Take a look back at the second animated classic from Disney studios, and a chilling scene.
The imprisonment of the little wooden puppet in a cage by the cruel Stromboli, the horrible transformation of his best friend into a donkey, or the monstrous smile of the sinister coachman … Pinocchio, the second animated classic from Disney studios released in 1940, contains its share of frightening sequences, especially for young viewers.
Although it ultimately didn’t make it into the film, another particularly disturbing scene could easily have completed the list. The sequence in question, available in a working version on Disney +, takes place in Monstro’s belly, where Gepetto, his cat Figaro and his fish Cléo – who were swallowed alive by the whale – begin to starve to death.
“The 10.1 sequence entitled” Hungry in the belly of the whale “was developed at the end of 1938”, we learn in the preamble. “It was the most elaborate cut scene from Pinocchio to be found in the Disney Animation Research Library. It perfectly represents the wild side of the imagination of Walt Disney and his storytelling team.”
Indeed, the sequence (made up of storyboards, a soundtrack and recorded dialogues) takes the time to develop a little more in detail the sad situation in which Gepetto and his cat find themselves. Trying in vain to fish for food from the whale’s belly, they begin to hallucinate, much like the characters in Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush.
After severely lecturing Figaro, who has tried to devour Cléo on several occasions, Gepetto himself begins to be tempted by the idea of tasting his goldfish. After a brief moment of rather worrying madness, he ends up luckily finding his senses and changing his mind.
Could the scene, which was therefore never added to the final cut of the film, appear in the remake of Pinocchio in live action, expected on Disney + in autumn 2022, and in which Gepetto will be played by Tom Hanks?
While waiting to find out, (re) discover our False Match dedicated to the first Disney classics …
