Aug 4, 2010

Great Inspiration: music-only soundtrack for Lampwick's transformation in "Pinocchio".

I just found this on the blog written by Jaime Weinman, Something Old, Nothing New-which he in turn found on youtube. It's arguably the most frightening scene in animation history-Pinocchio witnessing the wages of childhood sin on his new friend Lampwick.
Everyone's seen it numerous times, but here it is presented with no dialogue or other track-nothing save the dramatic score of composer Leigh Harline. The character animation is primarily the work of Fred Moore, Ollie Johnston, Milt Neil, Milt Kahl and Eric Larson.



I can't remember how I initially found Weinman's blog (and in all honesty I don't check in with him often enough these days), but in my internet wanderings he's one of the best writers on film and other popular entertainment I've come across. His entries are frequently so fascinating that I'll become interested in a title I either had no patience for or any curiosity about before he examined it. That's obviously not the case with "Pinocchio", a film I probably put at the top of my animation mountain, but it figures it's Jaime who shares something that's a must-see for anyone who loves animation. Be sure to read his accompanying comments about composer Harline.

4 comments:

Hoot Gibson said...

Look how similar this scene is to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BRUzKFEG_0

Even though Lampwick doesn't rip his pants off, it's pretty damn close in tension and timing.

I like the Pinocchio scene better because it's far more scary to turn into a donkey than a wolf. A donkey will bite the hell out of for a CARROT!

Jorge Garrido said...

Jaime is the best! His other blog, TV Guidance, has some of the most consistently astute observations about television I've ever read. Even if you're not Canadian (a lot of his posts are about the Canadian TV industry) the blog is worth reading.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful twisted variation on "When You Wish Upon a Star" that tranmogrifies into a twisted variation of "Give a Little Whistle." Man, Leigh Harline was great.

Steven Hartley said...

I love the transforming sequence - animated by Fred Moore and Lampwick as donkey by Eric Larson.

This sequence remains terryfying to audiences!!