--- title: "Pinocchio: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/pinocchio/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/pinocchio" critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Pinocchio (1940): what the critics said Critics' score 85 from 11 reviews: 10 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. Almost every critic recommends Pinocchio, and the praise falls in two places. First, the animation: the depth given by the multiplane camera, the early Technicolor, the painted backgrounds, the whale. Second, the story’s darkness. Several reviewers argue that the film trusts children with a grim fable and is better for it, and more than one places it above Snow White on every count but the songs. Jiminy Cricket is singled out again and again as the film’s best invention. The reservations are about the music and the sermon. Two of the earliest notices, from Sight and Sound and The New York Times, find the score the one weak department, which later critics do not share. Empire thinks the moralising heavy-handed for a children’s film and the animation showing its age. Time Out is the only mixed voice, admiring the whale and the background detail while disliking the goldfish and the fairy. Otherwise the spread is narrow. ## Radio Times — Tony Sloman Rating 5/5. The critic marvels at the enduring sense of wonder in this tale of the wooden boy and his conscience, with characters that have become 20th-century mythology. The magnificent score including 'When You Wish Upon a Star' and the artistic use of early Technicolor are singled out for praise. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-slkpgs/pinocchio/) ## The AV Club — Noel Murray Rating A. 18 March 2009. Praises the film as ahead of its time with a dark, moralistic fable and grim message that trusts young audiences, highlighting its painterly visual texture and depth on Blu-ray. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/pinocchio-1798205836) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 22 November 1998. The 1940 Disney film is a triumph of storytelling with a moral, a parable about the dangers of lying that reaches children deeply through Pinocchio's journey. Ebert highlights the innovative animation techniques like the multiplane camera and the film's archetypal power and visual imagination. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-pinocchio-1940) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1940. The critic calls it the most perfect example of cartoon work seen on screen, a great advance on Snow White with lifelike animation and characters that breathe. Jiminy Cricket is singled out as an immortal creation, though the music is deemed pedestrian and uninspired. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/details.php?ranking=83) ## Slant Magazine — Eric Henderson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 10 March 2009. Calls it Disney’s most powerfully dark vision with real gravitas, praising its handling of darker themes, dread and visual artistry over lighter elements. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/pinocchio/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — THR Staff Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 February 2020. The critic calls it a masterpiece superior to Snow White in technical achievement, conception and production, praising its charm, humor, drama, action and beauty that entertain all ages. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/pinocchio-review-movie-1940-1278957/) ## The New York Times — Frank S. Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 February 1940. Disney's second feature-length cartoon is a blithe, witty, fresh and beautifully drawn fantasy superior to Snow White in every respect but its score. It is the best cartoon ever made, a gay and clever delight for young and old alike. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1940/02/08/archives/the-screen-in-review-pinocchio-walt-disneys-longawaited-successor.html) ## Little White Lies — James Clarke Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 23 February 2020. The piece celebrates Disney’s 1940 animation on its 80th anniversary as a pop culture staple that dynamically visualises a child’s journey from innocence to experience. It highlights the lasting alterations to Collodi’s tale, such as elevating Jiminy Cricket as the conscience and heartbeat of the film. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/pinocchio-80th-anniversary-disney-stanley-kubrick) ## Empire — Alan Morrison Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic notes that the quality of Walt Disney's second feature still shines through decades later, praising its Academy Award-winning score and song while acknowledging that the moral preaching feels heavy-handed for a children's film and the animation shows its age. The characters and songs remain distinctive, though it is not ranked among the very top Disney classics, and it will still enchant younger viewers. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/pinocchio-review/) ## Time Out — GB Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 15 April 2014. The review describes the film as a rum mixture of the excellent and the awful, praising stunning animation of the whale and delightful background details while criticising the cute goldfish and odious fairy. It notes that Pinocchio reveals Disney’s virtues and vices more clearly than any other cartoon. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/pinocchio-1) ## Collider — Victoria Luxford Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2026. The critic hails Pinocchio as Disney's only perfect animated film and greatest masterpiece, praising its technical wizardry in animation, moral message, and classic music like "When You Wish Upon a Star." [Read the review](https://collider.com/pinocchio-disney-movie-masterpiece/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/pinocchio.md