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A year after Lux Radio Theater’s adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (coming soon), the program adapted Disney’s Pinocchio for it’s 1939 Christmas Day broadcast. This adaptation was special. Why? It was the very first, public performance of the material.
That’s right. The film wouldn’t be released for another two months, and yet, Disney and Lux Radio Theater did a complete adaptation of the film, from beginning to end, without leaving anything out. It’s amazing if you think about it. No studio in their right minds would do that today. And yet, Disney did without batting an eye. And, if you think about it, it’s rather ingenious. With this performance, you’re told everything. But you’re not shown anything. You’re not shown the beautiful animation. You’re not shown the wondrous technicolor. You’re not shown the amazing production design. Everything is blank, and it makes you wanna see it. (While putting this together, I wanted to do nothing else but find my DVD and watch it.)
Also, though Lux was known for having actors come in and reprise their film roles for the show, this is one of the only, if not the only, broadcast where the entire cast performed their roles. (It makes sense after all. The cast was made up of radio actors and this was to promote the release of the film after all.)
Let’s go over the cast list, shall we:
Dickie Jones . . . . . . . Pinocchio / Anthony*
Cliff Edwards . . . . . . . Jiminy Cricket
Christian Rub . . . . . . . Mister Geppetto
Walter Catlett . . . . . . John Worthington "Honest John" Foulfellow
Charles Judels . . . . . . Stromboli / The Coachman
Evelyn Venable . . . . . .The Blue Fairy
Frankie Darro . . . . . . . Lampwick
* Anthony is the child on Pleasure Island who hasn’t fully transformed into a donkey. (He’s the one who says "I want my Mama!" to The Coachman.) For whatever reason, Dickie voiced this character in the film as well as the title character. I love the fact that he also reprised the role for this broadcast.
The only members of the cast to not come and perform their roles for the broadcast are Mel Blanc as Gideon (who was cast, and recorded, before the character became mute; he came back in for the film to record two solitary hiccups) and Thurl Ravenscroft as Monstro the whale. Since these characters are mainly sound-effects characters, it’s understandable.
Now, you may listen and download the full, unedited episode here (http://oldradioprograms.us/My%20Old%20Radio%20Shows/L/Lux%20Radio%20Theater/Lux_39-12-25_Pinocchio.mp3) (from the oldradioprograms.us Lux Radio Theater page (http://oldradioprograms.us/Lux%20Radio%20Theater.htm)), and you may get my tracked and slightly edited version here (https://mega.co.nz/#!lRN3URxS!XL703Dq4uhp-lI0_DSiX9CKFnaA-1-eMIahSvxFntSw).
I didn’t do much editing. I just fixed a few audio drops that had appeared in the recording somewhere along the line, and I edited out the commercial breaks and a brief mention of the next week’s show during Cecil B. DeMille’s closing remarks. Also, since most of the tracks of my Wizard of Oz (Thread 126907) upload are under a minute, I tried to keep every track (that wasn’t a song) over a minute long, without spliting it up unless it was a scene change or a complete tonal shift. There are a few dialogue tracks under a minute, but not many. I’ll sync it to my iPod tonight and go over it, making sure everything’s as it should be.
This is one of the best Lux broadcasts I’ve ever heard. The adaptation is masterfully done, the acting, with the exception of a brief flub by Cliff Edwards (at the beginning of "The Red Lobster Inn"), is perfect (it almost sounds like a DVD rip), and it’s just a joy to listen too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
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