Accidentally Correct Zoology: Monstro himself is an exaggerated version of the real-life sperm whale, with a gargantuan size, a broader head shape and teeth on both jaws. In 2010, paleontologists officially named Livyatan melvillei, a predatory ancestor of modern sperm whales which Monstro greatly resembles. Still, Livyatan was not as big as Monstro is, who seemingly reaches almost Kaiju-like proportions.
Charles Judels voices Stromboli and the Coachman. He even gives them different accents — Stromboli has an Italian accent and the Coachman has a British accent. This bit of voice acting also carried over into the movie-themed dark ride at Disneyland, in which both Stromboli and the Coachman are voiced by former Disneyland marching band drummer Ray Templin.
Dickie Jones voices both Pinocchio and Alexander, the boy who's still able to talk even after he's turned into a donkey.
Blooper: When Geppetto panics when Pinocchio sets his finger on fire, his nightcap disappears and reappears on his head throughout the scene.
Box Office Bomb: When it originally came out in 1940 thanks to WWII limiting its release to North and South America only. Budget, $2,289,247 note $44,837,073 when adjusted for inflation . Box office, $1.4-1.9 million (original theatrical release tally only).
Children Voicing Children: One of the earliest examples in animation history with Dickie Jones (who was 12 years old at the time) as the voice of Pinocchio. Walt himself probably demanded this to convey the realism he wanted in this film.
Cross-Dressing Voices: In the original dubs for the French, Swedish, Danish and Hungarian versions, Pinocchio was voiced by grown women. In the re-dubs he's voiced by boys, however, making it seem like Disney himself preferred the idea of having children voice children.
There's a handful, but "I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow" in particular later becomes the opening song for Fun and Fancy Free.
Another song, "Turn On the Old Music Box" was cut, but the tune remains as Pinocchio's Leitmotif.
"Three Cheers For Anything" was about the boys on the journey to Pleasure Island singing about what they're going to do once they get there.
"Honest John", which was included as a bonus feature on the 2009 Platinum Edition DVD/Blu-Ray release. It was used to promote the film before its release, and a brief instrumental piece of the song can be heard on Pleasure Island, in the Tobacco Row area.
"Monstro the Whale", what remains of it in the theatrical film is a melody briefly heard in the film's underscore when Pinocchio sets off to find Monstro at the bottom of the sea. It was used to promote the film before its release, and a brief instrumental piece of the song can be heard when Pinocchio goes to save Geppetto.
Deleted Role: In his only work for Disney (if you don't count Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Mel Blanc originally recorded dialogue for Gideon the cat. He was cut out not because the character was taken out but because they decided to keep him silent to capitalize on the popularity of the similarly-silent Dopey in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Three hiccups is all that remains of Blanc's performance in the film.
Deleted Scene: Wolfgang Reitherman drew out a sequence showing Monstro consuming Geppetto's boat. The whale was to emerge suddenly on the otherwise serene sea scene, first looking like a large mound before revealing his teeth and swallowing the boat in one movement before disappearing underwater once more. The decision to discard this, causes a problem for a later scene where Pinocchio receives a letter from the Blue Fairy concerning his father's whereabouts.
Disowned Adaptation: Paolo Lorenzini, the nephew of Pinocchio's creator Carlo Collodi, hated the Disney adaptation for playing fast and loose with his uncle's story, and even unsuccessfully tried to sue the studio for misrepresenting his uncle's work.
Dueling Dubs: The film has been dubbed four times into Japanese; three times into French; and twice each into Albanian, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, German, Hungarian, and Swedish. The French, Japanese and Danish dubs were also revised for later releases
Hostility on the Set: Christian Rub (Geppetto's voice actor) was a Nazi sympathizer and frequently upset cast and crew members with his praising of Hitler, at the beginning of World War II, no less. The film crew jumped at the opportunity to get their revenge, organising for him to be rocked around on a boat set to get a reference for the animators during the Monstro scenes. They apparently rocked the set so hard, they gave him "the ride of his life".
In the 1985 holiday season, Hardee's released a set of five plushes based on Disney movies. Besides Pinocchio, there were also plushes of Lady, Bambi, Dumbo, and one of the 101 Dalmatians.
At Burger King, it got 4 inflatable bath toys in 1992. These consisted of a Pinocchio beach ball, a Figaro float, Monstro the Whale, and a Jiminy Cricket frisbee.
The 1993 Walt Disney Classics Deluxe VHS/Laserdisc reissuenote which is billed as Walt Disney's Masterpiece was the second video release after Fantasia to have a 22-minute "Making of a Masterpiece" documentary.
The 2009 Platinum Edition 3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, the last Platinum Edition Disney ever released, remains one of the most bonus-filled BD sets produced for a Disney Animated Canon movie (though like all Platinum Editions save Peter Pan, it replaced the Laserdisc's documentary with a longer one; in this case, No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio).
The 2017 Signature Collection Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD combo pack carries over almost all of the Platinum Edition's important bonus features including the No Strings Attached doc (despite Disney reducing the disc count to one DVD and one Blu-ray), with the losses somewhat made up for by some never-before-seen extras, and a handful of additional features taken from either the Deluxe Laserdisc or the 60th Anniversary Edition VHS.
The Other Marty: The film's lead writer, Ted Sears was initially cast as the voice of Pinocchio. Later, Walt Disney decided that the character should be voiced by an actual child actor, and so Sears' voice track was thrown out before any animation had been done, with Dickie Jones being brought in as his replacement.
Production Foreshadowing: When the first scene of the film fades in after the opening credits, if you look to the left of where Jiminy is sitting and singing, two other tales can be seen in the background: Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, both of which Disney would later adapt into animated films as well.note Disney already had his eye on adapting both novels, but rights issues meant they didn't happen for several more years.
Reality Subtext: Jiminy starts the movie in ratty clothes, (technically) breaks-and-enters a house with a fire because he's that desperate for warmth, and when the Blue Fairy gives him new clothes, he's genuinely overjoyed. The Great Depression had lasted for the entire previous decade in the United States, and a lot of Americans would recognize Jiminy as a homeless person barely managing to survive.
You know that opening multiplane camera shot on the day Pinocchio goes to school? The one that's barely on screen for a full minute? That entire shot, which used a specially constructed horizontal multiplane camera, cost $50,000 to shoot, as much as the budget of a single Disney short cartoon!
The panning multiplane crane shot during the "Hi Diddley Dee" number, which barely lasts 33 seconds on screen, cost almost as much money (around $35,000).
Stillborn Franchise: In the mid-2000s, DisneyToon Studios began development on a sequel. Robert Reece co-wrote the film's screenplay, which saw Pinocchio on a "strange journey" for the sake of something dear to him. "It's a story that leads Pinocchio to question why life appears unfair sometimes," said Reece. John Lasseter cancelled Pinocchio II soon after being named Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2006.
Foulfellow and Gideon were supposed to meet Pinocchio a third time, and be caught by the police onscreen. Cutting this effectively made them Karma Houdinis.
There was to be a Dream Sequence where Geppetto would tell Pinocchio a bedtime story about his grandfather, a mighty pine tree.
Originally, the donkey Lampwick was supposed to both keep his voice and join Pinocchio & Jiminy in their escape from Pleasure Island. However, he's captured by the Coachman's minions, and as he's being carried away he tells them to "Go on without me, it's no use I'm a goner". Some storybook adaptations keep the scene.
The movie was originally going to take place around Christmas time, which meant that it would also be snowing. Walt Disney nixed the idea because he wanted the movie to be enjoyed year-round (its original theatrical release was around Valentine's Day on top of that). This concept was used in Pinocchio: Golden Book.
Pinocchio was originally going to be more like his literary counterpart, where he's more mischievous, and his design more puppet-like. Walt Disney halted production after he decided the character was coming off as too unsympathetic. They restarted from scratch, making Pinocchio more naive and misguided, and they gave him a more boyish like appearance.
Pleasure Island went through several different designs, with the early concept art containing more fantastical elements such as candy growing on trees and the boys drinking from taps that spewed soda rather than sap. (These elements did make it into the Sunday page comic adaptation.) It also went through several different names, such as Bogeyland and Boobyland.
In his autobiography, Bill Peet mentions two scenes he worked on that didn't get into the movie. The first scene would have shown Monstro consuming Geppetto's boat (see Deleted Scene above). This scene was cut apparently for being too dark. The second scene would have shown the zany and goofy monsters of Bogyland (his spelling).
One alternate ending was set to have Geppetto go through a Disney Death rather than Pinocchio in the actual ending of the film.
It was originally considered that Stromboli would have a pet parrot, partially to justify the birdcage in which Pinocchio is imprisoned.
Mel Blanc originally voiced Gideon but was cut after Walt Disney decided to make him a mute to capture the success of Dopey from Snow White. Only three hiccups were left in the film. This movie was made before he did regular work with Warner Bros and Disney decided to let him go.
As noted under Acclaimed Flop, had World War II not broken out, the film would've been released internationally and probably would've been a box office success.
What Could Have Been: A Sega 32X version of the game was planned, but cancelled due in part to the 32X's commercial failure.
Pinocchio is one of only two Disney Animated Masterpieces to be on Roger Ebert's Great Movies List; the other animated film from Disney to be on that list is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
, a predatory ancestor of modern sperm whales which Monstro greatly resembles. Still, Livyatan was not as big as Monstro is, who seemingly reaches almost Kaiju-like proportions.
