Disney at full power - Pinocchio with Andrew Chesworth | AB E026

Oscar nominated director Andrew Chesworth has such an interesting career. He worked at Disney animating on Frozen, Feast, Big Hero Six, Zootopia, Moana, Get a Horse! to name a few, before working with SPA Studios on Klaus and Ember, as well as directing two of my all time favourite animated shorts: One Small Step and The Brave Locomotive.
Sitting down with Andrew was a great privilege, especially when he told me he wanted to talk about Disney’s 1940 Pinocchio. Often overlooked in the oeuvre of early Disney animated features, Pinocchio is a true tour de force in pushing the medium forward. More expensive than the highly successful Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, you can see no corners were cut with Pinocchio. Approaching with the mentality of no limitations, Walt Disney and his team were firing on all cylinders, finding a strong moral story, complex characters with distinct personalities mixed with incredible technical innovations as well as standout artistry in animation.
These are a few of the things we talked about:
- The making of One Small Step and The Brave Locomotive
- The stylistic approach of each animator, including the criminally overlooked Art Babbitt and Bill Tytla.
- Irony at the base level of Pinocchio and the dangerous world that lurks in every corner
& so much more!
I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on!

[@achesworth]

Thanks again for having me, Cole! It was such a delight. I just realized I forgot to elaborate on my admiration for the contributions of Leigh Harline to the film's score. His deployment of memorable leitmotif in both playful and cinematic capacities was some of the richest ever done. He had a really interesting career, and his time at Disney was short despite having worked on some of the studio's most iconic projects.

[@Any-mation]

It was so great to have you on, thank you for your enthusiasm, honesty and deep deep knowledge of Pinocchio and Disney of that time

[@dwintster]

I need to check out more of Andrew's work, I really loved Klaus. It's one of the best tradigital pieces of 2D animation I've seen in recent times.

[@Any-mation]

I loved Klaus as well, their technique in making that film was astounding. But beyond that, the story was so wonderful too. I’d really recommend checking out Andrew’s shorts!

[@gruslen]

One thing I love about these discussions is getting introduced to animators I have never known of. Now I have tons of new stuff to check out, and it's wonderful. As always, love your channel. This was another fantastic discussion!

[@Any-mation]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share that! Andrew’s work is so great, he has such a passion and love for animation as well, I’m glad you’re gonna dig through his catalogue

[@dwintster]

Though the princess fairy tales are similar, Ariel her mentor is Sabastian to a degree. Beauty and the Beast the beast is somewhat guided by Lumiere and cogsworth. Somewhat. All beautifully animated films I enjoyed with mu daughter. Pinnochio is among my favorites, one of the few I used to own. I received it on VHS for my birthday in the 90's. I need to introduce my daughter to Pinnochio, I was wondering if it was too scary for her at first but we watched the Hunchback of Natre Damme together recently and she really loved it.

[@Any-mation]

Wow if she got through Hunchback, I think Pinocchio should be okay. Just be wary of the Donkey transformation scene!