Pinocchio was only the second animated feature undertaken at Disney, but in terms of narrative depth it was leagues ahead of its predecessor Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
This seemingly simply tale of a living puppet who dreams of becoming a ‘real boy’ is actually one of the darkest and most complex films that Walt Disney ever oversaw. It also boasts an emotional depth and pacing that many of the vintage Disney classics lack.
Quite simply, one of the best animated features ever made.
Mark Craven: Disney’s work on this hi-def version of Pinocchio is easily on a par with its earlier stunning restoration of Sleeping Beauty. Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (with a choice of either black bars or painted borders at the side of the screen) the AVC encode is a thing of beauty. While some concern has been raised about the tweaked colours, to my eye the less vibrant palette is far preferable to the overly bright visuals on the old DVD release.
Steve May: The new DTS-HD MA 7.1 surround mix is subtle; very little strays from the front stalls, and the LFE only really honks into play with the Monstro the whale sequences. Amazingly, background hiss has all been eliminated; the movie has a shiny new noise floor. The edge has been taken off the dialogue (although it still sounds 'phoned in), and orchestration is clean given the vintage. The bonus DVD version comes with a spruced up Dolby Digital 5.1 'Enhanced Home Theatre' mix. Interestingly, I found this to have more obvious separation, with arguably better definition across the front soundstage. I performed an A/B of the Blue Fairy sequence (running the BD in Sony's BDP-ES5000) and the DVD in an Oppo DV-981HD. The lossless soundtrack offers more texture in the dialogue, but the overall balance is better in DD5.1. Try it for yourself and see what you think.
Anton van Beek: Once again Disney has delivered a spectacular collection of bonus features. Accompanying the film on Disc One are a BonusView video commentary with additional storyboards, concept art and archival interviews (the audio portion can also be selected on its own for a traditional audio commentary experience), a music video, song selection, on-screen lyrics, a trivia track and a set-top game. Disc Two offers up an hour-long retrospective documentary, three deleted scenes, two more set-top games, live action reference footage, art galleries, trailers, a deleted song (audio-only) and a featurette on puppeteers. Also included in the set is a bonus DVD copy of the film.
We say: Disney knocks it out of the park again with its second Platinum Edition Blu-ray. Roll on Snow White…
Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Region B Blu-ray, £26, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 5/5
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited
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In the latest Home Cinema Choice:
Disney doing it right
Nickcsback (not verified) - 23 April 2009 - 10:01amI am well impressed with the Disney Classic Blu Ray releases so far, this is the right way to do it,
beautiful restoration of picture and sound track remastering.
Getting a DVD copy of the film is a really good way to move people over as well, as we are way off from the kids having blu ray in the bedroom or in car players yet.
Bring on Snow White!!
I would love Disney to give us the same extras on their Pixar releases over here like they do in the States, like the Digital Copy