Pinocchio Will Wish Upon A Blu-Ray Star

It’s almost time for round two of Disney’s Blu-ray barrage. To celebrate the film’s 70th anniversary, Walt Disney’s original classic Pinocchio, will be released on Blu-ray March 10th, 2009.

Go back to 1940 when the woodcarver Gepetto first created is simple wooden marionette he called Pinocchio. All it took was a wish upon a star to summon the Blue Fairy to bring life to Pinocchio. He may seem alive as any living being but it is not until Pinocchio can prove himself worthy of becoming a real boy that he can, in fact, become a boy. With his conscience, Jiminy Cricket, by his side Pinocchio goes on a journey filled with magic and adventure.

• DVD BONUS FEATURES
  Disc 1
• Pinocchio’s Matter of Facts - Learn fun facts about Pinocchio and other related subjects as you watch the movie
• Audio Commentary - An all-new audio commentary with Leonard Maltin, Eric Goldberg and J. B. Kaufman.
• Disney Song Selection -- Select this option to sing along with favorite songs as the lyrics appear onscreen.
  
  Disc 2
• No Strings Attached: The Making of Pinocchio - Witness the behind-the scenes magic that transformed Carlo Collodi’s popular book into a classic animated film.
• Deleted Scenes (The Story of the Grandfather Tree: Kindly Geppetto tells Pinocchio about the Great Pine Tree from which Pinocchio is descended. In The Belly Of The Whale - - The most elaborate of Pinocchio’s deleted scenes that remain in the Disney Archives, these recently discovered storyboards reveal a different version of Geppetto inside Monstro.)
• Alternate Ending - A recently uncovered set of small storyboard panels reveal plans for a different version of Pinocchio becoming a real boy.
• The Sweat Box - The Sweatbox was a small projection room at the Disney studio where Walt critiqued story reels, rough animation, and dailies of films in progress with his anxious artists. This piece traces the history of the Sweatbox and brings to life this important part of Walt Disney’s artistic process.
• Live Action Reference Footage
• Pinocchio Art Galleries
• Deleted Songs - An audio collection of period “pop” recordings of songs that not used in the final film.
• Pinocchio Puzzles - Hosted by Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio’s Puzzles is a multi-tiered Puzzle game that contains six unique wooden puzzles for the viewer to assemble. Each puzzle forms an image from the film that comes to life once they are complete.
• BLU-Ray BONUS FEATURES
  Disc 1
• Cine-Explore
• Movie Chat - Communicate with your remote friends on-screen while in a synchronized viewing party using your remote control or any text enabled device such as a laptop, desk top or any PDA device such as a Blackberry, iPhone or most other regular cell phones. Your chat session will appear over the movie and occur in real-time while watching the movie together.
• Movie Mail - Blu-ray owners will be able to record a personalized video message of themselves, superimpose that capture onto one of many pre-selected clips of the movie, and send it off to a friend, colleague, or relative. This specific feature enables Pinocchio Blu-ray Disc owner to personalize a very special greeting as never before.
• Movie Challenge - Users will be able to test their skills against other players in a synchronized, real-time, online trivia game while watching Pinocchio with anyone online. Movie Challenge is always active no matter what time of the day it is, and there will always be a game in progress.
• Disney Movie Rewards Live - Pinocchio Blu-ray owners will be able to accumulate Disney Movie Reward Points by participating in many Disney BD-Live Network activities. In return, viewers can redeem points for exclusive content such as Avatars, downloadable extras and many more exciting possibilities.)
• Pinocchio Knows Trivia Challenge

The digitally restored Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition will enhance your experience when watching this pastime favorite. Even better, this is an experience you won’t have to miss out on if you haven’t switched to Blu-ray just yet. The set comes with a standard definition DVD in addition to the Blu-ray discs. But for those of you who do have Blu-ray access, the story will be even more brilliant than you can imagine. It will open up the world of the BD-Live Network. You’ll be given a backstage pass for the exclusive Blu-ray Disc owners chat, video streaming capabilities, opportunity to play communal games and download even more content.

Pinocchio holds the second position in Disney’s Blu-ray lineup. First out the gate was Sleeping Beauty on October 7th. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will come sometime in the fall of 2009 followed by Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 in early 2010. Accompanying the Fantasia duo will be Destino, Walk Disney’s unfinished animated film begun in 1946 alongside painter Salvador Dali, and rediscovered by Disney’s nephew in 2003. Rounding out the group will be Beauty and the Beast in the fall of 2010.

The standard DVD edition will only cost you $29.99. For those of you who opt for the 2-disc Blu-ray version, you’ll be paying $35.99. Maybe if you wish upon a star hard enough, someone will buy it for you. But don’t go around lying to get want you want, because we all know what that leads to.