The Adventures of Pinocchio

The box art promise of "brilliant animation" is the only thing that should bChildren'se causing nose growth in The Adventures of Pinocchio, a maladroit mockery of the elegant 1940 Disney classic Pinocchio. "You gotta be good if you wanna be real," chides the opening chorus, but if that were true this version's protagonist would remain a pile of firewood for all eternity. Carlo Collodi's cherished tale of toy maker Geppetto's wooden creation being transformed into a real live boy through goodness (and a little magic) is here whittled down to a nub as Pinocchio, accompanied by his smart aleck sidekick Jimin--oh excuse me--Timothy the Cricket, falls into one improbable scrape after another--living the high life with the lord of the forest, being sold for riches across the sea, saving a miserable mermaid--and even has time to fall in love. Unrealistic journeys (where Pinocchio somehow always ends up safely back with Geppetto--who displays no anxiety over the fact that his dummy keeps taking off on him), the P-man's frequent Exorcist-like head gyrations, and ghastly animation (i.e., mouths that don't match up to words, and very little movement by the poorly-drawn characters) add up to a crude production that grossly underestimates the intelligence of children. In fact, the episodic adventures here suggest that 90 minutes worth were simply lifted from some abysmally wooden cartoon series and patched together. Not recommended. Also available: Alice Through the Looking Glass, A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist. Aud: P. (J. Williams)