Why is “Pinocchio” so important to Disney?

In 1940, Disney released its second feature-length animation: “Pinocchio”. The plot follows the story of a wooden doll called Pinocchio, created by carpenter Gepeto, who dreams of becoming a real boy.

The work was inspired by the writer’s short story Carlo Collodiwhich was much more intense and less childish, and first appeared in strips in the Italian newspaper “II Giornale per i Bambini”, in 1883, which were later compiled and transformed into the book “The Adventures of Pinocchio”.

Currently considered one of Disney’s great classics, “Pinocchio” also represents “the apex of what many of its (later) critics considered to be the realm of the cartoon” of Walt Disneyas described by film historian Leonard Maltin to The Walt Disney Family Museum blog.

But why is ‘Pinocchio’ so important to Disney?

Upon its release, the film about the wooden doll was extremely acclaimed by critics, however, it did not yield a good financial return for the studio. This is because, a year before its debut, one of the darkest periods in human history began: the Second World War.

In this way, Disney lost many international markets, which were unable to show the film thanks to the conflict. Furthermore, the population was not interested in going to the cinema due to the sad reality they faced.

Despite this, “Pinocchio” ended up becoming very important for the studio due to the circumstances in which it was made. After the success of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, Disney’s first feature film, released in 1937, and the growing success of Mickey Mouse, the company managed to raise the money necessary to pay off its debts, and begin investing in improvement of their productions.

According to The Walt Disney Family Museum’s blog, it was with box office profits from the film about the first princess that Walt built a new and spacious studio, designed and equipped to meet all the needs of its team, in addition to hiring renowned artists and writers to work on its next animations.

The Character Models Department, responsible for providing animators with three-dimensional sculptures of the characters to help them visualize and create their designs, was one of the great new features that emerged with the success of “Snow White”, with “Pinocchio” being one of the first productions to use it.