Thursday, May 30, 2013

Project Disney- Pinocchio




Project Disney: The plan is to tackle all of the Disney films, re-reading the classic stories and tales that inspired many of them and to look at how the changes the filmmakers made, the new elements they introduced and the essential elements they kept. We will, of course, be talking about the films as movies as well, saying why we enjoy them and what some of our favorite moments are, but our focus will be on looking at them as adaptations. For the films that are not drawn from any one work we’ll be looking at some of the possible literary influences that we see in the stories. Inspired by Project Disney hosted by Picture Me Reading.



"And always let your conscious be your guide!"  This week we are exploring Pinocchio the movie based off of The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi .  I love Pinocchio.  This movie has some of the greatest sidekick characters of all the Disney movies to me.  We have the beautiful Blue Fairy, Jiminy Cricket, Gepetto, Cleo and of course Figaro!
 
The movie has some great classic Disney songs.  I watched this movie often as a child... and the donkey part always scared me.  I watched it again today and it is still a little freaky.  Pinocchio goes off to this island for kids and is turned into a donkey.  During this scene Pinocchio is smoking a cigar so on the DVD at the beginning there is an commercial message warning people about the danger of smoking.  I thought this was really showing the age of this film.




 I finished the The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi , wow is this book different then the movie!  Pinocchio never seems to want to be a real boy... all of a sudden at the end of the book is made a real boy because he becomes brave and good. There is a Blue Fairy in the book but when we first meet her she wants to be his sister, and then later she wants to be his mother.  There is a cricket in the story too... but at the beginning of the book Pinocchio smashes it against the wall!  Later we meet the cricket as a ghost and then again as alive.  Confusing?  Yes it is.  Gepetto is Pinocchio's dad but we don't really see much of him in the book.  He goes off looking for Pinocchio and then we meet him again at the very end when Pinocchio finds him inside a shark (instead of a whale).


Pinocchio's nose does grow in the book for lying to the Blue Fairy.  But unlike in the movie when it just shrinks... a woodpecker comes and pecks off Pinocchio's nose!  Disney makes Pinocchio much nicer and more likeable in the movie then he is in the book.  He is more innocent in the movie so that he accidentally gets into trouble.  Where in the book Pinocchio is a bad kid wanting to get into trouble.


This is another photo above that I have been showing in my Project Disney of Anne Leibovitz's Disney series.  This one is of the Blue Fairy and a Fairy in training.  I am surprised Disney made a movie based off the book by Collodi.  The book didn't really seem like a sweet children's story, though it didn't have a lot of lessons for kids. 

Be sure to check out my other Project Disney posts!!
PROJECT DISNEY:
Snow White
Cinderella
Peter Pan
Treasure Planet
Sleeping Beauty
The Great Mouse Detective 
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Princess and the Frog
Fantasia
Beauty and the Beast
Lady and the Tramp
Alice in Wonderland
The Rescuers
The Rescuers Down Under
Tangled
Oliver and Company
Mulan
The Little Mermaid
Bambi
101 Dalmatians
Frozen
Fantasia 2000
The Jungle Book
The Emperor's New Groove
The Sword in the Stone
Aladdin
Atlantis
The Aristocats
The Lion King
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Hercules
Pocahontas
Dumbo
The Black Cauldron
Mary Poppins
Tarzan
Fox and the Hound
Melody Time 

8 comments:

  1. The book was really odd! I kept re-reading passages thinking this most just be a really bad translation LOL I thought as well the blue fairy says she is dead at the beginning..and then isn't..very strange! I am looking forward to re-watching the film this weekend! Great post :)

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    1. Yea the fairy was really odd to me. And Pinocchio is so bad in this book!!

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  2. Woah. The book sounds absolutely strange! I have no idea what to think about the book! I loved the movie when I was little kid! Reading your post makes me want to go and rematch it, and not read the book. >___< I didn't even know there was a book! That, yeah, that's just strange. Very interesting how Disney depicts Pinocchio .

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    1. It is strange and totally out there!! ! Blew my mind!

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  3. Not one of my favorite Disney movies, not sure why though.

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    1. It is just kind of scary and not really that magical. Except the blue fairy of course.

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  4. Wow, the inconsistencies in the original novel is really odd! I think Walt did a great job making this story so much more engaging, especially to have Pinocchio to want to be a boy! That seems like such an important aspect to the story!

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    1. I agree... Pinocchio trying to be a boy and trying to be good makes this movie wonderful. He makes mistakes along the way and is forgiven. The book is very very different.

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