A fun adaptation of the original, nothing earth shattering but great to see Danny Devito having a fun time.

Disney Movie Challenge: Dumbo (1941)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE 

DUMBO 

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.

Disney lost a lot of money with Pinocchio and Fantasia and really needed a hit. After being convinced that Dumbo would be a good story he put it in production, but he wanted it done cheap and quick. One of the things he did was use new animators that were cheaper. Bambi was in production at the same time and he wanted to use the more experiences animators for that film. The animators used cheaper watercolors for the background which were far less detailed than Pinocchio. Disney also used simple recording techniques unlike the complicated and expensive system they put in place for Fantasia. The movie had a run time of only 64 minutes and is still one of the shortest Disney Animated Films. Despite the cheap and quick production the movie ended up being the huge hit Disney needed. 

Dumbo is about a baby elephant with large ears. He is constantly being made fun of and when his mother tries to protect him she is labeled as a "mad elephant" and locked in a cage. This leaves Dumbo alone and scared. A friendly mouse named Timothy comes along and befriends Dumbo and attempts to help Dumbo out. Timothy gets Dumbo to be a star of an act but when Dumbo trips on his big ears and messes up the whole act he gets sent to be part of the clown act. To cheer Dumbo up Timothy takes him to see his mom. After a heartfelt moment they return to the clown tent to drink some water. Unbeknownst to them, some champagne fell in the water and both Timothy and Dumbo got drunk. During their drunken stupor they see a pink elephant parade and when they wake up they are in a tree. This is where they meet some crows who realize that Dumbo can fly and that he only needs to believe. During his next show Dumbo amazes everyone at the circus with his flying abilities. He goes on to be the star of the show and at the end of the movie his mom is not locked up anymore and everything is great.

At 64 minutes this movie doesn’t waste any time. The story moves fast and we get everything we need to understand what is going on. The movie is a great example of less is more storytelling. The themes of Dumbo are relatable for anyone that has been bullied or made to feel different. The other elephants at the circus are always making fun of Dumbo. They are the ones that nickname him Dumbo as an insult (his real name given by his mother is Jumbo Jr.). After Dumbo gets sent to the clowns the other elephants even say “From now on, he is no longer an elephant”. It’s Timothy the mouse who is the only one that believes in Dumbo and tries everything to help him. Even the crows are moved by his story to help him out. Although making him believe in a magic feather may not have been the best strategy. All this leads to a very satisfying ending where he learns to believe in himself and becomes a star. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room (pun intended). Is the movie racist? There are many ways to interpret the film and many arguments have been made on both sides. It definitely has many outdated stereotypes when it comes to the crows, even going as far as naming one of them Jim Crow (that name has its own racist history). It’s clear that anyone watching the film back then knew that the crows were supposed to be black based on mannerisms and the way they talked. On the flip side the crows are the most sympathetic to Dumbo and maybe that was the point. As representation of the black race they can relate to feeling as outcasts and less than human. But still it is a cringe worthy scene in the film. The other part of the film that can be interpreted as racist is the "Song of the Roustabouts". There is a lyric in the song that goes “We slave until we’re almost dead We’re happy-hearted roustabouts”. The song is sung by faceless people of color in the rain. It’s very easy to interpret this song as painting slaves as happy being slaves (a similar complaint levied at Disney’s problematic “Song of the South”). I didn’t find anything on what the motivation of the song writers were, but to me it felt almost sarcastic. But again it is a problematic part of the film that did not age well. But despite these scenes the overall theme of the film is anti-racist. We see someone that is told they are less than others but discover that even they have something special they can contribute. Either way it is up to each person to interpret what they will about the film.

The last thing I want to mention is that during the making of Dumbo there was a five week animator strike that happened. This strike had a major effect on Disney and the animation business in general. The only thing I can find about how the strike specifically affected Dumbo was that some of the clowns were caricatures of some of the striking workers. The clowns also sing a song that goes

“Oh, we're gonna hit the big boss for a raise Yes, we're gonna hit the big boss for a raise Oh, we're gonna get more money 'cause we know that we're funny We're gonna hit the big boss for a raise”

This song seems to suggest that the animators still working on the film resented the strikers. On the flip side you can look at “The Song of the roustabouts” as a reference to poor working conditions and poor pay structure of the Disney machine. Again these are all up for interpretation and in my cursory research I couldn't find anything specific. If anyone has any sources that goes into this more feel free to share. OVERALL: I wrote more than I thought I would about one of the shortest films in the Disney cannon. But overall I liked this movie. The themes of bullying resonated with me. The story is efficiently told. There are problematic parts which are appropriate to talk about but I don't think tarnishes the whole film. I still think the Pink Elephant on Parade portion is an odd choice for a kids movie. Random Facts One of the few Disney movies where the main character doesn’t talk. Joke about people with big ears being famous was a poke at Clark Gable who was known for having big ears The last Disney movie to be released before U.S involvement in WWII. The most profitable movie Disney released in the 1940’s.

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Fantasound

After watching Fantasia I had a lot of questions about Fantasound.  I turned to my friend Filmmaker and audiophile Michael Viers for some insight.  He runs a podcast called the Shame List Picture Show (if you haven’t listened you should check it out) and loves talking about how films sound.  I sent him over a few questions and he was gracious enough to take the time to answer them. I might have stumped him with a few questions but hope you enjoy this deep dive into the world of sound.

The technical stuff about Fantasound mostly went over my head.  But it sounded like two of the big revolutionary breakthroughs were PAN POT and TOGAD. Is there an easy way to explain what those are, and why they were important breakthroughs?

I’m not a real expert of how these two things work. PAN POT, also known as Panoramic Potentiometer, was a device that allowed for sound to open up from a monaural source (one speaker) to a three speaker system (left, right, center) which is how surround sound works. The center speaker is where dialogue and incidental sounds live (so when people complain about not hearing dialogue, they would benefit from a center channel). The left and right split up the rest of the sound (i.e. music) and is what creates the feeling of “movement”. PAN POT also splits the audio to the rear speakers to give a fully immersive audio experience.

TOGAD (Tone Operated Gain Adjusting Device) is a device used to open up the dynamic range of the audio (the difference between the highs and lows). Once again, I’m not an engineer and can’t really explain HOW it works, but it adds separation between the highs and lows. The drums will boom and the wood winds will whistle thus allowing the audio to sound more full.

Are there any other significant innovations with fantasound that you feel are important? 

Most definitely! Without Walt Disney and Fantasound, surround sound as we know it might not exist. Well, that’s a bit extreme as I’m sure SOMEONE would have figured it out, but it was his brilliant idea that pushed it forward. His big dream was for the “Flight of the Bumblebee” sequence and he wanted the sound of the bee to move around the room. 

What impressed you the most about the recording or playback of Fantasound? 

I guess what impressed me most was Disney’s forward thinking. He had a dream of “moving sound” and wanted to find a way to make it work. Sadly, it was too expensive and would be awhile before “surround sound” or “multi-channel audio” would catch on.

Fantasia is said to be the first movie released with Stereo Sound. Would it be fair to say that Fantasound was a form of surround sound since it involved multiple speakers placed in the theatre? 

Definitely. It featured a front right, front left, center, back right and back left audio track. What can be confusing though is the use of the term “stereo” which most people take as meaning left & right audio. Hell, I thought this for the longest time. Stereo, in it’s true form, is surround sound. The center and back channels are compressed down into the audio tracks (almost hidden) and can only be unlocked with the proper equipment and audio set-up, like a receiver and speakers. What’s so genius about this set-up is stereo sound will play just fine out of your TV speakers and soundbars but will have all these hidden elements when played on a proper set-up.

On it’s original release Fantasia flopped financially because of the expense of Fantasound.  Why did it take over 10 years for stereo sound to become feasible? 

From what I read it was very costly for theaters to get set-up to properly play Fantasound. Only two or three theaters did it. Mono sound, for all intents and purposes, was fine. However, when movie theaters got larger it was cutting the mustard and wasn’t filling the room, so sound engineers wanted to find a way to make surround sound doable.

Is the transfer to digital surround sound easier if the original tracks were made with a form of surround sound? 

For the most part, yes. If a film is encoded in Dolby Stereo Surround (which as I mentioned before is a hidden surround sound) then it’s a lot easier to take those tracks and make a dedicated 5.1 audio mix where each channel has its own dedicated sound, better dynamic range and better spatial qualities.

How do you think watching it now on Disney+ in digital 5.1 surround sound compares to how the audience experienced it in 1940? 

I think it’ll be very close. The audio has been cleaned up and there will be better movement of sound. I guess unless I could find a copy with an “original” audio track (or close to it) I couldn’t say for sure.

For me learning about this made me better appreciate the work that went into innovating early films.  Do you think today we take stereo sound for granted?

Most definitely. Like I said, it wasn’t until recently that I learned there stereo IS surround sound and I considered myself kind of an audio nut. I thought the progression went from mono, to stereo to surround sound when in reality it’s mono or surround sound. That’s it. You notice it a lot with disc reviewers too (which I made these same mistakes) who poopoo a release for only having stereo but in reality there’s more to the track than we thought. 

I’d like to thank Stephen Bjork, Vincent Pereria and the Criterion Collection for helping me learn about matrixed stereo. It’s written, clear as day in my Criterion edition of BLOW OUT that to access Dolby Surround I had to turn on a feature on my receiver called Pro Logic and both Mr. Bjork and Mr. Pereria helped fill in the blanks.

Disney Movie Challenge: Fantasia

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Fantasia

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE:  With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.  

After taking 3 years between their first and second animated feature, it only took Disney 9 months to release their third feature. In November of 1940 a roadshow version of Fantasia was released in New York. Again Disney was ambitious and tried something that never had been done before. He wanted to combine animation and music. It was kind of an early form of music video. The origins of the film are fascinating. It started with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice which was supposed to be a more sophisticated Silly Symphony short. Disney created something called Fantasound for the short but as the cost ratcheted up it became clear they could not recoup their money with a short. So, an idea was born to release a feature film with other sequences. When the film came out it consisted of 8 total segments, and was 125 minutes long (still the longest Disney Animated Feature). The music was conducted by world famous conductor Leopold Stokowski,

What is Fantasound? This question took me down a crazy rabbit hole of sophisticated technology. In a nut shell it was the first use of stereo sound in film. It required the creation of special equipment to record and to project with a film. It’s super technical and I don’t fully understand it so won’t go into much detail (this video does a great job at explaining it https://youtu.be/2FRyAXXOsMo). Needless to say it was completely unique and cost a lot of money. With the start of WWII and the cost of setting up Fantasound at each roadshow location it became impossible to make money with the film. Despite the film being loved by critics the movie became a big flop at the time, but over time it has built up a fan base. It’s biggest boom was in the late 60’s when it was marketed for its psychedelic elements.

The movie is a fascinating mix of music and animation. The 8 segments are completely different from each other. There is also a narrator, Deems Taylor, that explains the music and significance of each segment. In the beginning he explains

“First, there's the kind that tells a definite story. Then there's the kind that, while it has no specific plot, does paint a series of more or less definite pictures. And then there's a third kind, music that exists simply for its own sake”. 

Deems Taylor was a well known music critic at the time and brings some insight to the music. Besides the technical achievement and interesting stories behind the music there isn’t much going on. The segments themselves just didn’t grab my attention. I think if I could have experienced the film during the original roadshow release I would have enjoyed it more. While watching the film I kept thinking this would be awesome to watch in a theatre with a live orchestra.

Overall:  It’s a movie that was ahead of its time. As a story guy it just didn’t do it for me. The visuals and and music were cool but outside of The Sorcerers Apprentice there wasn't much to keep my attention. But, I do appreciate the amazing artistry that went into the film.

Random Facts

Longest animated Disney Film

First film to use Stereo sound

First film to not have any credits in initial release.

First appearance by Mickey Mouse in a Feature Film

The sorcerer was modeled after Disney. His name is Yen Sid which is Disney backwards.

Disney got a lot of complaints about the Night on Bald Mountain segment saying it was scaring their kids. When the movie was first released on home video it was released without that segment.

In 1982 the soundtrack was re-recorded digitally and when it was released was the first film ever with a digital stereo sound.

Disney wanted to release a new Fantasia every year. But that goal proved even too lofty for Disney.

Disney Movie Challenge: Pinocchio

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Pinocchio

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.

After the huge success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs proved that animated feature films can make money it took three years for Disney to make another one. But he didn’t make just one he made two. In 1940 Disney released both Pinocchio and Fantasia. First up in February of 1940 is Pinocchio.

The movie is based on a novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Italian author Carlo Collodi. Oddly this wasn’t the first attempt to turn the novel into an animated feature film. Prior to Snow White an Italian company was attempting to make their own version of Pinocchio that would have been the first animated feature film. But part way through they had to abandon the project and Snow White went on to become the first animated feature and the Pinocchio novel ended up in Disney’s sights. As with most things Disney makes, the movie is a lot different than the source material, including a larger role for Jiminy Cricket.

The film is about a wooden puppet, Pinocchio, that was created by Geppetto. One night after Geppetto makes a wish the Blue Fairy comes and brings Pinocchio to life. Pinocchio is told that if he can prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish he will become a real boy. To help him make good decisions Jiminy Cricket is sent to be his conscience. Pinocchio's first day of being alive Geppetto sends him to school.  Before he can get there he encounters a couple of con artists, Honest John and Gideon, who convince him to skip school and become an actor. But it turned  out that he was essentially sold into slavery to a puppeteer.  Jiminy finally shows up too late and can't help. Eventually the Blue Fairy comes to help.  Before the Blue Fairy will help them she asks Pinoccho to be honest and every time he lies he nose grows.  Eventually he is honest and the Blue Fairy releases them from the prison and turns him back to normal.   On his way back home he runs into Honest John and Gideon again. This time they convince him to go to Pleasure Island for a “vacation”. This again turns out to be a poor decision and again he is essentially sold into slavery.   Pleasure Island turns out to be a place where there are no rules and boys just run wild.  But after a certain amount of time they begin to turn into a donkeys.  Pinocchio is partially turned into a donkey but escapes with the help of Jiminy Cricket before he makes a full transition.  When Pinocchio and Jiminy finally make it home they find Geppetto is missing. While out looking for Pinocchio he got swallowed by a whale. Pinocchio and Jiminy then set out to find Geppetto and rescue him. After sacrificing himself to save Geppetto from the belly of the whale the Blue Fairy finds that Pinocchio has proven himself brave, truthful, and unselfish and is finally turned into a real boy.

With Pinocchio, Disney once again pushed the boundaries of animation. A lot of effort went into the effects animation. The goal was to make the background more alive with movement. This is evident in Geppetto’s workshop where there are lots of clocks and also in the shots of the water. It took animator Sandy Strother a year to complete the water effects, afterward animator Frank Thomas said “The water looks so real a person can drown in it, and they do”.

This is another excellent looking film. All the hard work that went into the animation really paid off. While the story of Snow White felt very familiar, Pinocchio on the other hand is quite the opposite. This is not a story one would expect from the modern Disney. The movie is dark. It involves Pinocchio getting kidnapped and sold into slavery twice. It also involves kids drinking, smoking, and vandalizing. Also there are multiple times in the film someone says that the kids are jackasses. This seemed kind of shocking when watching but then they literally turned into jackasses.
Also, lets talk about Jiminy Cricket.  He is the worst conscience. He oversleeps which lets Pinocchio get in trouble the first time. He then abandons Pinocchio at least 2 other times. At the end the Blue Fairy gives Jiminy a medal which is something I can’t understand. He did an awful job.

OVERALL: It's a great looking movie. But for me it's too episodic. I use to listen to a podcast where they talked about “and then movies”. It’s basically movies where something happens then something else happens but not really a progression of the story. This is pretty much what Pinocchio felt like to me. Pinocchio doesn't seem to learn anything from one episode to the next and Jiminy Cricket is worthless. The weird thing to me is that  Pinocchio is known for having his nose grow when he lies, but it's actually just one little scene. I thought it would play a bigger role in the film. It is one of the darker Disney films but still didn't connect with me.

RANDOM FACTS:

First animated film to win a competitive Oscar. It won 2 Oscars, one for Best Song and one for Best Score. It is actually the first film to win both of those Oscars and that wouldn’t happen again till Mary Poppins (another Disney film) in 1964

Pinocchio was originally intended to be Disney’s third film after Bambi. But due to the difficulty of animating Bambi they pushed Pinocchio production up and Bambi ended up being he 5th film.

Pinocchio wasn’t a huge hit overseas when it came out mostly due to the start of World War II.  The movie ended up losing money for Disney.

Part way through the production Walt Disney didn’t like the way the animation looked or the way the story was going and halted all production till it met his high standards.

Figaro the cat made his premiere in the film, Walt Disney loved the character of Figaro so much that he made him Minnie Mouse's pet.