Review of Pinocchio (1940) by Azouliel — 03 Mar 2019

Disney's second venture into the world of animated features is unfortunately not only rocky, but also flawed with a poor act structure. Pinocchio is written to either be clever when he has to, or dumb when he has to, which then dictates where the story goes. He never has any character growth and the reward in the end thusly doesn't feel earned. Jiminy while funny and a great character overall, doesn't do anything to further the plot. He's more along for the ride than anything, despite him having been tasked with being Pinocchio's "Conscience". His reward in the end is also, not well earned. Several characters and plot lines go nowhere, and the overall story feels more like a verb game than anything.

But this movie is not without it's good sides. It has overall excellent animation and the movie has a thoroughly dark theme that I quite enjoyed. It might have gone overboard several times, but it never feels too dark. I would recommend it if you're interested in seeing some of Disney's roots or if you're up for a dark movie, but if not you're probably better off watching something else.