Tugboat Mickey

It’s been quite some time since we have seen the classic Disney trio of Mickey, Donald and Goofy together in a short. That’s sad for me, because some of my favorite shorts are the ones where they work together. Lonesome Ghosts is my personal favorite, but there are so many more, like The Whalers, Clock Cleaners and all the way back to Mickey’s Service Station.



So, seeing them all together again in Tugboat Mickey is a welcome sight. However, one thing kept standing out to me as I watched this short. I have seen it before. Just as before, Mickey is relegated to the side while Donald and Goofy deal with a frustrating situation trying to get the job done.



But it runs deeper than that. The gags are familiar. Remember in Clock Cleaners how Donald got into a fight with a spring? This time it’s with a steam driven piston, which even talks back like the spring in Clock Cleaners did. Even the ending is similar to that of The Whalers, where all three end up in the water.



Now, if you are going to mimic things from other shorts, you might as well do so with some of the best shorts Disney has made to this point. And the combination works together pretty well. Here we get to see the classic Donald tantrum as he deals with this steam piston, and Goofy’s look of confusion as the grate covering the coal furnace keeps closing on him.



What was an adjustment was seeing the new design Mickey (pupils in the eyes, more human like in the face) with the same old Goofy and Donald. This is the first time they have been together in the same short since Mickey’s redesign, so it took some getting used to while watching.



Overall, though, this short was rather unremarkable. It wasn’t particularly memorable, and in fact, I will probably get this short mixed up with the others years from now, because of the similarities. As best I can tell, this is the last time these three will be paired together. I’m sure the studio did not know that at the time, but it seems like it is time. In the future we will get the Goofy shorts that are some of my favorites and more and more Donald Duck shorts. It’s nice to see the three guys together again, but seeing this short tells me it’s time for them to go their separate ways as well.

All images copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

Donald's Dog Laundry

Donald has had many adventures so far in the shorts, most of them involving his playing off another character, such as Gus Goose, the nephews or Pluto. That continues with Donald’s Dog Laundry, a short that features Donald and Pluto teaming up once more.



The premise of this short is that Donald has built a Rube Goldberg type contraption that will allow him to open a business washing dogs. Of course he has to test it out first, and Pluto is the nearby subject. The trick, though, is getting Pluto to take a bath, which is difficult, as anyone who has had a dog can attest.



The difference in this short and other Donald shorts is that we don’t get to see Donald get irritated and upset. That is the core of the character, of course, and not seeing it to full effect in this short makes this more of a Pluto vehicle than a Donald short.



Pluto does get the majority of screen time in this short, keeping up the old rule that any short he is in will immediately get taken over by the canine. A majority of the short involves Pluto sleeping/blowing a leaf and then trying to snag a rubber bone that Donald is using to lure him to the tub.

Most of that is interesting, but it’s not funny in the same way that a good Donald tantrum would be. Seeing Donald’s reaction to Pluto and being frustrated in his quest to get the dog in the tub would have been a much funnier bit of business. We get a little bit of it, but not nearly enough.



That is not to say that Donald’s Dog Laundry doesn’t have some high points. Watching Donald get attacked by the dog washing contraption is quite funny, and Pluto’s struggle with the rubber bone propping his jaws up is not bad, either. But those moments are fleeting, and the rest of the short seems to unfold at a slower pace, and doesn’t feature as much humor as other Donald shorts.

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The Riveter

With Pinocchio out of the way, let’s move on to the other films released by Disney that year. Again, shorts featuring Donald Duck lead the way, with Donald taking a job as The Riveter in this outing. He is matched up with Pete again, as he was towards the end of 1939 in Officer Duck.

This short is, in fact, a very close relative of Building a Building, which in itself was a remake of the Oswald short Sky Scrappers. In those shorts, the hero (Mickey/Oswald) contended with Pete over a woman (Minnie/Sadie), while in this one, Donald is on his own. Still, the crux of the story is Donald, our hero, contending with Pete.



When Donald floats by and sees the job opening for a riveter, he enthusiastically takes the job, but doesn’t know what it means. Remember, this is just as the United States was coming out of the Great Depression, so Donald’s actions probably felt very familiar to a lot of the people watching this short.



As you might imagine, Donald’s ignorance causes some immediate problems. Pete shows him to the top of the sky scraper that they are building, and Donald gets disoriented, tries to start the rivet gun, then ends up on a rampage through the building while blasting rivets everywhere. The rivet sequence is really well done, and very funny.



The best gag in the whole short, however, is how Donald ends up becoming unnerved by the sound of the rivet gun. After his sojourn through the building, every time he hears the other workers using their guns, he starts shaking uncontrollably. It’s perfect for Donald, as he is so easily shaken, and when you combine that with Pete wanting Donald to serve him lunch, you get comedic gold.



It’s very neat to see Pete back as a foil to the Disney stars, because he is so good at it. The animators manage to make this a manliness contest between Pete and Donald, with both of them repeatedly using the patented cartoon move of picking up their belly, throwing it into their chest and then letting it bounce back down. Watching them try to “man up” to each other makes this one funny.



This is also my favorite era of Disney animation just from the visual standpoint. The line work and colors are bright and crisp in this short, as they have been in most of the Donald shorts. We’ll see much the same in the Goofy and Pluto shorts. There was more spontaneity and imagination in the earlier shorts, however. The way Disney shorts work in this era is much like a sitcom, whereas before they were fantasies. It’s an interesting difference, but both have their own merits.

All images copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

Pinocchio in the Parks

When you’re looking at a company like Disney, it’s hard to not compare the effects of an animated film on the theme parks. After all, if characters are popular, they will endure in the parks, and if they are not (see: Mr. Toad) they will not. Pinocchio is an interesting case study in that regard.

Pinocchio did not have an attraction in the parks for several decades. Disneyland and Walt Disney World did not open with Pinocchio themed attractions. Walt Disney World did have a nod to the film, with the Pinocchio Village Haus restaurant in Fantasyland. Still open to this day, the restaurant is themed to the German look of the film (note: yes, I know the film is set in Italy, but concept designs were German in nature, as were the designs of the restaurants), with paintings on the walls of the characters. Most people remember it for two things: the window on the far left that looks over into It’s A Small World and the Figaro Fries, the fries covered with cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Photo courtesy of wdwinfo.com

It was not until 1983 that a full Pinocchio attraction made its debut in the Disney parks, coming first to Tokyo Disneyland. The attraction debuted in Disneyland that same year, replacing the Fantasyland Theatre. The new ride took guests in carved vehicles that looked like Geppetto’s creations, through scenes from the film, roughly following the storyline of the movie.

Photo courtesy of All Ears Net

It was and is a fantastic ride, featuring some great scenes, such as Stromboli closing the cage around the guest and the reveal of Pleasure Island from a fun park to a desolate wasteland. Built with updated technology from the original dark rides, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey looks and feels a little newer and fresher when compared to the others.

Pinocchio has also appeared in the parks as a walk around character and especially in parades. For Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, there was a Pinocchio themed float in Walt Disney’s Parade of Dreams, featuring a band of Russian marionettes just like in Stromboli’s show in the film.

Monstro has an interesting career in the parks as well. As part of the Storybook Land Canal Boats, the entrance to the Storybook Land portion sails through Monstro's mouth, entering the area. When there, you'll see Geppetto's house as well. Monstro is also featured in Fantasmic! at both parks, as a projection on the water screens. Those both feature Pinocchio as well, with a puppet appearing, as does Jiminy Cricket on one of the water screen segments.

Photo courtesy of All Ears Net.

But the most “visible” presence in the parks is Jiminy Cricket. I put visible in quotes because many times, Jiminy has been an audio presence as much as a video. Back in the olden days of Disneyland, Jiminy narrated a record introducing people to the park, and was featured on the Bell telephones in the old Circlevision building.

These days, Jiminy is featured as the narrator for both Wishes and SpectroMagic in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It’s Jiminy’s narration that carries Wishes, and he makes a brief appearance at the end of SpectroMagic to cap the parade.

Of course, “When You Wish Upon A Star” is also featured at the parks. It plays around the castles at both domestic parks, as well as versions of it in other areas, like Cinderella’s Golden Carousel, audio loops in Fantasyland and a few other places.

All in all, it seems that Pinocchio has had a long ranging effect on the parks, and the characters are still popular today. Much the same can be said for Snow White. As we’ll see when we get into the next set of films, that doesn’t always happen.

The Reception of Pinocchio

Pinocchio was released to the world on February 7, 1940, and the expectations had to be high. Snow White was one of the most successful films of all time at that point, so another Disney animated film should have been a sure bet, right?



For critics, the answer was a resounding “yes!” Archer Winsten, one of the foremost critics of the time, had been very negative on Snow White, yet wrote of Pinocchio: “The faults that were in Snow White no longer exist. In writing of Pinocchio, you are limited only by your power of expressing enthusiasm.” His was not the only review singing the praises of the film.

The Academy Awards would eventually recognize the film as well, mostly for the song “When You Wish Upon A Star,” which closes the movie. That song went on to win the Oscar for Best Song and the score won for Best Score of a Musical. It was recognized then and now as a peak of Disney’s animated features.

The problem was that audiences did not embrace the film in the same numbers as Snow White. While Pinocchio cost just north of $2.2 million to make, it did not recoup those costs during its initial release, topping $1.4 million. For comparison, over nearly the same amount of time, Snow White was able to make $3.5 million, making it the most successful film of all time.

Now, movie box office is not the end all and be all of measurements, but it goes to what I said in my review yesterday. Pinocchio is a very good, even great film, but it’s not one that I would say that you want to watch over and over again. It’s not a tragic story, because there is a happy ending, but it is somewhat of a dark film.



It’s easy to see what people took away from this film when you look at the most popular characters from the movie today. Jiminy Cricket, who is really intended to be the comic relief/sidekick character, has to be considered the breakout character from the film. He is ever present today in a host of media, and has been a big part of the Disney company for decades.

Other than Jiminy, the big take away from this film is the song, “When You Wish Upon A Star.” It has become the anthem of the company itself, and most people don’t even associate it with Pinocchio. My children have never seen the entire film, but both of them know that song and think of the Disney parks when they hear it. Speaking of which, tomorrow, we’ll take a look at how Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and even Monstro have become big parts of the Disney theme parks.

Pinocchio

Many animation historians and people much smarter and more experienced than I have named Pinocchio as the masterpiece of Walt Disney’s first Golden Age of Animation. Not to say that I disagree, but I think there is a definite difference between a technical masterpiece and something that the audience will embrace.



First, let me say that Pinocchio is a fantastic film. The artistry and storytelling are beyond compare. The leaps made from Snow White to Pinocchio are impressive. The characters, who were all retooled in the middle of development, are extremely well done. The backgrounds are very detailed and convey the tone and mood of each scene.



All that being said, I would rather watch Snow White than Pinocchio. This is a debate that my wife and I have often – what makes a film great? A film like Pinocchio is great because it manages to affect the viewer emotionally. The story is engaging, the characters lively, and it reaches a place within the viewer that few films can. But I’d rather watch Snow White, because it’s more fun, and the story is still as good as Pinocchio, if not as emotionally resonant.

Pinocchio’s strong point is the emotion it manages to convey. From the very first scene, where Geppetto finishes Pinocchio and wistfully hopes for him to become a real boy, this is an emotional film. It’s easy to feel Geppetto’s desire for love, to feel the fear of the boys on Pleasure Island, the joy of Pinocchio and Geppetto when they are reunited, and the despair when Pinocchio “dies.”



This film more than Snow White relies on its main characters. There is very little slapstick or gag sequence like we saw with the Seven Dwarfs. Instead, it’s the personality of the characters that is the driver of this film. Pinocchio’s innocence is his defining trait, which is a far cry from the original book or how he was being developed in the early days of this film. Jiminy Cricket’s character is probably the best, as he is the de facto narrator and gets most of the screen time. Even the side characters, like Figaro and Cleo, are easy to relate to. I felt for Figaro the entire film. That poor cat gets mistreated and pushed aside all the time!



The darkness of the second half of this film is where I feel it achieves technical brilliance, but loses some of the mass appeal. The Pleasure Island sequence is terrifying, plain and simple. Seeing the coachman talking with Honest John and Gideon you get the sense of foreboding, but then watching the boys change to donkeys and realizing that they will not get out, it is sheer terror.

Then, having Pinocchio realize his lesson and take off undersea after Geppetto, there is the massive whale Monstro to contend with. The whale chasing Pinocchio and Geppetto around the ocean is scary, but not quite the same emotional turmoil as the Pleasure Island bits.



Where I felt like this film did not capture me was with a sense of fun. Jiminy Cricket is the main comic relief or gag for the film, but it wasn’t enough. Seeing Pinocchio get caught up by Stromboli and then off to Pleasure Island, the viewer is constantly worried, and having Jiminy voice those concerns does not allay them. That is why I feel better watching Snow White than I do watching Pinocchio.

That is not to say that one is better than the other, they are just different films. Pinocchio may well be a better film from a storytelling and emotion standpoint. It’s just difficult to watch, because it is a mature film for someone who has children and has a hard time watching Pinocchio being led astray. Regardless, Pinocchio is a masterpiece that should be viewed by any serious student of animation.

All images copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

The Development of Pinocchio

For his second animated feature, Walt Disney chose a subject that was different than Snow White. Although the Walt Disney Company now is synonymous with princesses, the second princess film was still a ways off in 1940. No, instead, Walt chose to go with a story by Carlos Collodi, titled Pinocchio.

Pinocchio first appeared in 1883, in the book The Adventures of Pinocchio. The story was that Pinocchio was carved by Gepetto, a woodcarver in an Italian village. Gepetto was given the scrap of pine that formed Pinocchio by a Master carver, and formed the puppet to perhaps make some money. Pinocchio comes to life, and has several adventures, as he learns how to live in the world. Along the way he meets a talking cricket, who he kills, a fox and cat that talk him into an adventure, and finally ends up as a real person.

Original illustration by Enrico Mazzanti

The story was not that old when work began on Pinocchio in 1938. There are notes in the various histories of the studio about Walt asking artists to go out and see the play and/or read the book in 1937, as work was continuing on Snow White. Due to the time crunch on that film, however, it’s unlikely that any serious work began until 1938. In fact, Bambi was actually the first film to have work done on it, even though it would not appear until much later.

The original production of Pinocchio was much different than the beloved classic we see today. In the original version of the film, Pinocchio was designed much more like a real puppet, very angular and wooden. He was more similar to Charlie McCarthy, the well known ventriloquist act with Edgar Bergen, than he was to a simple child. Jiminy Cricket was not in the film, and Figaro was an older cat, not a kitten.

The main issue with the film was the main character. In the book, Pinocchio is a troublesome figure. Throughout the snippets and brief episodes that make up the book, Pinocchio is a cruel and harsh figure, only gaining redemption in the end. The original development of the film followed this path, and Walt hated it. He famously halted production on the film, throwing out most of six months’ work to rework Pinocchio.

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Courtesy ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archive

Milt Kahl is credited with the solution – to animate Pinocchio as a real child, merely adding joints like a puppet to his arms and legs. After a few tests, Walt signed off, and Pinocchio was reconfigured into a more realistic child, and his character became more of a good natured innocent.

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Courtesy ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archive

The rest of the film soon followed this path. Figaro transformed from a tomcat to a small kitten, and Jiminy Cricket was created from the talking cricket character in the book. Originally designed as a real cricket, Ward Kimball redesigned the character as basically a man with no ears. This would prove to be a huge success, as Jiminy would go on to be the longest lasting character from the film.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the film itself, and how it plays, then examine the reception of the film from critics and the public, before finally taking a look at how Pinocchio has held up over the years.