Pinocchio (1940)

  Man, it's hard to believe this movie is over 70 years old.  I remember watching it on VHS as a kid and now it's a special edition 2-disc Blu-ray with a DVD and digital copy.  Kids today are fucking lucky, that's all I'm saying.

This is a classic story, even older than the Disney version so if you really need me to tell you what it's about, hi!  Welcome to the planet Earth.  Please enjoy our smoothies and beautiful national parks and don't forget to stop by the gift shop on your way back to your home galaxy.  You might enjoy watching the movie Pinocchio to while away the light-years on your return.  It's about a woodcarver named Gepetto who carves a puppet of a boy and wishes on a star that it would become a real child.  The star is actually the mail service of the Blue Fairy, a lovely creature that comes through his window and makes the puppet live.  Since it is still just a wooden doll, she gives a cricket named Jiminy the task of being Pinocchio's conscience to tell him right from wrong.  Only by making good decisions will Pinocchio get to become human.  Gepetto is overjoyed at seeing his little wooden boy and immediately sends him to school.  Just as immediately, Pinocchio runs into a walking fox named Honest John and his retarded cat sidekick.  The fox convinces Pinocchio that he should be in show biz and sells him to Stromboli, an evil puppetmaster who locks him in a birdcage.  Rescued by the Blue Fairy, Pinocchio runs into Honest John again and is convinced (it's not his fault; he's a literal blockhead) that blowing off school to go to Pleasure Island would be way better.  But he finds that anarchy isn't really what it's cracked up to be and escapes with Jiminy, only to discover that his father has gone out searching for him and ended up in the belly of a whale.

The animation work, especially the static backgrounds, is impeccable, years ahead of its time and the transition to high-def works in its favor.  This is definitely a classic film and well worth the addition to a collection, especially if you have kids.