KING’S THEATRE.

Camp News, Volume 1, Issue 36, 16 August 1940, Page 8

KING’S THEATRE.

Walt Disney’s magic medium brings to the screen a strange array of new characters for “Pinocchio,” the second full-length Disney production in Technicolour. Humans, animals who might as well be human, and a live puppet without strings rub elbows in air exciting series of adventures. Geppetto, an old toy maker, is just like any lovable old man you might know. He is no end startled when he finds that the puppet he has created has come to life overnight. The puppet, whom Geppetto has named Pinocchio, has been vivified by the Blue Fairy in answer to Geppetto’s wish that he might have a son. The Blue Fairy herself is a character only to be believed when seen in the medium of animation, for she materialises from the wishing star in a dazzling flood of golden light, and then winds up in another part of the picture as a white dove.

The Fox and the Cat, the most amusing of five “villains” in the piece, retain their animal appearance, which makes the fact that they deport themselves and talk as humans all the funnier. Dressed in shabby elegance, they posture about the countryside and manage to involve poor Pinocchio in a couple of neat jams. Geppetto’s pets are typical Disney characters. Figaro is a round, mischievous little kitten, and Cleo is a fluttery female goldfish. Although neither talks, both . Figaro and Cleo are capable of human reasoning, and show it clearly in their actions. Monstro, the whale, is easily the biggest actor ever to appear on a screen, after all, when- you reach the proportions of a three-storey building you’re not to be sneezed at. And incidentally, it’s some sneezing on Monstro’s part that leads up to the exciting climax of the picture. Jiminy Cricket, who is at the opposite end of the pole for size, is another character wjio definitely demonstrates the wonders of the animated picture, for little Mr. Cricket, no bigger than a thumb-nail, wears clothes, talks, sings and dances. As a matter of fact, the Blue Fairy appoints Jiminy as Pinocchio’s conscience with the result that Jiminy is led on a merry chase, which includes the floor of the ocean. These strange fusions of animal, human and whimsy, convincingly presented in Technicolour in the superb production “Pinocchio,” released by RKO Radio, which is now screening at the King’s Theatre.