When you wish upon a star...

Disney animation has always been a staple part of my upbringing. If I think hard about my
childhood, I remember (amongst other things) Christmases involving a new packet of VHS blank
tapes, upon which as many Disney feature films were recorded as the holiday season would allow.
To this day, I expect certain films to pause for the adverts, Alice in Wonderland to be immediately
preceded by the Queen’s Speech, and Mary Poppins to cut out part way through from where the
plug got knocked out of the VCR mid-recording.

So it should come as no surprise that my first trips to the cinema were to watch Disney films. The
first film I saw – certainly the first I remember seeing - was Pinocchio. I can’t quite work out when
this would have been – the internet suggests it was in 1984 but given that would have meant I was 2,
I’m not sure that’s right. Disney’s standard procedure for theatrical release was that a film would be
released in the cinema, and then rereleased once every 10 years or so. Every so often, there would
be an announcement that something was being screened for the final time. Which seems like a very alien concept in 2016.

Pinocchio was first released in 1940, and is the second animation produced by Disney (and the first
ever Disney animation to be released on VHS). It won two Oscars (Best Music – Original Score, Best
Music – Original Song) but was initially a commercial disaster until its rereleases. It’s now regarded
as one of the greatest animated films ever, as evidenced by its 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, its
inclusion on a number of lists of “Best Film”, and its ongoing storytelling legacy (lies make your nose grow, your conscience is a physical entity with corporeal form). Its Oscar winning song (When You Wish Upon a Star) is currently the opening music to every Disney (and Pixar) film, and in my brain may as well be the shorthand for “you’re about to see something absolutely fantastic”.

This makes me so happy.  Every time.

Which of course I cared deeply about when my age was still in single digits.

I assume I must have gone with my parents – definitely my dad. And I definitely had a Mr Man Mr
Strong strawberry ice lolly. And I definitely dropped it on my cinema seat and spent most of the film
sitting on the armrest while it melted. I do remember the smell of the cinema, which hasn’t changed
that much in all my cinema-going years (warm popcorn). That an episode of The Wuzzles was shown before the film, that…hold on, actually, let’s take a moment and talk about The Wuzzles. It was a series of short cartoons about creatures which were made out of combinations of different animals.  Like Rhiokey, which was an amalgamation of a Rhinoceros and a Monkey. I loved The Wuzzles. They lived on the imaginatively named island of Wuz, and they all had wings, although not all of them flew. I loved Butterbear (part Butterfly, part Bear) and Bumblelion (part Bee, part Lion – because these are all animals that needed splicing together?). I cannot remember the theme tune, but YouTube helpfully informs me that it sounded like this:

                                    It rings absolutely no bells for me, but sings happily about

               “originality…living with a split personality”. No one ever remembers the Wuzzles…

I’ve become distracted by YouTube videos of 80s cartoons. This was a mistake…

I rewatched Pinocchio last year and was surprised by the following things:

a) How quickly it zips along
It really packs a lot into 88 minutes. Yet I distinctly remember there being a break halfway
through the film (I got my doomed Mr Strong ice lolly from the usherette). Why was there a
break in a film that was less than an hour and a half long? Hmm…

b) It’s a beautiful piece of work
And worth remembering that people drew it. By hand. Frame by frame. That’s a skill I can
never hope to achieve.

      Look at that.  It's fantastic.

c) It’s TERRIFYING!
Ah Disney – so light, so fluffy, so innocent and sweet. The first time Pinocchio leaves the
house, he gets kidnapped by a talking fox who sells him into slavery to a travelling showman
who locks him in a cage, refuses to pay him, and threatens to turn him into firewood if he
talks back.

After Pinocchio escapes, the same fox trafficks him to Pleasure Island where unruly boys are
encouraged to drink beer, smoke cigars, break windows and play pool (not really sure why
pool is a big deal, but okay then). And when they do, they turn into donkeys and are sold.
The transformation in this is frightening. The undercurrent of it all is horrific (the Coachman
strips the clothes off the donkeys who can no longer speak, and sells them on. The boys
who look like donkeys but can still speak are separated out – WHAT HAPPENS THEM???)

Take a moment, watch this, think about the youngest child you know and remember that this is a scene from a "U" rated film...

After Pinocchio escapes that, he discovers his father has gone looking for him, and been
swallowed by a whale. So he rescues his father and then dies in the attempt.

He DIES! Dead! Yes, he becomes a real boy, but not before his father brings him home lays
him out, and he, Pinocchio’s conscience and the family pets cry over his disfigured corpse.
At this point, all his father had ever wished for was for Pinocchio to become a real boy. And
as soon as he went into the real world, nothing is safe for Pinocchio again.

There are FIVE bad guys (Honest John, Gideon, Stromboli, the Coachman and Monstro).
FIVE! There is trafficking, slavery, and abuse. And all of them get away with it. There is no
retribution, there is no comeuppance. We believe Disney sells happy ever after, but it’s
more sinister than that – it’s only happy ever after for some.

And suddenly that Oscar winning song is so much more ominous when you consider that all
the characters must wish…

“When you wish upon a star

Makes no difference who you are

Anything your heart desires will come to you.

When your heart is in your dreams

No request is too extreme

When you wish upon a star as dreamers do…”