The Italian novelist Carlo Collodi wrote "The Adventures of Pinocchio" back in 1881. But Collodi's wooden puppet was quite different from the brave young kid we know today. In the book, Pinocchio is a selfish, ill-mannered petty criminal. When his external conscience - a moralizing little cricket - tries to point this out, he is squashed with a mallet. And Pinocchio himself ends up being hanged from a tree. Not exactly material for a typical Disney film, in other words.
Fortunately, Walt Disney thought differently. In 1936 he bought the rights to the story with a view to making his second cartoon feature. Disney then assigned his team of writers to transform Pinocchio into a likable and well-intentioned character. But that turned out to be easier said than done. As a puppet brought to life, Pinocchio remained wooden and expressionless. And the talking cricket - now named Jiminy - was still an unattractive little bug.
Walt Disney was utterly dissatisfied. So, in the middle of 1938 he stopped the whole project. Six months of work was discarded and the animation team re-focused on making the leading characters more engaging. Twelve guys now dealt exclusively with Pinocchio himself and they worked for eighteen months to give him a more "rounded" human quality. Another group took on little Jiminy Cricket. The result was a diminutive, deeply charming creature who would croon the newly written theme song "When You Wish upon a Star".
In the end, perfectionist Walt Disney threw out more than 2,300 feet of footage (700 meters) because the content didn't live up to his great expectations. But despite all those efforts, the movie was something of a financial disappointment. The outbreak of World War II, just months before the film had its world premiere, had a negative effect on the box office. Today, though, most agree that "Pinocchio" is one of the company's greatest cultural achievements.
Fortunately, Walt Disney thought differently. In 1936 he bought the rights to the story with a view to making his second cartoon feature. Disney then assigned his team of writers to transform Pinocchio into a likable and well-intentioned character. But that turned out to be easier said than done. As a puppet brought to life, Pinocchio remained wooden and expressionless. And the talking cricket - now named Jiminy - was still an unattractive little bug.
Walt Disney was utterly dissatisfied. So, in the middle of 1938 he stopped the whole project. Six months of work was discarded and the animation team re-focused on making the leading characters more engaging. Twelve guys now dealt exclusively with Pinocchio himself and they worked for eighteen months to give him a more "rounded" human quality. Another group took on little Jiminy Cricket. The result was a diminutive, deeply charming creature who would croon the newly written theme song "When You Wish upon a Star".
In the end, perfectionist Walt Disney threw out more than 2,300 feet of footage (700 meters) because the content didn't live up to his great expectations. But despite all those efforts, the movie was something of a financial disappointment. The outbreak of World War II, just months before the film had its world premiere, had a negative effect on the box office. Today, though, most agree that "Pinocchio" is one of the company's greatest cultural achievements.