[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Pinocchio’: Now Available On Signature Collection Blu-ray Combo Pack From Disney

Pinocchio (1940) (Signature Collection) [Blu-Ray]

Directors (Supervising): Hamilton Luske, Ben Sharpsteen

Cast: Dickie Jones, Christian Rub, Mel Blanc (VOICES)

Release Date: January 31, 2017

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

Now a part of the celebrated Walt Disney Signature Collection, the timeless story of PINOCCHIO inspires a new generation with its masterful animation, award-winning music, unforgettable characters and exclusive, all-new behind-the-scenes Bonus Extras! With his faithful friend Jiminy Cricket by his side, Pinocchio embarks on fantastic adventures that test his bravery, loyalty and honesty until he triumphs in his quest for his heart’s desire: to become a real boy.

Marking the third entry in the Walt Disney Signature Collection, Disney’s animated masterpiece ‘Pinocchio’ comes home on Blu-ray Combo Pack once again. Telling the magical tale of the lovable wooden boy named Pinocchio who is granted life after his father Geppeto wishes upon a falling star. With a little help from his conscious, the goofy and kind Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio finds himself thrown into one crazy adventure after another as he does his best to try and be good in the hope of achieving his ultimate goal of becoming a real live boy. A favorite among countless Disney fans and a landmark in the world of animated filmmaking, the timeless masterpiece ‘Pinocchio’ which was initially introduced to moviegoers in 1940 arrives back home on Blu-ray Combo Pack as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection for another new generation to experience.

Many of the Disney fanatics out there and households with children (especially those who don’t already have a copy of the movie lying about) will almost surely want to make a point of purchasing a copy of the Walt Disney Signature Collection Blu-ray release of ‘Pinocchio’ before it’s once again too late. This new Blu-ray release comes home sporting spectacular high definition video and audio presentations of the phenomenal film, along with a healthy collection of enjoyable bonus content which includes a number of brand new extras that are exclusive to the release such as ‘Walt’s Story Meetings: Pleasure Island’, and plenty more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below). Altogether it should easily make this fairly impressive new Blu-ray release of the legendary animated classic a definite must own for many folks and families.

Overall, the Walt Disney Signature Collection Blu-ray release of ‘Pinocchio’ brings the timeless magical tale of that lovable wooden boy back home once again, featuring wonderful high definition video and audio presentations, three versions of the film and a collection of highly entertaining extras that the hardcore fans in particular probably won’t want to miss out on. I would definitely recommend anyone who doesn’t already own the film on Blu-ray or doesn’t dare to miss out on the new extras to consider picking up a copy of the new Signature Collection Blu-ray Combo Pack before your time runs out. It’s a pretty gorgeous release of a phenomenal animated film that should have no trouble pleasing its fans.

VIDEO:

The Signature Collection Blu-ray release of ‘Pinocchio’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 1.33:1 4X3 Aspect Ratio. The release also offers the option of 2 additional ways to view the film, a ‘Sing-Along’ version, and a ‘DisneyView’ presentation which fills in the black spaces on the left and right of the screen with original artwork. The video presentation looks spectacular as a whole and provides a clean, sharp and wonderfully colorful presentation from start to finish with no notable faults of any sort to be found within. Complimented by a more than sufficient bitrate, it holds up at every point and looks simply gorgeous all the while. Overall, this is a fantastic high definition video presentation of the unforgettable Disney animated classic that should have no trouble pleasing its fans.

AUDIO:

The Signature Collection Blu-ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, along with the option of the original mono soundtrack presentation. This lossless multichannel soundtrack sounds fantastic as a whole and delivers a splendidly crisp, clean and impressive audio presentation throughout. It frequently takes advantage of all seven available channels in order to fully immerse the viewer within the music, while also sending a number of other fitting auditory effects throughout the various speakers, and always making certain that any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously remains clean and full audible. Overall, this is a wonderful 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that should easily thrill both the longtime fans and first time viewers alike.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Signature Collection Blu-ray release of ‘Pinocchio’ includes a number of enjoyable and informative extras including many brand new bonus goodies created specifically for this release. Included is an ‘Audio Commentary with Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg and J.B. Kaufman’, in addition to an inside look at Walt’s thoughts on the animated gem with the brand new ‘Walt’s Story Meetings: Pleasure Island’ (running approximately 7 minutes in length), and ‘In Walt’s Words: Pinocchio’ (running approximately 5 minutes). We are also treated to ‘The Pinocchio Project: When You Wish Upon a Star’ which is broken down into two segments: ‘The Project’ and ‘The Video’ (approximately 3 minutes each), along with an optional ‘Song Selection’ for the feature film, plus the classic animated short ‘Oswald The Lucky Rabbit in “Poor Papa”’ (approximately 5 minutes).The release also features a collection of ‘Classic Bonus Content’ from previous releases which includes: ‘No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio’ (approximately 56 minutes), a number of ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the film with an Introduction (approximately 11 minutes altogether), ‘The Sweatbox’ (6 minutes), ‘Geppetos Then and Now’ (11 minutes), ‘Live-Action Reference Footage’ (10 minutes), ‘”When You Wish Upon a Star” Music Video by Meaghan Jette Martin’ (3 minutes), ‘A Wish Come True: The Making of Pinocchio’ (5 minutes), ‘Storyboard-To-Film Final Comparison’ (4 minutes), and ‘3 Theatrical Trailers’ for the film: the ‘1940 Original Theatrical Trailer’ (2 minutes), the ‘1984 Theatrical Trailer’ (1 minute), and the ‘1992 Theatrical Trailer’ (2 minutes).