#that maybe his death was a wake up call to geppetto. that maybe his father DOES care about him

[dukereviewsmovies]

Duke Reviews: Pinocchio

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews, Where We're Continuing Our Look At Disney...

Where Today We Look At Walt Disney's Second Animated Feature, Pinocchio...

This Film Is About An Old Wood-Carver Named Geppetto Who Carves A Wooden Puppet Named Pinocchio Who Is Brought To Life By A Blue Fairy Who Informs Him That In Order To Become A Real Boy, He Must Prove Himself To Be Brave, Truthful And Unselfish...

Will Pinocchio Succeed In His Quest?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Pinocchio...

We Open With When You Wish Upon A Star As The Credits Roll, Eventually Ending We See Jiminy Cricket Finishing Up The Song As He Sits On A Bookshelf...

And Honestly, Who Doesn't Like This Song?

It's Basically One Of The Top 2 Songs You Immediately Think Of When You Hear The Word "Disney" (With The Other Being A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes From Cinderella)...

However, Lately It's Been Brought Into Question By People Who Believe It Promotes Laziness And A Lying Belief That Everything Will Be Okay If You Believe Hard Enough, But I Honestly Think That People Like That Never Had A Childhood Or Has Never Thought Like A Child In Their Adult Lives...

Also I'd Be Crazy To Not Point Out That As Jiminy Is Singing The Last Words Of When You Wish Upon A Star, You Should Also Notice That The 2 Books Alongside The Pinocchio Book Are Peter Pan And Alice In Wonderland, 2 Other Stories That Would Later Become Disney Animated Movies...

Introducing Himself, Jiminy Acknowledges That Many May Not Believe That A Wish Can Come True, Which Leads Him To Tell Us The Story Of Pinocchio As He Gets Off The Bookshelf To Open The Book...

Saying That One Night, Jiminy's Travels Through A Quaint Little Village Where He Took Up Shelter In The Workshop Of A Wood-Carver Named Geppetto, Who Carved Dozens Of Toys, Clocks, Music Boxes And Puppets...

Hearing Geppetto Enter With His Cat, Figaro, Jiminy Hides As He Works On A Marionette After Greeting His Goldfish, Cleo. Painting A Face On The Marionette, He Names Him Pinocchio And Tests Him Out By Walking Him Around The Workshop While Playing Music...

And While It's Really Not A Song, I Actually Enjoy This Scene And The Marionette's Interactions With Figaro And Cleo Are Pretty Cute...

With The Clocks Indicating It's 9 O'Clock (In A Scene Which Shows Some Of The Elaborate Clocks In The Workshop (Some Interesting, Others Slightly Offensive) Geppetto And Figaro Get Ready For Bed...

But Before Going To Sleep, Geppetto Wishes Upon The Wishing Star That Pinocchio Would Become A Real Boy, With The Star Growing Brighter And Closer To The Workshop, It Eventually Arrives And Transforms Into The Blue Fairy, Who Grants Geppetto His Wish And Brings Pinocchio To Life...

However, The Fairy Informs Pinocchio That The Task Of Granting The Rest Of Geppetto's Wish Is On His Hands, Saying That He Must Prove Himself Brave, Truthful And Unselfish In Order To Become A Real Boy And Also Know The Difference Between Right And Wrong...

But Unable To Know It As...

Well, One Of The Complaints People Have In This Movie Is That Pinocchio Is A Little Dumb And Yes, Even I'll Admit He Is A Little Dumb But It's A Naive Type Of Dumb So I'll Let It Go..

Anyway, Unable To Know, Jiminy Tries To Explain To Pinocchio The Idea Of A Conscience Which Leads The Blue Fairy To Ask Jiminy To Become Pinocchio's Conscience. Agreeing To, The Blue Fairy Dubs Him As So, Before Taking Off...

Though Unsuccessful At First, Jiminy Tries To Explain The Concept Of Right And Wrong And Tells Pinocchio That He Wants To Do Right, Which Leads Into Our Next Song, Give A Little Whistle...

But As Pinocchio Joins In, He Wakes Up Geppetto, Figaro And Cleo Who Discover That Pinocchio Is Alive And That If He's Brave, True And Unselfish He'll Be A Real Boy, Which Leads Geppetto To Celebrate With His Music Boxes...

Tell You The Truth, I've Always Wondered What Geppetto's Neighbors Thought About All The Music Boxes Playing At 3Am At Night?

But When Pinocchio Sets Finger On Fire, The Party's Over And They Go To Bed...

The Next Day, The Village Is Alive With Boys And Girls Going To School, With Pinocchio Going With Them..

Seriously, If Can Ask How Did Geppetto Enroll Pinocchio In School After Only Having Him For One Night?...

But As He Goes To School, He "Befriends" A Cat Named Gideon And A Fox Named Honest John Who Tells Him That He Is Just The Type To Become An Actor Which Leads Into Our Next Song...

And I Honestly Like The Tune As It's Very Catchy...

Late On His First Day, Jiminy Tells Pinocchio Not To Listen To Honest John, But Pinocchio Ignores Him And Goes Off With Honest John And Gideon While Jiminy Follows...

Taking Pinocchio To Stromboli's Caravan, He Buys The Puppet Off Of Honest John And Makes Him His Star Attraction That Night As Jiminy Watches From The Audience As Our Next Song Starts...

And What Can I Say About This Song Except That It's A Great Song, In Fact It's So Good Even Ultron Likes It...

Becoming A Smash Hit, Jiminy Realizes That Maybe He Was Wrong And Decides To Let Pinocchio Go On Without Him...

Meanwhile At Geppetto's Shop, He Worries About His Wooden Boy And Goes Off To Look For Him While In Stromboli's Caravan After The Show, He Congratulates Pinocchio On A Successful Show...

But Wanting To Go Home To His Father, Stromboli Throws Pinocchio In A Cage And Declares That He Will Stay In There As They Tour The World And When Pinocchio Gets Too Old He'll Chop Him Into Firewood...

Calling Out To Jiminy For Help, He Eventually Shows When He Goes To Say Goodbye To Pinocchio. Attempting To Get Him Out Of The Cage Proves Impossible As It's An Old Lock And He Can't Unlock It...

Feeling Sorry For Themselves By Crying, Their Worries Grow Bigger When The Blue Fairy Shows Up...

(End At 1:39)

Freeing Them And Returning Pinocchio's Nose To Normal, They Sneak Out Stromboli's Van Before Heading For Home...

Celebrating At Red Lobster...

May As Well Call It That As It's Called The Red Lobster Inn...

Honest John And Gideon Meet With A Coachman Who Will Give Them A Huge Bag Of Money If They Bring Him Stupid Little Boys For Him To Take To Pleasure Island, Though Honest John Is Worried About Getting Caught At First, He Eventually Accepts...

Running Into Pinocchio, Who Is On His Way Home, Honest John And Gideon Pretend To Be Doctors Who State That He's Allergic...

Allergic To What?!?

They Don't Really Say But Either Way They Say That He Needs A Vacation And Must Go To Pleasure Island To Get Better Which Leads Jiminy To Go After Him...

Once On Board The Coachman's Coach, Pinocchio Meets A Boy Named Lampwick...

Who I Honestly Love...

Seriously I Love His Character Design So Much I Wanted To Meet Lampwick At The Park And Take A Picture With Him...

And I Knew He Was In The Parks As For A Time They Had Him And Pinocchio In The Main Street Electrical Parade...

However, Every Time We Went He Was Never Out And Eventually He Became One Of The Characters That Was Taken Out Of The Park And It Made Me Sad As I Knew I Would Never Get That Picture...

And Ever Since It Has Been My One Disneyland Childhood Regret...

But Enough With Childhood Regrets, Let's Move On..

As I Was Saying...

Pinocchio Meets A Boy Named Lampwick, Who That Pleasure Island Is A Swell Joint Where Boys Can Run Without Fear Of Reprimand From Authority Figures And Everything Is Free...

Reaching Pleasure Island By Boat, The Boys Go Off And Enjoy Themselves While The Coachman Orders His Men To Lock The Doors Trapping The Boys In...

Search The Now Empty Fairground For Pinocchio, Jiminy Eventually Finds Him With Lampwick In The Pool Hall. Telling Pinocchio That He Has To Go Home, Lampwick Hits The Cricket With A Pool Ball That Goes Down With The Other Pool Balls...

Laughing At Jiminy, He Quits Again As Pinocchio's Conscience But When He Discovers That All The Boys That Arrived On The Island Have Transformed Into Donkeys, Jiminy Races Back To The Pool Hall To Save Pinocchio...

(Start At 1:00)

Arriving Just In Time To Get Pinocchio Off The Island, They Swim For The Shore So They Can They Can Return Home. But When They Do Return Home, Geppetto's Workshop Is Empty With Geppetto, Figaro And Cleo Gone...

But Through A Message From The Blue Fairy They Discover That Geppetto Went Looking For Pinocchio Only To Be Swallowed By A Whale Named Monstro. Deciding To Go Save His Father, He Ties His New Tail To A Rock And They Dive Into The Ocean To Go Looking For Monstro...

Well, If You're Looking For Whales I Think I Know A Fish That Can Speak Whale...

But Dory Aside, They Eventually Find Monstro Who Eats Them Along With A Bunch Of Fish Which Geppetto Tries To Catch From Inside Of Monstro. Managing To Catch Pinocchio Father And Son Are Reunited...

But Despite Being Happy To See His Son, Geppetto Tells Pinocchio That There Is No Way To Get Out Of The Whale But Luckily Pinocchio Comes With An Idea To Gather Everything That's Wood And Burn It So Monstro Will Start Sneezing,..

Doing Just That, They Board A Small Boat That Geppetto Made As Monstro Sneezes Them Out, Furious Over Losing His Food, Monstro Chases After Them And Destroys Their Boat But Grabbing His Father, Pinocchio Paddles For A Hole In The Cliffs, Getting Through As Monstro Crashes Into It...

With Geppetto Coming To, Him And Jiminy Discover Pinocchio Face Down In A Puddle, Dead After Saving His Father...

Ah! Let's Hold The Darth Vader No's For Now...

Returning To His Workshop, Geppetto, Figaro And Cleo Mourn The Death Of Pinocchio, However, Proving Himself To Be Brave, Truthful, And Unselfish Pinocchio Is Returned To Life And Becomes A Real Boy...

So While Geppetto Celebrates His Wish Coming True, Jiminy Goes Out To The Window Ledge....

And That's Pinocchio And I Honestly Love It...

The Story Is Great, I Love The Characters And While There's No Real Bad Guy (I Guess Since Honest John, Gideon And Stromboli Are In The Parks At Times You Could Classify Them As The Bad Guys But Still) I Absolutely Enjoy It...

However Looking Back At It Now And Watching The Nostalgia Critic's Disneycember Review Of It I Do Have Some Questions Some I Asked During The Review Others But This One I Seriously Agree With The Nostalgia Critic On Is What Happened To The Boys On Pleasure Island Did They Just Stay There Forever? Or Did Pinocchio Rat Out The Coachman's Operation?

Either Way I Feel Something Should Have Happened...

But Still It's A Good Film And I Say See It...

Be Sure To Stop Check Out Duke Reviews Xtra As This Week We Are Back Doing Drew Carey In Geppetto Till Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[massive-mythopoetic-mashup]

The Binding Of Pinocchio

The Adventures Of Pinocchio started as a serial in an Italian children’s periodical, with each issue containing an episode which would later become a chapter of the novel. It was one of the earliest examples of modern children’s literature. The author, Carlo Collodi, didn’t actually like children at all, and The Tale Of A Puppet was basically slapstick torture porn combined with mockery of the ignorance of rural people who came to the city. Pinocchio was a disobedient brat who knew nothing, and constantly got himself into ridiculous and horrible situations in which he suffered greatly as a result of his bad behavior. Despite this- or actually because of it- kids ate up the cautionary tale with its rich descriptions of terrible things happening to Pinocchio, which appealed in much the same way as Looney Tunes characters’ attempts to kill one another.

After fourteen episodes Collodi got tired of the series, and decided to give it a tragic, cautionary finale: in the fifteenth episode the Fox and the Cat (who had earned Pinocchio’s trust by pretending to be lame in one leg and blind respectively) trick Pinocchio into entering the forest alone at night, disguise themselves, and then capture him, all in an attempt to get his money. When he won’t give it up, they tie his hands, bind his arms, and hang him by the neck from a tree in a heavy wind until he dies- a cruel and ironic fate for a marionette. And that was the end of Pinocchio’s adventures.

Does this sound familiar at all? Maybe does it remind you of a certain robot girl getting garroted by her own strings? Or of the deception of a certain boy pretending to have a broken leg and a girl who secretly has the power to cloud the vision of others? Well, if you thought Penny Polendina’s destruction was an awful and pointlessly dark and cruel ending to the story of such an upbeat character, you’re in good company. Naturally, Collodi’s young readers were aghast as well. They were so upset that the editor asked Collodi to please continue the serial and bring the puppet back, and try to give it a happier conclusion. Collodi begrudgingly agreed, and picked back up with the Blue Fairy cutting Pinocchio down and bringing him home. She calls some incompetent doctors who humorously argue over the puppet’s condition, and eventually determine that Pinocchio is only mostly dead; over the next episode the Blue Fairy gradually nurses Pinocchio back to health. The serial went on to have twenty-one more installments after Pinocchio’s ‘death’, and when the installments were collected into the chapters of a novel, the original hanging episode was retained, becoming the fifteenth chapter out of thirty-six.

Disney of course found the hanging scene too gruesome to include in its adaptation, but other adaptations have retained it: the 1978 British animated adaptation of Pinocchio includes it, for example, and you can also see it in K. C. Green’s very faithful webcomic adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s novel.

Penny’s shocking and heartbreaking destruction wasn’t pulled out of nowhere; it was recapitulating Pinocchio’s story, and referencing the darkness of the original ending to the serial. It was never intended to be the end of her character. There’s every reason to expect that, just as Carlo Collodi saved his own story by bringing back the boy puppet and continuing his adventures, Miles and Kerry plan to bring back the girl robot in RWBY and continue retelling Pinocchio’s story- and she has got a ways to go before that story is complete.

…unfortunately, that doesn’t mean Penny’s not going to have to face death again. Because, like every member of team JNPR, Penny is a gender-swapped version of a character who crossdresses and dies at the end of their story. In the original novel, Pinocchio doesn’t simply transform into a real boy; his puppet body actually dies- and stays dead- and he wakes up in a new, human body, with his old dead body laying next to him. As creepy as that is, Disney’s adaptation goes quite a lot further:

While in the novel Pinocchio and Geppetto manage to escape the stomach of The Terrible Dogfish unharmed, in Disney’s Pinocchio, when the living puppet attempts to rescue his father Geppetto from the belly of the whale Monstro, he pays with his life.

And considering that Thor also dies to a giant sea monster, well… watch the seas.