benbess
Senior HTF Member
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With with a new version of Pinocchio coming out today from Disney+, I decided to watch my 2009 blu-ray yet again last night with my spouse.
As fans of animation know, this is an outstanding movie. Seen for the first time on our larger 65" 4K TV, the production values were stunning and theatrical. The movie was funnier, scarier, and more poignant on a larger and higher resolution screen, and played on our 4k player. The way the multi-plane camera is used at key moments is jaw dropping, giving a 3D effect without glasses.
What's still puzzling to me is how way back in 1940 the box office for this movie in the US was so-so, leading to big losses, and soon plunging the studio into a financial crisis that lasted for years. After the fantastic success of Snow White, why were audiences less likely to go to this movie, or see it again? My guess is that the scary and disturbing parts might have been considered by many too scary and too disturbing, but they are some of the things that make this film stand up today. In any case, Walt Disney invested a fortune of talent and money into the movie. Here's what wikipedia says about the fate of it originally with the public.
en.wikipedia.org
"Initially, Pinocchio was not a box-office success.[55] The box office returns from the film's initial release were both below Snow White's unprecedented success and below studio expectations.[56] Of the film's $2.6 million negative cost—twice the cost of Snow White[3]—Disney only recouped $1 million by late 1940, with studio reports of the film's final original box office take varying between $1.4 million and $1.9 million.[57] Animation historian Michael Barrier notes that Pinocchio returned rentals of less than one million by September 1940, and in its first public annual report, Walt Disney Productions charged off a $1 million loss to the film.[58] Barrier relays that a 1947 Pinocchio balance sheet listed total receipts to the studio of $1.4 million. This was primarily due to the fact that World War II and its aftermath had cut off the European and Asian markets overseas, and hindered the international success of Pinocchio and other Disney releases during the early and mid-1940s.[59] Joe Grant recalled Walt Disney being "very, very depressed" about Pinocchio's initial returns at the box office.[56]"
As fans of animation know, this is an outstanding movie. Seen for the first time on our larger 65" 4K TV, the production values were stunning and theatrical. The movie was funnier, scarier, and more poignant on a larger and higher resolution screen, and played on our 4k player. The way the multi-plane camera is used at key moments is jaw dropping, giving a 3D effect without glasses.
What's still puzzling to me is how way back in 1940 the box office for this movie in the US was so-so, leading to big losses, and soon plunging the studio into a financial crisis that lasted for years. After the fantastic success of Snow White, why were audiences less likely to go to this movie, or see it again? My guess is that the scary and disturbing parts might have been considered by many too scary and too disturbing, but they are some of the things that make this film stand up today. In any case, Walt Disney invested a fortune of talent and money into the movie. Here's what wikipedia says about the fate of it originally with the public.
Pinocchio (1940 film) - Wikipedia
"Initially, Pinocchio was not a box-office success.[55] The box office returns from the film's initial release were both below Snow White's unprecedented success and below studio expectations.[56] Of the film's $2.6 million negative cost—twice the cost of Snow White[3]—Disney only recouped $1 million by late 1940, with studio reports of the film's final original box office take varying between $1.4 million and $1.9 million.[57] Animation historian Michael Barrier notes that Pinocchio returned rentals of less than one million by September 1940, and in its first public annual report, Walt Disney Productions charged off a $1 million loss to the film.[58] Barrier relays that a 1947 Pinocchio balance sheet listed total receipts to the studio of $1.4 million. This was primarily due to the fact that World War II and its aftermath had cut off the European and Asian markets overseas, and hindered the international success of Pinocchio and other Disney releases during the early and mid-1940s.[59] Joe Grant recalled Walt Disney being "very, very depressed" about Pinocchio's initial returns at the box office.[56]"
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