L e n s V i e w sA view on Blu-ray and DVD video by Leonard Norwitz |
Pinocchio [Blu-ray] (3-disc - Platinum Edition + Standard DVD) vs. DVD (2-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)
(Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen, 1940)
Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio: Theatrical: Walt DisneyDVD & Blu-ray: Walt Disney Studios Home EntertainmentDVD stats are in light green.
Disc: Region: Region 1 / Region 'A'Runtime: 1:27:33 / 1:27:44.259Chapters: 24 Disc Size: 7,394,555,904 bytes / 30,576,255,107 bytesFeature Size: 5.17 Gig / 23,890,409,472 bytes Bitrate: 8.5 Mbps / 36.31 MbpsCase: Standard DVD Keep case inside cardboard box / thick Blu-ray case (3 tiered holder)Release date: March 10th, 2009
Bitrates SD-DVD:
Blu-ray
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.33:1 Resolution: 480P / 1080pBlu-ray Video codec: MPEG-4
Audio: DVD: Dolby Digital 5.1 (DUBs: French, Spanish 5.) and the original restored mono
Blu-ray: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3446 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz
/ 3446 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps /
24-bit)
Subtitles: English SDH, French Spanish and none
Extras: Disc 1: • Audio Commentary with Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg and J.B. Kaufman
• Disney Cine-Explore
• Disney Song Selection Disc 2: • No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio (55:58) • The Sweatbox (6:24) • Live Action Reference Footage (9:58) • Geppettos Then & Now (10:57) • Music Video: "When You Wish Upon a Star" with Meaghan Jette Martin (3:25) • Deleted Songs (2:35) • Never-Before-Seen Alternate Ending Deleted Scenes & Alternate Ending (10:23) "The Story of the Grandfather Tree" "In the Belly of the Whale" • Pinnochio Art Galleries • Pleasure Island Carnival Games • Pinocchio Puzzles • Sneak Peaks for Monsters, Inc. and Bolt in HD
Disc 3: DVD of Pinocchio with restored image and sound
Extras Exclusive to Blu-ray: • Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge • BDisney-Live Network: Movie Chat, Movie Mall, Movie Challenge, Disney Movie Rewards Live
Beavers:
Pinocchio ~ CommentI think I was about 8 years old when I saw Pinocchio. This was in the theater, long before home video, long before Disney first allowed television broadcast of his classic animated features. And it scared the bejeezus out of me. Even so, yet partly for that reason, I have always revered this movie as one of the best movies ever to come out of this country, regardless of genre, and one of the very best animated feature films – ever.
I was reassured as I reviewed the bonus features that accompany this Blu-ray set that Disney did not make such movies as Snow White or Bambi for children, but for "audiences." It was bad enough that this movie knew about my lying (after Pinocchio I could feel my nose grow every time I was so inclined), but that I may have had secret ambitions to tear up my universe and make a mess of everything that adults hold dear, especially self-control. When Lampwick's donkey's ears suddenly start sprouting, there may be a tendency to giggle, but not once the voice is replaced by braying, and when Lampwick begs Pinocchio for help as his hands turn into hooves and we see his fate reflected as shadows on the wall, the effect is as frightening as any horror movie.
Coming off the raging success of the first feature length animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, known in the industry as "Disney's Folly," Walt Disney tabled his work on Bambi for the time being and put his now burgeoning financial, artistic and technical resources behind a project that would enjoy everything he would have liked to be able to do on Snow White, but couldn't. (We would hear that theme echoed much later by the likes of Lucas and Cameron.) Indeed, compared to Pinocchio, Snow White, as lovely and sweet and threatening as it is, is mere child's play. Everything from the backgrounds to the scoring, to the life inhabiting every character, to the varied episodic adventures of our hero, to the details in every toy and street scene, and in every way that music, effects, story come together – it's hard to believe that the same studio is responsible for both projects, and back-to-back at that.
Viewed in an historical context, coming as it did immediately after Snow White, the animation of Pinocchio is a marvel. It remains perhaps THE touchstone for painted cell feature film animation. The story-telling and character animation is so good that we might not even notice the one thing the animation does not address – something that would not pass muster in today's 3D animated movies. While shadows properly indicate the light source, there is no shadowing on the characters themselves. It is as if they are bathed in a diffused light at all times, altered only by quality of the light source and in moments of high drama. Once you notice it, it's quite odd, like the first time you realize that Pre-Renaissance painting is all flat –perspective. Clearly the animators are concerned with rendering character and movement and hadn't the financial resources to consider shadowing of the figure in relation to the light source as well. This is just a guess since I could not find the question addressed in the bonus features. Interestingly, Disney's very next feature later the same year, Fantasia , does make choices about shadowing depending on the segment – The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "The Rite of Spring" use it to great dramatic effect, but the "Pastoral Symphony" does not particularly. Disney's next feature, Bambi, seems to avoid the matter on principle – so to some extent, the question is an artistic one.
A final word on voicing the characters: Our perspective on Jiminy Cricket and Cliff Edwards' singing of the song that would become emblematic of Disney – "When You Wish Upon a Star" – is so etched in our consciousness that our imagining of the movie is forever enmeshed with that voice. Child actor Dickie Jones (whom you might remember from Destry Rides Again and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) loses whatever ego he might have had in the title role. Dickie is innocence personified. Christian Rub made such a good Geppetto that he was also used as the live model inspiration for the character. Character comedian Walter Cattlett is Honest John. Once you see his face in the bonus feature documentary, you'll recognize him immediately from Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Yankee Doodle Dandy and Bringing Up Baby. A final aside is that the man who would become synonymous with cartoon voices, Mel Blanc, was signed up for his only Disney contract as the voice of Gideon, but later it was determined that the character should be mute. If you listen closely, perhaps you can hear Mel sneezing "That's all, folks."
Pinocchio ~ The Score Card
The Movie : 10 It took some months for the Disney team to sort out how they wanted to use the character of Jiminy Cricket, but once done, Jiminy took on a number of functions: He's the glue that holds the story together. He's narrator, sidekick, rescuer, conscience. He even sings a little. And, by the end of the movie, he earns an important merit badge of his own.
Jiminy is a hobo cricket that makes himself to temporary home in Geppetto's toyshop. As he looks out into the evening sky Geppetto tells his ersatz child, a kitten named Figaro, how much he wishes for a real son of his own. The wishing star turns into a fairy who grants the puppet Pinocchio a life of sorts: he can talk and walk and think, though he is still made of wood. She appoints Jiminy to be Pinocchio's conscience and help the newbie steer his way through life's temptations – a challenge for one who's lived the sort of life that our cricket has to this point.
So it's off to his first day at school, and before he gets to class, naïve, innocent Pinocchio is waylaid by that master con artist, foxy Honest John, and his excitable, if mute sidekick, Gideon, who see easy money in a sale of a walking, talking wooden boy to circus impresario Stromboli. Jiminy arrived late for his job and so is one step behind Pinocchio. Jiminy misinterprets his charge's fascination with what the world has to offer as no longer needing him as a friend, thus setting up his own crisis of trust and loyalty.
Inevitably trying to get back on track Jiminy trails Pinocchio to the birdcage where Stromboli has him imprisoned, and later to Pleasure Island where the Coachman has promised a cartful of boys a carefree life of mischief, mayhem and ice cream. Eventually Pinocchio and Jiminy must make their reluctant way into the belly of Monstro the Whale where Geppetto, Figaro and their goldfish Cleo have ended up while searching for the missing boy.
Image:
8/9
NOTE:
The below
captures were ripped directly from the respective
disc.
While not as neat as last year's restoration of Sleeping Beauty, the new restoration of Pinocchio, whether viewed on Blu-ray or DVD, is light years better than the previous DVD. It's far less noisy (which raises my hopes for Fantasia, due out a year from now), sharper, more highly resolved and dimensional (even the new DVD is good in this respect), the colors are richer with a broader palette. On the Blu-ray, we can see deep into the frame, with every detail and line coherent, drawing us into the drama and the marvels of the artwork.
My score of "8" therefore should be understood only in
absolute terms, since there is no evidence that I can find
that the transfer of the source material isn't perfect.
There is none of the edge enhancement that lurked around the
edges of the Limited Edition DVD. As already noted, no
noise or any of that infectious dithering that seemed to
make up a good deal of the DVD image. The color is
magnificently varied as is called for in each scene. Blacks
are deep and intense, yet there is plenty of information
when the frame is bathed in light. We can now see clearly
how utterly transparent is the Wishing Star Fairy. CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Original DVD TOP vs. 2-disc DVD MIDDLE vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
Original DVD TOP vs. 2-disc DVD MIDDLE vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
Original DVD TOP vs. 2-disc DVD MIDDLE vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
Original DVD TOP vs. 2-disc DVD MIDDLE vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
Original DVD TOP vs. 2-disc DVD MIDDLE vs. Blu-ray BOTTOM
Audio & Music: 7/9 When I was listening to the Blu-ray of The Pink Panther I was taken completely aback by the sound of David Niven's voice. "What the ____ !" The timbre and signature of one of the world's most recognizable voices was carelessly manipulated into unrecognizability! I worried that somehow the transfer was made at the wrong speed. But it turned out that the fault was in the new DTS HD-MA 5.1 mix. As soon as I switched to the 2.0 track, all was well again. I have noticed similar errors in other attempts to make a cow's ear out of a silk purse. So I was truly amazed that this mistake is not repeated here – at least not in respect to the voices. Switching back and forth between the new 7.1 DTS HD-MA mix and the (albeit) Restored Original Mono, there was no difference worth the name.
The music and effects are another story – though I did not find them worrisome. Both are opened up and rendered much more dynamically in the surround mix. The vintage of the original track shows itself in a certain gnashy quality that Disney takes few pains to mitigate, for which I was grateful. I found the result to be surprisingly effective, considering my past experience with such endeavors (The French Connection is another that comes to mind that's better off watched in the original mono.) We should credit the restoration of the original audio to start with, as there appears to be little "correction" – just clarifying. Note Cliff Edwards' voice when he sings "When You Wish Upon a Star." It's angelic enough to melt in your mouth. T he DVD 5.1 Dolby compression is slightly inferior. Significance is noted in the battle/chase with Monstro and Jiminy's opening and closing song.
Operations : 8Disney calls their Smart Menu the Cine-Explore Experience. In some ways it's an extremely elegant interface; in others it's a bit frustrating. The former because it's so very informative about each clickable item including, in minutes and seconds, where you would be in the time line if you went to a particular scene. The latter, because [a] the menus replace the movie when you ask for them instead of appearing at the bottom while the movie continues on its merry way (one can always pause of course) and [b] if you select a new chapter, for example, you have to then hit Continue to continue. It's all too much.
The Bonus Features on either disc are easily accesses and labeled. The games naturally take some time to load. I liked that the Pleasure Island Carnival Games picked up where you left off when you return to them, but found it frustrating that Pinocchio's Puzzles did not, requiring you to start from the beginning – particularly annoying since it is a tiered game. The Disney Song Selection allows you to make like karaoke with the lyrics on screen as you try to make like a cricket.
Extras : 10
I'd like to urge those of you that are familiar with
Pinocchio to watch the making-of documentary "No Strings
Attached" even before settling in to enjoy one of the great
classics of animation once again. I'd also recommend saving
the audio commentary for last, as it duplicates a good deal
of what's in the documentary. Alternatively you might want
to revisit the movie with Disney's Cine-Explore: Here, the
audio commentary comes to life in one or more
picture-in-picture inserts that demonstrate what the
speakers are talking about. Yet another bonus on the main
feature disc is Disney View, which in this case is an
artful, but relatively subtle framing of the left and right
black borders of your 16x9 image. At times the art work can
impart a feeling of considerable depth to the viewing
experience, as when morning come over the village on
Pinocchio's first day of school.
Supplements on the 2-disc DVD are mostly duplicated with nothing (like the Making of...), obviously, in HD and as we stated the Blu-ray contains the first DVD anyway. The same games and activities, plus Backstage Disney are available on the second SD disc. You lose the Disney Live, Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge, and BDisney-Live Network including Movie Chat, Movie Mall, Movie Challenge, Disney Movie Rewards Live etc.
DVD Menus
Sample of the Blu-ray supplements
Recommendation: 10Walt Disney is readily acknowledged for bringing the world of animation to feature film story telling, but he is given less credit for establishing the format of the movie musical, where songs grow naturally out of characters and situations, something that waited 15 years for Oklahoma to fully see the sense of. Pinocchio was made when Disney had as much resources as he ever would have at his disposal, and it shows in every frame. I have always felt Pinocchio to be the best of the best. It is daring in so many ways, and it will put you through the emotional ringer, regardless of your age. A major release for home video. Strongly and Warmly Recommended. Leonard Norwitz
|
About the Reviewer: I first noticed that some movies were actually "films" back around
1960 when I saw Seven Samurai (in the then popular truncated version),
La Strada and
The Third Man for the first time. American classics were a later and
happy discovery.
BLU-RAY STORE ALL OUR NEW FORMAT DVD REVIEWS
|