Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Woodcarver Geppetto (voiced by Christian Rub) wishes upon a star for his latest creation, Pinocchio (Dickie Jones), to become a real boy. The Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) descends from the stars while he sleeps and makes his wish come true—with a catch. Pinocchio must prove himself to be of good character before he can become a real boy. Since he doesn't how to achieve this goal, the Blue Fairy assigns Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards) to act as his conscience.

Of all the classic Disney cartoons, Pinocchio is my favorite because of its beautiful animation, entertaining story, and catchy songs. Making its theatrical debut in 1940, the pressure was on Walt Disney to deliver another hit after the wildly successful Snow White. But the timing of World War II dampened the public's enthusiasm, and the studio wasn't able to release it in Europe. Critically, it was a hit and went on to capture two Academy Awards, including best song for "When You Wish Upon a Star," and its subsequent re-releases over the years, both theatrically and on home video, have more than made back its initial investment.

Brilliantly restored with a sparkling new 1080p AVC encode, Pinocchio has never looked better. The rich cinematography highlights every minute detail in the animation, and the radiant colors jump off the screen, especially the bold primary colors. Black levels are inky, providing rich depth and definition, and gradients of color are free from any banding.

The remastered DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack is decent, but nowhere near as impactful as the restored video footage. Dialog is clear and rooted in the center, but the stereo spread across the front is quite limited, with the exception of the musical numbers, which open up the soundstage. Dynamics are severely limited with anemic bass, and the rear speakers are virtually silent with only the slightest bit of ambience and score bleed. The source is only a mono soundtrack to begin with, so expectations must be tempered to enjoy what is otherwise a quality recording.

This is the second Platinum title released by Disney, and just like last year's Sleeping Beauty, the studio hasn't skimped on bonus features. In addition to the two Blu-ray discs, the set includes a DVD copy of the movie, a family-friendly feature that lets the kids enjoy the film on a standard DVD player—whether in the car or bedroom—and enjoy pristine audio and video when watching with Mom and Dad in the home theater. Hopefully, more studios will catch on to this marketing tactic and make it the industry standard. It would certainly help move the Blu-ray format into the mainstream a lot faster.

Disc one includes the movie itself and some bonus features, such as an audio commentary by Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg, and J.B. Kaufman. Other features include "Pinocchio's Matter of Facts," which teaches viewers fun facts about the film while watching, and "Disney Song Selection," a sing-along feature that displays the lyrics onscreen for some Karaoke fun! Rounding things out on disc one is a trivia game for up to four players that turned out to be a fun experience for our family. The disc is also BD-Live-enabled with movie chat, movie mail, and a trivia challenge game with others across the Internet. In addition, users can accumulate Disney Movie Reward points by participating in the fun.

Disc two includes an excellent hour-long documentary, "No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio," with an in-depth look at transforming Carlo Collaodi's popular book into a classic animated film. Other supplements include two deleted scenes, an alternate ending, a look at Walt Disney's small production room at the Disney studio, some live-action reference footage, Pinocchio art galleries, deleted songs, and six puzzles for the kids (or parents) to assemble onscreen that, once complete, form an image from the film.

Disney has delivered another phenomenal Platinum release of one of its classics on Blu-ray. The video is drop-dead gorgeous, and the abundant supplements are informative, educational, and contain enough games and activities to keep the kids busy for hours. Highly recommended!

Release Date: March 10, 2009
Studio: Walt Disney Studios

Movie: 9/10
Picture: 10/10
Sound: 7/10

Review System

Source
Panasonic DMP-BD55

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 Amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics