Disney's Pinocchio sparkles on Blu-ray

Once upon a time, Hollywood studios were all about risk, and challenging themselves to do their very best. Never perhaps was this more true than with Walt Disney's efforts to produce Pinocchio, as the 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition makes clear. Now available for a limited time, this edition includes both the two-disc Blu-ray version and a digitally restored standard DVD.

Chief among the Blu-ray bonus features is No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio, a superb 55-minute documentary exploring every conceivable aspect of the animated feature widely considered Disney's masterpiece. We learn how the boy of the Carlo Collodi tale was reshaped into a more lovable character for the film—and how the cricket, killed off by the boy in the original story, was developed into a comic sidekick and conscience for Pinocchio. The contributions of the various animators and voice artists' are detailed; interviews with animation historians and some of the film’s animators themselves add considerable interest. Two deleted scenes and an alternate ending are recreated; interactive puzzles and a trivia challenge are also part of the package, as well as audio commentary and of course high def sound.

While the electronics wizards of the world conspire to store Gone With the Wind on the head of a pin, the debate over Blu-ray continues among film enthusiasts. While some have no plans to switch formats, my pal Richard W. Bann, who programs private screenings at the Playboy Mansion, reports, “At Hugh Hefner's birthday party in April, we ran Casablanca for the 17th year in a row. Last year I suggested screening the nitrate print at UCLA Film Archives; this year we looked at the Blu-ray disc—simply the best video of anything I've ever seen and far better than the nitrate projected last year at UCLA. I could not believe this."