An enchanting early Disney classic which appeals to everyone. Pinocchio is a puppet in a delightful children's story written by "Carlo Collodi". (Collodi's real name was Carlo Lorenzini, and he was born in Florence, Italy, in 1826. He used the pen-name "Collodi" as that is the name of the little village in Tuscany where his mother was born.)
In 1881, Collodi sent to a friend, who edited the "Giornale per i Bambini" in Rome, ("Children's Journal"), a short episode in the life of a wooden puppet, wondering whether the editor would be interested in publishing this "bit of foolishness". The editor did, and the children loved it.
In Collodi's original story, Pinocchio gets himself into all sorts of trouble through his spiritual immaturity, but he gradually learns from each lesson, and eventually, after showing noble human traits, is granted the special privilege of being a human.
Collodi wanted youngsters to learn that when we are spiritually immature, we are like a puppet, controlled by the immature needs of our ego, which make us do thoughtless, selfish and irresponsible things. But if we keep listening to our conscience, our inner awareness of right and wrong, and keep being guided by that, one day we will become "a real live boy", a self-reliant, mature, responsible citizen, no longer controlled by immature needs.
Walt Disney, inspired by this wonderful story, and motivated by the same desire as Collodi to teach moral lessons to children through entertaining stories, smoothed the rough edges of several chapters to make a severely abridged version, and turned Pinocchio into one of his legendary cartoons, or as he preferred to call them, "full-length animated features".
Disney, like Frank Baum and Lewis Carroll before him, had an unusually gifted understanding of the mind of children, knowing exactly what appealed to them, and Pinocchio is a classic example of his powerful insight.
In this "animated feature" Pinocchio is given the gift of life, but must prove that he is "brave, truthful, and unselfish" in order to become a real boy. He is told by his "father", the man who carved him out of wood, to go to school and learn to read and write, but instead is tempted by a couple of rogues to join a puppet show. Later when he realises the puppets are slaves to the puppet-master, he manages to escape, only to be tempted once again, to go to "Pleasure Island", where everybody makes jackasses of themselves.
Narrowly escaping this fate by jumping into the sea, he eventually manages to return home, only to find that his father, on hearing that Pinocchio jumped into the sea, went to sea in a boat to look for him, and was swallowed by the most feared killer whale in the sea, "Monstro". Can our well-meaning but wooden-headed hero rescue his father from the belly of the worst monster in existence? Will he ever be able to prove himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and become a real live boy?
Although the film was released in 1940, its appeal is timeless. It is an uplifting, inspiring story for children of all ages from four to one hundred and four. Its magic and enchantment have the power to soften even the most wooden hearts.