Pinocchio Signature Edition Digital HD & Blu-ray (Jason’s 1st Impressions)
The Signature Edition of Pinocchio is now available on Digital HD/Disney Movies Anywhere and will be on Blu-ray and DVD the end of the month (Jan 31st). This is the film’s first time on digital release. The last wide release on home video was the platinum edition in 2009 that featured Blu-ray and DVD.
This time around the release includes a small number of new bonus features and several classic bonus features from previous releases. The film is presented in a number of ways too, original, commentary, singalong, and DisneyView. For full details on what is included and the technical specifications here is the initial press release.
I was disappointed with the bonus material added for this release. It seems Disney missed an opportunity. For example included is the first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short, “Poor Papa” from 1927, but the short includes no introduction or narrative to give a reason for it. It is just there which is awkward at best. It is great to see the short restored and looking good as new but still seems it would benefit from something talking about it and maybe the restoration? The history of the short is interesting and I would venture to guess most do not know it.
There are two new featurettes. The Story Meetings for Pleasure Island and Pinocchio in Walt’s Words. The last new addition is a version of “When You Wish Upon a Star” called the Pinocchio Project featuring JR Aquino, Alex G and Tanner Patrick.
If you want to learn about the creation of the film the release does include the documentary “No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio” which is nearly an hour history, this was on the Platinum release to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the film. If you do not own that and had not seen, or do not remember it, it is well done.
I always enjoy re-watching the classic films and each new release is a great reason to revisit an “old friend”. The film itself looks and sounds great. Whether to add this release to your collection really comes down to do you want a Digital HD version and what is the last version you own? If you have the Platinum Blu-ray release you have most of the bonus features already so Digital is the decision point. If you do not own the Platinum release then you may want to consider it since almost all the bonus features will be new then. If you do not own a copy of Pinocchio or are looking to expand your digital collection this is a solid offering with a good mix of bonus features and versions of a Disney Classic to add to your library.
