"The most difficult multi-plane shot in terms of design and layout was far from the most spectacular of the film. It’s where Pinocchio is locked in the bird cage in Stromboli’s wagon, and the wagon is moving. You had a great number of levels. There were the swinging bars of the cage, and that cage had two levels, front and back. Pinocchio was inside, responding to the pull of gravity. The problems of proper registration was tremendous. On top of that, you had swinging puppets in the foreground and light coming in the window with the moon shining on the farthest level back. The moon was held while the other things were moving and swinging. The light ray of the blue fairy had to be airbrushed through the window. The final result looks natural, but planning all the effects was very complicated. And expensive."From Cartoon Brew, where Steve Hulett has been presenting a serialized memoir called "Mouse in Transition" about his years at Walt Disney animation. While he was there, he interviewed older animators, including Ken Anderson, about their work on Pinocchio.
Images copyright Disney Enterprises
