Pinocchio (2022 live-action film)
Pinocchio is a 2022 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Zemeckis and Chris Weitz. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Depth of Field and ImageMovers, this film is a live-action remake of Walt Disney's 1940 animated film Pinocchio, which is itself based on the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It stars Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, and Luke Evans with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Lorraine Bracco in voice roles. The reimagined story follows a wooden puppet named Pinocchio (Evan Ainsworth), who is brought to life by a blue fairy (Erivo) after being crafted by an old Italian woodcarver named Geppetto (Hanks). While the role of Pinocchio's conscience Jiminy Cricket (Gordon-Levitt) attempts to guide Pinocchio in matters of right and wrong, Pinocchio encounters a host of unsavory characters in his efforts to become a real boy.
Pinocchio
- Robert Zemeckis
- Chris Weitz
- Andrew Milano
- Chris Weitz
- Robert Zemeckis
- Derek Hogue
- Jesse Goldsmith
- Mick Audsley
- Walt Disney Pictures
- Depth of Field
- ImageMovers
- September 8, 2022
105 minutes
United States
English
$150 million[1]
Development of the live-action Pinocchio began in 1985, with Jim Henson and Steve Barron approached with the idea, but Disney turned down the project. Disney eventually announced the remake film in April 2015 with Peter Hedges being reported to be writing the film's script, before being replaced with Weitz in May 2017, who also went on to produce. Sam Mendes and Paul King were originally considered for directing, and Zemeckis was confirmed as director in January 2020. By November 2018, it was reported that Hanks was in early talks to play Geppetto; he passed on the project after King's departure but rejoined in August 2020. The main cast was announced in January and March 2021. Principal photography began in March 2021 before finishing the following month. Alan Silvestri, who has collaborated in all of Zemeckis's films, composed the score, who also wrote the new songs with Glen Ballard.
Pinocchio was released on September 8, 2022, by Disney+, as part of Disney+ Day. It received generally negative reviews from critics, who found it unnecessary and lacking the charm of the 1940 film, and criticized the writing and deviations, as well as the lack of improvement over previous adaptations, although the visuals, musical score, and some of the actors' performances received praise. It received six Golden Raspberry Award nominations, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor for Hanks, and won for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel.
Plot[edit]
In a small Italian village in 1855, a vagrant cricket named Jiminy Cricket enters the home of a widowed elderly woodcarver named Geppetto, who lives with his pet kitten Figaro and goldfish Cleo. Geppetto has completed work on a puppet based on his young deceased son, which he names Pinocchio. Before falling asleep, Geppetto makes a wish on a star. Later that night, the star magically brings Pinocchio to life and he is soon visited by the Blue Fairy who tells him that if he acts brave, truthful and selfless, he can be a real boy. The Blue Fairy appoints Jiminy the responsibility of being Pinocchio's conscience to teach him right from wrong. When Geppetto awakens and finds Pinocchio alive, he is at first shocked, but becomes overjoyed.
After a few days, Geppetto sends Pinocchio to school. The fox con-artist, "Honest" John, and his cat partner, Gideon, soon approach Pinocchio. He convinces Pinocchio that he should live a life of fame to truly be a real boy when he really plans to sell him to the puppet master Stromboli. With the help of a seagull named Sofia, Jiminy convinces Pinocchio to go to school, but Pinocchio is kicked out by the headmaster because he is a puppet. Pinocchio decides to go to Stromboli's after all while Honest John places a glass jar over Jiminy. Geppetto, Figaro, and Cleo go out to look for Pinocchio when he fails to come home for dinner. At Stromboli's theater, Pinocchio befriends one of Stromboli's employees, Fabiana and her puppet Sabina. Pinocchio puts on a good show for the crowd, but Stromboli locks him in a bird cage to prevent him from ever leaving. Stromboli's coach ends up freeing Jiminy from the jar and Pinocchio has him reach the keys for the cage's lock by telling lies to make his nose grow longer.
Soon, Pinocchio is swiped up by a coach full of children driven by a charismatic Coachman, who is taking them to Pleasure Island, where misbehavior is encouraged. Once there, Pinocchio is disturbed by some of the brutality the kids display, but befriends an irresponsible boy named Lampwick and manages to enjoy some of the attractions. Later on, Jiminy finds that all of the children have turned into donkeys and that the Coachman sells them to the salt mines with help from his Ghosts. Pinocchio witnesses Lampwick's transformation at a billiard hall as Pinocchio gains a donkey's ears and tail. Pinocchio and Jiminy escape the island before the Coachman and his goons can get them.
Pinocchio and Jiminy make it back to Geppetto's, but find that Sofia gave him a flyer of Pleasure Island to let him know where Pinocchio was and that he sold all of his clocks to buy a boat to go there. Pinocchio reunites with Fabiana and Sabina who tell him that Stromboli has been arrested by the Carabinieri last night for cruelty against his employees, and they have taken over his puppet show. They offer Pinocchio to join them, but Pinocchio declines, wanting to save his father, which makes his donkey parts disappear. Sofia pulls a rope for Pinocchio to hold out to the Mediterranean Sea, where they soon find Geppetto in his boat. Just as they reunite, they are swallowed by a giant sea monster named Monstro. They take refuge in a giant boat in Monstro's stomach and Pinocchio gets the idea to make him sneeze by starting a fire within him. The plan works, and Monstro sneezes them out, but he gives chase that ends with the group crashing on dry land and apparently killing Geppetto.
Believing his father has died, Pinocchio mourns over him and a magical tear falls from his eye on Geppetto, reviving him. Geppetto tells Pinocchio that despite being a puppet, he has proven himself to be a true boy at heart. As Pinocchio and Geppetto depart for home, Jiminy narrates that stories have been told of Pinocchio becoming a real boy, but doesn't confirm them (even as Pinocchio's limbs appear to turn human), stressing that, in his heart, Pinocchio is already a real boy.
Non-speaking animal characters include Geppetto's pet kitten Figaro and goldfish Cleo, and Monstro, an enormous, chimeric sea monster who devours anything that crosses his path.
Release[edit]
On October 29, 2019, it was reported that Disney was considering releasing the film on its streaming service Disney+ due to the box office failure of its 2019 remake of Dumbo, though "a theatrical release seems more likely" after the hiring of Robert Zemeckis as director.[35] On December 9, 2020, the film was officially announced to be moving back to Disney+ instead of a theatrical release in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The film was released on September 8, 2022, as part of Disney+ Day.[36][37]
Reception[edit]
Audience viewership[edit]
According to Nielsen, Pinocchio was the 6th most watched program across all platforms during the week of September 11, 2022.[38] According to streaming aggregator Reelgood, Pinocchio was the 5th most watched program across all platforms during the week of September 17, 2022.[39] According to Whip Media, Pinocchio was the 8th most watched film across all platforms in the United States during the week of September 23, 2022.[40]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 28% of 181 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Visually dazzling but soulless, the largely inert Pinocchio reaffirms that you should always let your conscience be your guide… away from unnecessary remakes."[41] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[42]
Adrian Horton of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, saying, "A live-action take on the classic animation has effective visual moments and an impactful turn from Tom Hanks but never quite justifies its existence."[43] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, writing, "Every frame of Pinocchio is filled with rich and lush detail — at times this almost looks like a 3-D film — and the performances, whether live action or voiced, are universally excellent."[44] Danny Leigh of the Financial Times thought that "The animation is now so hyper-advanced, the landscape of the movie so eerily both this and that, it is easy to get confused about where reality stops and ones and zeros take over."[45] Jennifer Green of Common Sense Media gave the film three out of five stars and felt it "boasts an impressive mix of CGI animation and live actors and settings, but the final product feels a little jumbled".[46]
Amy Nicholson of The New York Times was critical of the script: "Geppetto [sings] about his freshly concocted dead son. Someone wished to burden the old whittler with more motivation, and tacked on a dead wife to boot."[47] Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com called Key's performance "by far the film's highlight", but felt other updates to the story "too often feel empty and add no insight".[48] Alex Godfrey of Empire gave the film two stars out of five, saying, "It's hard to invest much in Geppetto and Pinocchio's relationship when they spend barely any time together. Ultimately, it's all a bit flat, and feels like an exercise. It exists because it can."[49] In a "C" review, Christian Zilko of IndieWire wrote, "While the original story remains undeniably excellent, Pinocchio fails at re-telling it because it ignores its own advice. ... If Disney truly believed that timeless virtue and character were more important than having a shiny new exterior, this remake would never have been made."[50] Patrick Cremona of the Radio Times thought it "never does enough to justify its own existence, failing to improve on the tremendous 1940 animation in any meaningful way."[51] Andrew Barker of Variety was similarly negative, saying, "There may be no strings on this Pinocchio, but there isn't much of a heart in him either."[52]