Original Airdate: December 3, 1980
Airs annually on AMC's Best Christmas Ever
Available on the Classic Christmas Favorites DVD box set
From the title, you may think this special is a largely
unknown Disney Christmas special, but nope.
It’s a Rankin/Bass special all over, working in a Christmas story into
the famous story of a living puppet. It’s interesting that this
company that specializes in making holiday specials with stop-motion puppets
would make a special about a puppet.
Then again, it’s fitting they’d do a special starring Pinocchio since
they had a Pinocchio TV series years before they started making holiday specials. As someone who’s fond of the Pinocchio story,
mostly the Disney version, I find this Christmas story about him to not be
perfect, but still charming and immersive.
The basic premise of Pinocchio is that he’s a live puppet who
wants to be a real boy, but has to learn to be good enough to deserve it. However, since he’s new to the world of the
living, he has a lot to learn, as the opening scene of his
father, Geppetto, telling him about Christmas shows. Pinocchio’s lack of knowledge also prevents
him from doing the right thing most of the time. A lot of his wrongdoings come from
understandable habits of giving into temptations and/or misguided childlike
innocence. He's
constantly being tricked into doing something nonexistent by a fox and cat. Also
a driving force of a plot has him take a marionette named Julieta from a
puppet show to bring her to life, unaware that she's meant to be shaped into different characters. These kinds of wrongdoings are believable for
a character like Pinocchio since of course he wouldn’t have a grasp on morality
and reality. However, Pinocchio
can also be frustrating at times when some of his wrongdoings are under his own
power with no temptations in sight. One
example of this is when Geppetto gives him his Christmas
present early, an arithmetic book for school. Despite the generous thought,
Pinocchio selfishly sells the book away to get money for another gift. There are even more examples of this in
Pinocchio’s backstory which he recounts to Julieta. While there’s some imagination in his
creation from a talking branch of the Forest of Enchantment, there’s a lot of
instances where he deliberately acts bad without influence.
Most of them involve playing hooky from school.
If that’s not enough, he’s also a real jerk to those who try to help him
like a talking cricket who once lived with Geppetto. To be fair, it’s clear that Pinocchio does
still have a good heart many times throughout the special. Even when he does sell Geppetto’s gift to him, he does intend to use the money to get him a gift. As I mentioned before, when he steals Julieta
from the puppet show, he really does think he’s saving her and doesn’t
understand she’s supposed to be reshaped. Also, he does see sense when he comes across
the fairy who planted the seed that grew the tree he came from, Lady Azora. She gives him the proper advice to get Geppetto a gift. It’s frustrating that he still gives in to
Fox and Cat’s lies shortly after that which leads them to selling him as a
Christmas toy to a mansion like they planned. Thankfully, it does lead to a nice scene
where he convinces the father that the best gift he can give his children is
spending time with them. This is proof that Azora’s lesson really did stick with
him and it's a
strong step towards Pinocchio’s ultimate goal after so many moments of
questionable morality. Capping it off is a final moment of the
special’s main characters, including the now living Julieta, spending Christmas
together. Your enjoyment of
Pinocchio will depend on how much you can tolerate how much he messes up and
misbehaves, particularly under his own power. Since he does ultimately get
his act together, he’s certainly not a bad protagonist.
I also have to give credit to the overall aesthetic of the
special. I’ve noticed that the
stop-motion Rankin/Bass specials at this point in time have seemed to improve
with their animation. Everything flows much more smoothly compared to the
jittery and lagging earlier ones, and this special is no exception. The sets, particularly of the village streets
and the shops where the story mostly takes place, are also highly immersive and
feel perfect for what’s being told.
Admittedly, the puppet show scenes are pretty confusing visually with
everyone watching puppets perform. Even though the audience is meant to be
normal people, the fact that they’re technically puppets too makes it seem like
puppets are being entertained by watching other puppets. I guess that’s what happens when you make a
stop-motion Pinocchio story. The special
is also helped by a lot of memorable songs that fit the characters and what
they go through. Geppetto has a charming
number about the pressures of buying Christmas gifts that anyone can relate to
at the time of year which results in him getting Pinocchio a gift he gives
away. Speaking of Pinocchio, his naïveté
is capitalized on with “Knock on Wood” when Fox and Cat’s lies convince him he
can get rich quick. A lively number at
the puppet show he briefly performs at serves as an entertaining way for him to
meet Julieta. Fox and Cat also have a
comedic musical number with a nice rocking beat to get Pinocchio under their
influence. Included is a well-timed running gag of Cat getting
struck by lightning. Now, not all the
songs are strong. The more emotional
ones are rather slow and unmemorable. In the case of Geppetto’s song when
he finds a lifeless Pinocchio puppet made by the showrunner who owned
Julieta, it’s not impactful since we know that Pinocchio is alive. There are also two light-hearted songs near
the end from Pinocchio dreaming about teaching Santa’s toys how to dance and
from a sleigh driver who takes Pinocchio to the mansion. They just don’t feel like
good fits for the story. Overall though,
the look and the musical aspects of this special are major appealing factors, even if not everything about them works in its favor.
In spite of Pinocchio’s problematic portrayal at times, some
songs not being as good as others, and the confusion of puppets watching
puppets, this is still an interesting and thoroughly entertaining take on the
Pinocchio story. It’s a Rankin/Bass special worth looking into, especially if you’re a Pinocchio fan.
Recommended
The Ranking
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
- The Year Without a Santa Claus
- Frosty the Snowman
- The Little Drummer Boy
- Jack Frost
- The Stingiest Man in Town
- Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
- Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
- Pinocchio’s Christmas
- The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
- Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July
- ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
- The Little Drummer Boy Book II
- Cricket on the Hearth
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special, possibly the Rankin/Bass work with the least Christmas spirit, The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold.
If you would like to check out other Rankin/Bass special reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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