The Adventures of Pinocchio (1940)

My history with this movie: I am actually more familiar with The Further Adventures of Pinocchio TV series (and song!). But The Adventures of Pinocchio always loomed large large in my imagination. 

First there was Disney On Parade, which my little brother and I saw in the Winnipeg Arena in 1972. Disney On Parade leaned heavily on the movie, particularly the underwater sequences. 

And Pinocchio was included in the Disney storybooks, which my brother also received. In the '70s I read these from cover to cover, but The Adventures of Pinocchio received my particular attention. 

And then Disney saw fit to show The Adventures of Pinocchio on television, and to release the movie on VHS videocassette. By the time my friend swung by to hand-deliver the blueray of The Adventures of Pinocchio as a post-op ”get well soon” gift to our younger some of the lustre had worn off the movie. 

And yet I would still assert it is the best thing Walt Disney has done — by hand, no less. It can be streamed at Disney+. 

Who else's, really?

If you must have books this is the Amazon listing for the Oxford publication; this is the NYRB version; and this is the "Young Reader's" version, illustrated by Walter S. Cramp. I have no idea how any of them read — Carlo Collodi lived in another time — this post is about the movie, which is very good.