The Terrifying Legacy of Disney's Pinocchio: From Dark Mazes to Unmade Musicals

Animated Shorts and Awards Season

• 🎬 Drew Taylor discusses four animated shorts he saw at Walt Disney Animation Studios, contenders for best animated short.
• 💡 One short, "Forever Green," directed by Walt Disney Animation Studios guys and art directed by Jeremy Spears, took five and a half years to produce using computer animation.
• 💔 "Versa," by an animator who lost a child, is a beautiful short about grief.
• 🐳 "Whale 52" features a moving emotional story and was produced and animated by Bill Plympton.
• 👨‍👦 "Two Ships" was directed by J.J. Benson's son, showcasing a diverse group of animation styles.

Theme Park Haunts and Halloween

• 👻 Hong Kong Disneyland featured a "Maze of Madness" during its 2017 Halloween Time event, incorporating scenes from films like "Monsters Inc.," "Beauty and the Beast," "Hercules," and "Pinocchio."
• 😱 The "Pinocchio" section of the maze depicted Pinocchio chained up, begging for help as a slave to Stromboli, which the hosts found particularly terrifying.
• 🎃 The maze was located directly on Main Street, USA, adding to its unsettling placement.

Pinocchio's Troubled Production and Financial Woes

• 📉 Disney animators stopped work on "Pinocchio" for six months in 1937-1938 because the initial depiction of Pinocchio was unappealing, appearing more like a real puppet than a cute boy.
• 💸 Despite its artistic ambitions and technical advancements, "Pinocchio" lost a million dollars during its initial 1940 theatrical release due to its high cost and the impact of World War II on European distribution.
• 💡 Walt Disney was frustrated by audiences appreciating a simple moon reflection effect over the complex multiplane animation during the film's premiere.

Disneyland's Pinocchio Aspirations

• 🏞️ Walt Disney initially considered a studio tour attraction on the new Disney lot, including a "Seven Dwarfs Mine Train" ride and "Jepetto's Toy Shop" gift shop.
• 🏰 After the war, the concept evolved into "Pinocchio Square" for Disneyland's Fantasy Land, featuring Jepetto's clock shop and Stromboli's puppet show.
• 🐋 The "Monstro" themed "Shoot the Shoots" ride was also planned but never built at Disneyland.
• 🛶 "Pinocchio's Village" and Jepetto's toy shop were eventually incorporated into the Storybook Land Canal Boats ride, opening in 1956.

Stage and Screen Adaptations

• 🎭 Julie Taymor's planned Broadway musical of "Pinocchio" did not move forward due to disagreements between Taymor and Disney over adapting the source material versus the film.
• 📺 A Disney-sanctioned TV movie musical, "Jepetto," aired in 2000, starring Drew Carey and Julie Lou D'Amato, with an original concept involving Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews.
• 🎬 Robert Zemeckis's 2022 live-action "Pinocchio" is discussed, with praise for Tom Hanks as Gepetto and Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy, but criticism for its perceived lack of trust in the source material and manicured, corporate feel.

The Scariest Aspects of Pinocchio

• 😈 The "Coachman" from "Pinocchio" is identified as the scariest character in the film.
• 🏝️ The scene on Pleasure Island where bad boys are turned into donkeys and shoved into crates for the salt mines is considered the most terrifying moment in the movie.