PINOCCHIO (1940)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>
The animation here is first rate and the title character is much more appealing than he is in the book (Little asshole He is there
!), albeit easily led astray. Find the first 20 minute to be the least effective as Jimmy Cricket is strictly there, it seems, for the easy laugh.
Things pick up quickly when Pinocchio visits "Pleasure Island" where a boy can do anything he wants, but the price to pay for all that fun is staggering. Indeed, I find the sequence where Lampwick transforms to be extremely frightening and noticing that his last words are for his Mother. But one wonders just how much heartbreak his delinquency brought to Moms?
The scenes involving Monstro, the Whale, are also pretty intense and one can imagine all the screams during those. There is a Happy ending, but after all the adventures He's been through , it's a welcome one. ****