With New Eyes

The monster conglomerate that is Disney has always employed a tricky marketing practice that involves releasing their classic movies in short stints of time so we all rush out and buy them, needing to own a copy of our childhood to pass on to our own children.

I'm a sucker for it every time.

So, when Pinocchio was recently re-released with all sorts of new features no one really cares about, my mother-in-law purchased it for the grandkids.

I have a vague remembrances of Pinocchio, but I don't think I've ever actually watched the movie straight through. I know the premise from books, and the images are familiar, but the full story is completely new to me....especially the whole subplot of the lost boys who are kidnapped, allowed to smoke cigars, drink beer, play pool, and call each other jackasses.

What the?

As I'm sitting there watching the movie with O, I keep catching myself say, "I don't remember this being in the movie..." and wondering if I'm turning into one of those old, brittle killjoys on Footloose, months away from forbidding dinner time dance parties and red cowboy boots.

In contrast, I love the movie Dumbo, even with the whole drunken elephants scene. So what if Dumbo and the mouse fall into a vat of champagne and get a mean case of the hiccups? It's a teachable moment for the reason why we don't ingest unknown substances....and Dumbo's so cute.

But Pinocchio is just creepy. I've attached a clip to give you a taste of what I'm talking about, though I have to promise myself not get all PC about every nursery rhyme and fairy tale....we could really have a field day deconstructing some of the classics.

Thoughts?

FYI: The following scene shows the kidnapped kids turned into donkeys and then inspected for any signs of human behavior before being "approved" and sent off. The man in charge explains that, since they've had their fun (smoking, drinking, eating junk, playing on amusements), they now have to pay their due. A clear morality play that NO little kid would understand....they'll just have the bejesus scared out of them,