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Fairy story, founded on the famous children's book by Carlo Collodi. Jiminy Cricket, a philosophic little insect, one night finds himself in a strange town, and, peeping through a lighted window, sees Gepetto, the kindly old-woodcarver, putting the finishing touches to a new marionette. Gepetto names the puppet Pinocchio, much to the disgust of his two pets, Figaro the kitten and Cleo the goldfish, and prays on the wishing star that the little wooden figure may be given life. When Gepetto, Cleo and Figaro have gone to sleep, Jiminy makes himself at home by the comfortable warmth of the fire. But he spends a disturbed night, being woken up first by the ticking of Gepetto's innumerable clocks, then by Cleo's watery snores, and finally by the arrival of the Blue Fairy. Because Gepetto has given so much happiness to others, the Fairy grants Pinocchio life and appoints Jiminy Cricket as his conscience - "Lord High Keeper of Knowledge of Right and Wrong". The job is no sinecure, and Jiminy has to rescue Pinocchio first from the clutches of Stromboli, a rascally puppet-master, and then from Pleasure Island, a fun fair to which naughty little boys are enticed in order to be turned into donkeys for sale to the mines. When Jiminy, exhausted, finally gets Pinocchio home, it is only to find that Gepetto, Cleo and Figaro - who have set out to search for him - have been eaten by Monstro a huge whale. Pinocchio and Jiminy determine to rescue them, and, after much danger, succeed in doing so. For their unselfish courage the Blue Fairy rewards Pinocchio by turning him into a real little boy while Jiminy Cricket receives a huge gold medal of which he is inordinately proud.

This film is undoubtedly the most perfect example of cartoon work ever seen on the screen, and is a great advance on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with which comparison is inevitable. The characters, to all intents and purposes, "live and breathe", and, with very rare exceptions, there is none of the jerky flicker in their movement which has hitherto been characteristic of such pictures. From the first it is difficult to realize that the scenes on the screen - with their delicate nuances of shade and their illusion of depth - are only drawings and not colour photographs of actual events. Only in the music, which, with the exception of a cheerful marching song "Hi-Diddle-De-Dee, an Actor's Life for Me", seems pedestrian and uninspired, does Pinocchio fail to excel Disney's best work to date. Of the characters, Jiminy Cricket, with his dry, matter-of-fact humour and complete resourcefulness, takes his place with Dopey, Mickey Mouse and FIeischer's Gabby as one of the immortal screen drawings. Figaro and Cleo follow him closely, while the three stages in Pinocchio's life - from puppet to living doll and finally to little boy - are cleverly contrasted. There is only one scene which might frighten a very nervous child, when, in the deserted and desolate Pleasure Island, a small "tough guy" is turned into a donkey among the ruined merry-go-rounds. Otherwise, in technique, wit, humour and poetry it is difficult to see how this adaptation of a fairy story could have been bettered.

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