The Horse's Head

#478) The Lost World (1925)

OR “The Land During Time”

Directed by Harry O. Hoyt

Written by Marion Fairfax. Based on the novel by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Class of 1998

There are multiple cuts of “Lost World” out there on the internet, and this post is based on my viewing of the 2016 restoration by Lobster Films.

The Plot: Reporter Edward Malone (Lloyd Hughes) wants to prove to his fiancée Gladys (Alma Bennett) that he can be adventurous. After attending a lecture by controversial Professor George Challenger (Wallace Beery), Edward volunteers to join the explorer on an expedition to South America in search of living dinosaurs. Joined by hunter Sir John Roxton (Lewis Stone), and Paula White (Bessie Love), the daughter of a missing explorer, the team arrive in the Amazon, and find stop-motion dinosaurs roaming the earth. Their discovery is tremendous, but can they survive the perils of the jungle and get their findings back to London?

Why It Matters: Sometimes the NFR hands me a freebie in their write-up: “The Lost World” is historically significant in that it was one of the first full-length feature films to include stop motion model animation. Thanks! There’s also an essay by film and science-fiction expert Brian Taves.

But Does It Really?: “Lost World” is what I would call a “stepping stone” movie. It’s by no means a revered classic, but it paved the way for science-fiction in film, as well as the evolution of stop-motion animation. The film can be a bit stilted and dated, but the effects by Willis H. O’Brien are worth the trip out. No argument for NFR inclusion.

Everybody Gets One: Like many early movie screenwriters, Marion Fairfax was an established Broadway playwright that heeded Hollywood’s call. Deemed “always a winner” by one of her studio bosses, Fairfax cranked out hit script after hit script, including a 1922 adaptation of another Arthur Conan Doyle classic, “Sherlock Holmes” with John Barrymore. At the height of her Hollywood career, Fairfax operated her own studio and was working on up to five projects simultaneously. Information on Marion Fairfax is scarce after 1926, when she retired from screenwriting (possibly due to ongoing health issues) and disappeared from the public eye.

Wow, That’s Dated: BLACKFACE WARNING: One of the expedition team’s guides is played by a white actor in blackface. To make matters worse, the intertitles make him sound like Stepin Fetchit.

Other notes 

• Shoutout to the team behind the 2016 restoration, which brings the film back to its original runtime for the first time in almost 90 years. The final results look terrific.
• Arthur Conan Doyle is one of those authors whose timeline I always associate with the pre-film era. Not only was Doyle alive for this film adaptation of “The Lost World”, he actually appears in it! In fact, it was Doyle’s endorsement of Willis O’Brien’s early stop-motion tests that spurred this movie’s development.
• Wallace Beery IS Emile Zola. And while we’re talking about Professor Challenger: a controversial public figure who makes unsupported claims and is antagonistic towards the press; where have I seen this before?
• There is no love interest in the original Doyle novel, but practically every major film adaptation has added one. This version gives us Paula, as played by future Oscar nominee Bessie Love.
• Lewis Stone was not on my radar before starting this blog, and between this movie, “Grand Hotel“, and “Love Finds Andy Hardy“, he has a diverse group of classics on his resume.
• Once we get to the Amazon, this movie picks up and makes room for the real star: the special effects. Sure it’s all primitive by today’s standards, but when you’ve watched as many silent films as I have you recognize what an innovative step forward this movie was.

• Also revolutionary was the film’s use of split screen technology, allowing the live actors to appear on screen alongside the dinosaurs.
• Excuse me, but you cannot wear a deerstalker cap in a Doyle adaptation without some obvious comparisons being made.
• 37 minutes in and we finally have our first dinosaur, an unfriendly pterodactyl. This is followed up by Gertie the Dinosaur in her first dramatic role.
• Once the dinosaurs show up, the plot takes a backseat to the spectacle, but the magic of practical effects are so impressive you don’t care, especially once the Allosaurus starts attacking the Triceratops. Take that, “Rite of Spring“!

• Speaking of, most of these dinosaur set pieces look like I’m going through the Primeval World exhibit at Disneyland.
• In addition to recreating the color tinting effect common in most silent films, the restored version of “Lost World” includes the Handschiegel process, which added color to specific elements of a shot. In the case of “Lost World”, Handschiegel is used to highlight the fire, adding a wonderful sense of danger you don’t get in a standard black-and-white outing.

• All I want during these dinosaur attacks is one intertitle that says “Roar!”
• Wasn’t that apeman in the Laurel & Hardy “Babes in Toyland”?
• Edward uses the old “out of continent” excuse to cheat on his fiancée. But then again, no one in this movie cares about Gladys. She’s not even in every cut of this movie!
• My favorite attention to detail; the movement of the brontosaurus’ stomach to indicate breathing.
• Once we get to the finale, the film turns into a precursor to the Godzilla movies, with the escaped Brontosaurus on a rampage through London. My favorite moment is when the Brontosaurus knocks down a statue, which by 2020 standards is very progressive. Damn Gertie, you’re woke AF.

Legacy 

• “The Lost World” was one of the biggest hits of the year, and helped revive public interest in dinosaurs and science-fiction films. Perhaps the film’s biggest influence was its depiction of dinosaurs as cunning predators, rather than simple-minded evolutionary mistakes, as was the common theory of the time.
• Willis O’Brien would further perfect his stop-motion creatures with his landmark work in “King Kong“.

• Surprisingly, Arthur Conan Doyle deemed Professor Challenger his favorite character, not Sherlock. In fact, short stories about Challenger’s further discoveries were among the final pieces Doyle wrote before his death in 1930.
• “The Lost World” has been adapted to the screen multiple times over the years, and while the first “Jurassic Park” sequel is not a direct remake, it shares a subtitle, as well as a few story points.

• For many years the only available version of “The Lost World” was an hour-long cut made after the film lapsed into public domain. As more of the lost “Lost” footage has resurfaced over the years, there have been at least five different restorations of the film to incorporate the latest discoveries.

#477) Republic Steel Strike Riot Newsreel Footage (1937)

by Paramount News

Class of 1997

Trailer 

There are lots of different YouTube videos out there with this footage, and I’ll always recommend the raw footage, as some of these clips include the actual audio from the day. I also recommend this film by the Illinois Labor History Society featuring commentary by Sam Evett, a union organizer and witness to the riot.

On May 26th, 1937, after failing to make a negotiation with Republic Steel for better working conditions, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC) went on strike. Organized by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the strike also included workers at Inland Steel and Youngstown Sheet and Tube (known collectively with Republic as “Little Steel”), amounting to 67,000 total steel workers on strike.

On the morning of Memorial Day (May 30th), a crowd of striking workers and sympathizers gathered in the field in front of Republic Steel in Chicago. They were met by a large group of Chicago policemen, armed and prepared to break up any protests. After a few minutes, things escalated into a riot, with the police firing shots at the crowd, as well as throwing tear gas and beating strikers with their clubs. When the dust settled, four civilians were immediately dead, six more died of complications in the ensuing days, and at least 67 were wounded or suffered head injuries. This event would become known as the “Memorial Day Massacre“, and its show of violence was one of many the strikers would face in the next few months.

Tipped off about the protest, Paramount News was at the scene documenting the entire event with their cameras. The Chicago police initially banned Paramount from releasing the footage publicly, fearing “mass hysteria”. The footage did, however, make an appearance in a 1938 Senate investigation, in which it was used to prove that the policemen had incited the riot, and that their gear was provided to them by Republic Steel. Despite this evidence, no police arrests were ever made.

Like much of the historical films on this list, the Memorial Day massacre newsreel footage is indeed worthy of NFR preservation. In addition to its sudden, unsettling view of the day, the film’s historical significance lies in its documentation as well as its role in the subsequent investigation. Sadly, with the rise in police brutality that we see in our modern, deeply-divided world, the Republic Steel Strike footage has proven just how little we have evolved as a nation.

Legacy

• While the strike ended five months later in a sound defeat for SWOC, these events led to the creation of the United Steel Workers of America (now United Steel Workers), and a contract with Little Steel in 1942.
• Republic Steel saw a slow decline, and by the 1980s had been bought and merged with other companies, though it would regain its Republic Steel name in 2011.
• United Steel Workers is still going, 860,000 members strong. The USW’s former union hall in Chicago now features a plaque memorializing the Memorial Day massacre, and the 10 union members who were killed.

#476) Broken Blossoms (1919)

OR “I Love Lucy”

Directed & Written by D.W. Griffith. Based on a short story by Thomas Burke.

Class of 1996

The Plot: In London’s seedy Limehouse district, Chinese immigrant Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) arrives to teach the word of Buddha, but becomes increasingly disillusioned with the world and ends up as a curio store proprietor and opium addict. His faith is restored when he crosses paths with Lucy (Lillian Gish), a young lady escaping from her abusive father, the boxer Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp). Having admired her from afar, Cheng Huan takes Lucy in and keeps her safe. When Battling Burrows gets word of Lucy’s hideout, things take a tragic turn. It’s a story of racial tolerance from…the director of “Birth of a Nation“!? Oh dear.

Why It Matters: The NFR cites “Broken Blossoms” as an example of Griffiths’ “smaller films that struck a chord with silent era audiences.” The write-up also states that the film “entreats audiences to denounce racism and poverty”. …Huh. Also on hand is an essay by film critic/Slant Magazine co-founder Ed Gonzalez.

But Does It Really?: Call me Ingrid Bergman, because someone’s gaslighting me. Everything I’ve read about “Broken Blossoms” talks about its intimate beauty and its message of racial tolerance. You know, that movie starring a white man in yellowface from the director who helped revive the Klan. Have we all gone insane? Maybe I’m watching this too soon after “Birth” to be totally objective, but I really can’t cut this movie any slack. I’ll be nice and designate “Broken Blossoms” as “historically significant” (it was the first movie released by United Artists), but anyone who says this plodding, insensitive story is one of the greatest films ever made needs to get their head examined.

Wow, That’s Dated: Once again, we have a massive YELLOWFACE WARNING front and center. White actor Richard Barthelmess plays Cheng Huan, allegedly with a tight rubber band under his hat to stretch his facial features. Not exactly “The Joy Luck Club”, is it?

Other notes 

• According to the credits, Richard Barthelmess appears “courtesy of Dorothy Gish”. Anyone know what that’s in reference to? Obviously she’s Lillian’s sister, but I can’t find any evidence that Dorothy and Richard worked together, at least not in the capacity that these credits imply.
• Right from the start, Griffith uses the intertitles to preach racial tolerance, asking us to be aware of our own “unkind words and deeds”. Well Mr. Pot, how would you describe Ms. Kettle?
• Yellowface aside, Griffith goes out of his way to make Cheng Huan (and the other Chinese characters) stereotypes in the opposite direction of “Birth of a Nation”. Cheng et al are wise, kind, and practice tolerance to all around them. Nowhere near as derogatory as the African-Americans of “Birth”, but still an extreme.
• At least because it’s a silent film we don’t have to sit through anyone’s atrocious or offensive accents.
• And if this movie didn’t have enough problems, let’s throw in some child abuse for good measure. The film never condones these actions, but I still have to witness it.
• Donald Crisp kinda looks like James Cromwell. It should be noted that Crisp was also a director, and filmed his scenes for “Blossoms” at night because he was directing during the day (most likely either “Something to Do” or “Putting It Over”).
• All I knew about “Broken Blossoms” before this viewing is the iconic moment where Lillian Gish pushes her lips up with two fingers to evoke a smile. I did not realize this was in the context of appeasing her abusive father. So much for Precious Images. While we’re on the subject, the two finger move can definitely be misconstrued today.

• Once Lucy escapes from Battling and stays with Cheng, things are still uncomfortable. Cheng basically lusts after her from a distance; never taking advantage of her, but definitely creeping me out over here. I know that this is all supposed to be a charming respite from her father, but this movie is so slow these scenes are mainly boring.
• It was around this point that I wondered if the movie’s source material was a short story. Turns out I was right. If your short story doesn’t lend itself to a full-length feature, why not pull a “Big Sleep” or “Short Cuts” and combine a few? Thomas Burke had plenty of material to draw from, much of it also set in the Limehouse district.
• My other gripe with this picture: No one calls Cheng Huan by name, resorting to certain epithets I’d rather not mention.
• I always find it amusing when a silent movie’s story hinders on someone hearing something, in this case Lucy breaking a teapot in the back room. I guess I’ll take your word for it, movie.
• Griffith’s movies can be quite problematic but I have to hand it to him, the man knew the power of the close-up.

• For me “Broken Blossoms” is best summed up by Griffith himself. According to Richard Schickel’s biography, Griffith had difficulty editing “Blossoms”, stating, “I can’t look at the damn thing; it depresses me so.” Well said.

Legacy 

• “Broken Blossoms” was originally produced by Famous Players-Lasky (now Paramount), but producer Adolph Zukor hated the final film. Griffith bought the film from Zukor for $250,000 and released it through his newly formed studio United Artists. “Broken Blossoms” was a hit, and made over $600,000 at the box office.
• “Broken Blossoms” was the first film released by United Artists (though the first one actually produced by them was Douglas Fairbanks’ “His Majesty, the American”). Over the years United Artists has risen and fallen, been bought and sold, merged and rebranded. The United Artists name still exists, though it is primarily a distribution company (they release the Bond movies), with its last co-production being 2015’s “Creed”.

• Although D.W. Griffith was a founding member of United Artists, and “Broken Blossoms” was a hit for the studio, his next few films faltered, and in 1924 Griffith left the studio after the failure of “Isn’t Life Wonderful”. I guess the answer was no. Griffith made a few early talkies, but following his departure from United Artists, his film career was essentially over.
• The Brits made their own film version of “Broken Blossoms” in 1936. Despite the technological advancements made in the previous 17 years, this version also stars a white man in yellowface.

• Films with nuanced, respectful depictions of Asians and Asian-Americans (played by actual Asians and Asian-Americans) have been around for decades, but this country is just now embracing them on a large scale with recent films like “Crazy Rich Asians”, “The Farewell”, and “Parasite”.

#475) American Graffiti (1973)

OR “Boomers in Cars Getting Comfy”

Directed by George Lucas

Written by Lucas and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck

Class of 1995

The Plot: In 1962 Modesto, high school graduates Steve Bolander and Curt Henderson (Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss) have one last night of fun and cruising before leaving town and going to college. Steve gets in a fight with his girlfriend Laurie (Cindy Williams), who still has a year left of high school. Curt attempts to reconnect with a mysterious blonde woman (Suzanne Somers) in a Thunderbird. John Milner (Paul Le Mat) gets stuck cruising with obnoxious 12-year-old Carol (Mackenzie Phillips) and ends up in a drag race with local hot-rodder Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford). Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charles Martin Smith) gets Steve’s car and picks up Connie Francis lookalike Debbie Dunham (Candy Clark). It’s a love letter to the early 1960s, with a soundtrack courtesy of Wolfman Jack!

Why It Matters: The NFR gives a rundown of the film’s production and legacy, praising Lucas, the script, the film’s “ironic candor”, and visual consultant Haskell Wexler.

But Does It Really?: “American Graffiti” is definitely in the “minor classic” category. Its nostalgic value may be reserved solely for those who were actually there, but the film is still an enjoyable coming-of-age tale that comes straight from the heart. To call this movie George Lucas’ stepping stone to “Star Wars” is to deny this film its own important place in ’70s filmdom as one of the decade’s biggest hits, the epicenter of ’50s nostalgia, and the launching pad for many promising careers. No argument here for “American Graffiti” making the NFR cut.

Shout Outs: John’s license plate reads “THX 138”. So close.

Everybody Gets One: “Graffiti” is the breakout film/sole NFR representation for pretty much every young ’70s actor who wasn’t in “The Last Picture Show“. Among them: Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Suzanne Somers, and Lynne Marie Stewart, aka Miss Yvonne from “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”!

Wow, That’s Dated: The opening credits say it all: “Ronnie” Howard gets top billing, while Harrison Ford is tenth!

Title Track: No one has ever been able to explain this title to me. Apparently Universal execs didn’t get it either, and alternates like “Rock Around the Block” and “Another Quiet Night in Modesto” were considered before Lucas finally won out.

Seriously, Oscars?: An unexpected hit for Universal, “American Graffiti” received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay. Unfortunately “Graffiti” was the only Best Picture nominee to go home empty-handed that year, losing in four categories to Universal’s other big contender, “The Sting“.

Other notes 

• After making the feature film version of “THX 1138”, George Lucas was challenged by his friend and mentor Francis Ford Coppola to write a movie that would appeal to mainstream audiences. Lucas turned to his own teen years for inspiration. Like the characters in “Graffiti”, George was a high school senior in 1962 Modesto who spent his nights cruising the main streets.
• Although set in Modesto, Lucas felt that the town had changed too much in the previous decade to play itself. “Graffti” began production in San Rafael, California, but the city withdrew their support after two nights of filming. The rest of the shoot was covered in nearby Petaluma. The Mel’s Drive-In featured throughout the film was the original diner on South Van Ness Street in San Francisco. Sadly, it was demolished a few years later and is now condos.
• That’s two NFR movies that open with “Rock Around the Clock”. Any teen-induced riots during screenings of this one?

• It should be noted that while Ron Howard the actor is on the NFR (this and “The Music Man“), Ron Howard the director is conspicuously absent. Where’s “Apollo 13”? “Splash”? “The Grinch”? [2023 Update: Hey, there’s “Apollo 13”!]
• This entire post could be me dissecting the film’s soundtrack, one of the first to consist solely of preexisting hits. Each one is expertly chosen to comment on or underscore the scene it’s featured in. Shoutout to attorney Tom Pollack for his Herculean achievement with rights clearance, and sound editor Walter Murch for weaving it all together. Where’s his Oscar nod?
• The sock-hop is one of the movie’s highlights, with the snowball dance between Steve and Laurie a particularly great moment. I’ve always felt an inexplicable connection to Cindy Williams, probably because we share a birthday. Regardless, she’s the emotional core of the movie, and conveys the intelligence and awkwardness of being 17 perfectly.

• A big ensemble, interweaving storylines, a radio voice as the linchpin. This movie is “Nashville” if Altman knew how to mike properly.
• The other nice thing about this movie is its affection for the era before ’50s nostalgia had been done to death. The movie feels fresher and more personal than later, more commercial fare like “Grease“.
• Hey, that’s the same cop car stunt from “Airport 1975”! Where’s Sid Caesar?

• Harrison Ford singing “Some Enchanted Evening” should be included in every “Greatest Movie Moments” clip package ever. This scene was one of three that Universal initially cut from the film against Lucas’ wishes. Once “Star Wars” was a hit, Lucas persuaded Universal to reinstate the scenes, and they’ve been in the film ever since.

• Wolfman Jack: If Harvey Fierstein was straight.

• Compared to the rest of film’s fun atmosphere, the drag race ending seems surprisingly intense, but if anyone’s qualified to chronicle a near-fatal car crash, it’s George Lucas. This is followed by an epilogue detailing the downer fates of the four male leads.

Legacy 

• “American Graffiti” was the third highest-grossing film of 1973, and everyone’s career benefited from its success. The cast spent the rest of the decade as in-demand young talent, and George Lucas used the film’s success to convince 20^th Century Fox to finance his long-gestating space opera screenplay “The Star Wars”.

• Although “Graffiti” is set in 1962, it helped kick off a decade long nostalgia for the 1950s. Remembering a rejected pilot set in the ’50s that Ron Howard had starred in a few years earlier, ABC quickly greenlit the show to series, added a greaser character based on Paul Le Mat’s John, and called it “Happy Days”. Aaaaaaay.

• The 1979 sequel “More American Graffiti” saw most of the cast returning (recent Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss was the main holdout) and chronicled what happened to everyone throughout the 1960s and the counterculture movement. Compared to the original, “More” is less.

• Despite the loss of the original Mel’s, the chain still operates to this day, and leans heavily on its “American Graffiti” connection. I’m a sucker for their shakes.

Please give me free shakes.

Listen to This: Among the dozens of artists featured on the “American Graffiti” soundtrack are National Recording Registry inductees Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Bill Haley, and The Beach Boys. All this and more on two CDs or two cassettes!

#474) Pinocchio (1940)

OR “Wood I Lie To You?”

Directed by Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen

Written by Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, and Aurelius Battaglia. Based on the story by Carlo Collodi. Songs by Leigh Harline, Paul J. Smith, and Ned Washington.

Class of 1994

The Plot: Kindly woodcarver Geppetto (voiced by Christian Rub) wishes upon a star that his marionette Pinocchio become a real boy. The Blue Fairy (voiced by Evelyn Venable) grants his wish…well sorta. Pinocchio comes to life (voiced by Dick Jones) but must learn to be brave, truthful and unselfish to truly become human. Aided by his appointed conscience Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff Edwards), Pinocchio gets into trouble at a puppet show, the mysterious amusement park Pleasure Island, and even at the bottom of the sea. It’s the classic Collodi story, minus most of the things from the Collodi story.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls it a “Disney classic” and singles out “When You Wish Upon a Star” as “[o]ne of the film’s most lasting contributions.” There’s also an essay by Disney expert J.B. Kaufman.

But Does It Really?: Who’s going to say no to “Pinocchio”? Even if this quintessential movie fantasy isn’t your cup of tea, you at least have to admire the stunning animation and the lasting impact of the songs. While it falls short when compared to breakthrough “Snow White“, “Pinocchio” is a landmark for both Disney animation and top-tier family entertainment.

Everybody Gets One: Many of the voice actors (all uncredited, by the way) were character actors and radio personalities. In addition to voicing the Blue Fairy, Evelyn Venable was the live-action reference for the original Columbia logo. Actor Christian Rub was called in to replace the original voice of Geppetto, who was coming across as too unlikable. The animators even based Geppetto’s facial features on Rub.

Wow, That’s Dated: Between Stromboli being both an Italian stereotype and a Romani “gypsy”, Disney+ is right to warn me that this movie “may contain outdated cultural depictions” (he literally eats garlic at one point!). There’s also a reference to the Trylon and Perisphere from the then-current New York World’s Fair. That’s all well and good, but where’s Elektro?

Seriously, Oscars?: A critical hit but a box office miss (more on that later), “Pinocchio” won Oscars in both of its nominated categories: Best Score and Best Song for “When You Wish Upon a Star”. “Pinocchio” was the first animated feature to win a competitive Oscar (“Snow White” received an honorary Oscar two years earlier).

Other notes 

• Production of “Pinocchio” began in late 1937, but after five months of storyboards and rough animation, Walt scrapped the entire production, feeling that the character of Pinocchio lacked sympathy. The animators started from scratch, making Pinocchio more naïve than mischievous. The biggest addition to this revised version was a cricket – a minor character in the Collodi story – to serve as Pinocchio’s sounding board. Jiminy’s design was scaled back so much, animator Ward Kimball joked the only way you could tell he was a cricket was “because the other characters say he is.”
• Despite its status as an iconic movie song, “When You Wish Upon a Star” plays over the static opening credits, with no visuals until the last stanza.

• Cliff Edwards was a popular musician in the ’20s and ’30s, and as Jiminy Cricket became the first established star to lend his voice to a Disney character.
• It’s interesting to watch this film as a direct follow-up to “Snow White”. Disney continues to push the boundaries of animation, but is also aware of what audiences liked about “Snow White”. You liked Dopey? Here’s three silent sidekicks! You liked the songs? Here’s more from the same team!
• Dick Jones was 11 years old when he started recording “Pinocchio”. Unlike most child actors, he continued to work steadily in Hollywood well into his mid-40s. Jones makes an on-camera appearance in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” as a page befriended by Jimmy Stewart.
• For those of you keeping score, that’s two Disney movies in a row that feature a song about whistling.

• “Pinocchio” makes an intriguing double feature with the thematically similar “Blade Runner“. What I wouldn’t give to hear Pinocchio say, “I want more life, father.”
• Honest John is voiced by Walter Catlett, an actor and comedian best known for his work in “Bringing Up Baby” and “The Front Page“. Warner Bros. voiceover legend Mel Blanc initially provided the voice of Gideon, but it was later decided to make him mute, and all that survives of Blanc’s work is a single hiccup.

• For an Italian story this movie is not very Italian. Geppetto seems to be German, Pinocchio is straight-up American; the only person who has an Italian accent is Stromboli, and aggressively so.

• All the fantasy elements lend themselves well to animation, but Pinocchio’s nose growing is the most memorable, providing great character animation for him and Jiminy.

• Jiminy Cricket is bad at his job. He spends most of the movie complaining about Pinocchio, or straight up abandoning him. And when he does help, Jiminy tends to rob Pinocchio of moments of actual growth. I think Disney spent a little too much time developing this movie’s sidekick.
• So, Pleasure Island is the kid version of The Purge?

• The transformation of Lampwick into a donkey is still terrifying. Everyone forgets that the early Disney films didn’t shy away from scary.

• The entire Monstro the Whale sequence is an impressive undertaking of animation, especially when you consider that all of those underwater effects were drawn by hand.

• Am I the only person who’s kinda weirded out by Pinocchio’s “real boy” look? I think it’s the nose that’s throwing me.

• Yes, Pinocchio learns the right lesson in the end, but it’s done in a very “boys will be boys” manner. You don’t see Snow White and Cinderella getting to be flawed or make mistakes or grow as people. It’s a double standard that plagues most of Disney’s work.

Legacy 

• “Pinocchio” opened in February 1940, five months after World War II was declared in Europe. As a result, most of the film’s international market was cut, and “Pinocchio” only made half of its budget back. Turns out “Pinocchio” was the “Onward” of its day.
• “Pinocchio” finally turned a profit following its 1945 re-release, and the film returned to theaters every few years for the next five decades.

• In 1985, Disney tentatively agreed to release “Pinocchio” on home video, but only for a limited time, thus establishing the “Disney Vault”.

• “When You Wish Upon a Star” has become the official Disney anthem, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a major Disney event or program that doesn’t feature it.

• Some of the film’s other songs get shoutouts from time to time. “I’ve Got No Strings” is a motif in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, sung half-assedly by James Spader.

• Cliff Edwards reprised the role of Jiminy Cricket several times, including the film “Fun and Fancy Free” and the “I’m No Fool” shorts from “The Mickey Mouse Club”.

• “Pinocchio” gets its share of representation in the Disney parks, most prominently as a Fantasyland dark ride.

• “Now you be-a good, Pinitchio, and don’t-a you lie.”

• The original Collodi story has been remade several times over the years, with Pinocchio being played by everyone from Paul Reubens to Roberto Benigni. Filmation’s 1987 pseudo-sequel “Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night” veered close enough to Disney’s version to warrant legal action (the court ruled in favor of Filmation).

• Looks like “Pinocchio” is taking the live-action remake route, with Tom Hanks as Geppetto and Robert Zemeckis directing. Here’s hoping Pinocchio doesn’t end up in the Uncanny Valley.

Listen to This: Cliff Edwards’ rendition of “When You Wish Upon a Star” made the National Recording Registry in 2009. The song gets TWO essays, one by Cary O’Dell and one by James M. Bohn.