By Tim Jordan
For anyone who has been under a rock for the last 70 years, a brief recap of
the story of Pinocchio. Geppetto is an elderly inventor who longs to have a real
boy for a son. A fairy unexpectedly grants his wish and sets one of his
marionettes on the path to becoming a real boy. Pinocchio, the chosen
marionette, must earn his real life and sets off on a series of adventures
accompanied by his conscience/cricket friend Jiminy. Pinocchio is beset by a
series of temptations, and he pretty much fails at every turn, but with second
chances from the fairy and the persistent prodding of Jiminy, Pinocchio is
finally able to earn his real boy body and eventually has a tearful reunion with
his maker now father Geppetto.
For those who wish to look beyond the basic story there are allegories galore
to be found. Good versus evil, a boy coming of age, the prodigal son, etc. But
more interesting in my mind is to see how dramatically the politically correct
left has changed story telling in America. I had to laugh out loud when
Pinocchio boozed it up and smoked a stogie in a pool hall on his way to becoming
a jackass. How times have changed.
The bottom line is that this is a must have for any good Disney movie
collection, and it is always good to get a fresh look at some of the classic
titles in the Disney movie library.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
- Never before seen deleted scenes
- Never before seen alternate ending
- Disney View expanded viewing experience
- Cine-explore Experience
- Pinocchio knows trivia challenge
- Pleasure island carnival games
- No strings attached: the making of Pinocchio
- Audio commentary with Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg, and JB Kaufman
- Geppettos then and now
This release is a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, so you get the movie on both
formats. If you still haven't upgraded to Blu-ray, than you may as well
buy this version and have a hi-def disc for the future. If you are just
going to play the DVD, be aware that the DVD feature list is a lot smaller than
that for the Blu-ray. The very trimmed down list of bonus features for the DVD was highlighted by the
ability to turn on sing-a-long words on the screen for the songs.
Final Rating:
