Review of Pinocchio (1940) by Jonathan R — 09 Sep 2009

I hadn't seen this movie in maybe 20 years before last night. Watching it again, I was struck by its power. It is an absolutely wonderful film. The plot is a simple, but surprisingly poignant, morality tale charged with love and danger. The art is lyrically beautiful - inspired, detailed, colorful, and all painstakingly done by hand. This film is as full of life as the lively wooden boy whose life it chronicles.

In this last aspect, the film is great art: Disney knowingly and boldly incarnates the power of the Blue Fairy not only in the story, but in every aspect of this film. As such, it functions as a commentary on the nature of not just animated film, not even just film, but art itself. It is transcendent.