Featured Blu-ray Review: Pinocchio: The Signature Collection

January 23, 2017

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Pinocchio

I previously reviewed Pinocchio almost eight years ago and called it an absolute classic and named it Pick of the Week. My opinion on the movie hasn’t changed, but is this version worth upgrading to? Or is it more for people who hadn’t purchased a Blu-ray player back in 2009?

The Movie

Like I said, I’ve previously reviewed this film and I don’t have a lot more to say about it, so I’m going to keep the plot summary short. The film is about a woodcarver, Geppetto, who wishes he had a son. The Blue Fairy grants his wish, sort of, giving life to a marionette, Pinocchio, but he’s not not a real boy. In order to turn into a real boy, he will have to prove he’s worth it by being brave and honest and following his conscience. However, he’s doesn’t have a conscience, so Jiminy Cricket is roped into doing the job.

That’s the setup and it leads to an adventure that Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket go on and Pinocchio has to prove he’s worthy along the way.

As I said, it is an absolute classic. It is a technical marvel, especially given its age, and the story has held up for more than 75 years.

The Extras

New extras begin with “When You Wish Upon a Star”, both a new music video and a short featurette on making of the new version of the song. Up next is a seven-minute long story meeting that looks at the writing of the Pleasure Island segment. In it, Walt Disney discussed how the scene should go. In Walt’s Words is a five-minute audio interview with Walt Disney talking about Pinocchio. The final new extra is a classic Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short cartoon, Poor Papa.

There are also lots of the classic extras, including making of featurettes, deleted scenes, the live-action reference material, a featurette on toymakers, etc. Unfortunately, some of the older extras have not been ported over. This includes the Cine-Explore and games. Blu-ray games were usually really weak, so they won’t be missed, but the Cine-Explore Picture-in-Picture tracks were great.

The Verdict

If you don’t have the previous release, then the Pinocchio: The Signature Collection Blu-ray is a must have. If you already have the film on Blu-ray, then I think you are safe with that one. I’ll be keeping both copies in my collection.

Filed under: Video Review, Pinocchio, Walt Disney, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, Dick Jones, Evelyn Venable