Pinocchio

by Tyler Glover

Photo: Disney

Director: Robert Zemeckis 
Starring: Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Tom Hanks & Cynthia Erivo
Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hour & 45 minutes 

Once upon a time and happily ever afters have been given new lives ever since Disney started churning out remake after remake since 2010’s “Alice In Wonderland.” It is true that Disney had dabbled in these remakes before with 1994’s “Jungle Book” and 1996’s “101 Dalmatians,” but the success of ‘Alice’ set a campaign in motion for Disney to redo every animated film in its cannon into a live-action film. Almost all of them have been pretty successful in terms of revenue but as far as quality, they have been all over the place. It appears Disney has three different ways that they have been sticking to: remake the exact same film in live-action form (“The Lion King”), retell a story to understand the villain’s motives (“Maleficent”), or make the film almost the same with a few changes that add layers (“Beauty and the Beast”). On September 8th, Disney released its latest live-action remake, “Pinocchio” on its streaming service, Disney+. What strategy did Disney use for this remake? And did this make fans feel like their wish on a star was granted or have we been turned into donkeys like the boys on Pleasure Island?

Just like in the animated film, this version of “Pinocchio” tells the story of an elderly woodcarver named Geppetto (Tom Hanks), who makes a puppet named Pinocchio (voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) that he wishes will come to life. His wish is granted by the Blue Fairy (Cynthia Erivo) who tells Pinocchio that if he can prove to be brave, truthful and selfish, he can become a real boy. Pinocchio sets off with the best of intentions but finds himself in trouble despite the efforts of his conscience, Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Pinocchio ends up imprisoned by Stromboli, a scheming puppeteer who intends to use him to make money off him and even gets turned into a donkey on Treasure Island. Pinocchio has to find his way back home and prove that he has what it takes to be a real boy.

The strategy Disney uses for this film is mostly to tell the story almost verbatim as it did back in 1940. If that is what you are coming to see, this film is going to be a must-see. It is visually dazzling and beautiful to look at. The scenes with the whale and seeing the Blue Fairy are stunning. What makes this film a little bit of a misfire is that it attempts to add some depth as to Geppetto’s emotions and why he carved Pinocchio in the first place, but it’s just not enough and honestly from a company that tends to be able to handle everything at emotional heights, this didn’t have the emotional impact it was intended to have. If it was done a little bit differently, less subtly, and even remotely mentioned again later in the film, it could have really turned this film into a tearjerker of a film that would touch us all even more.

The performances in the film are splendid, especially that of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who voices Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy is brought to life with such cheerful and sarcastic wit making us realize just how much we have missed him. Hanks shows us why he is Hollywood’s go-to guy for saint roles. Erivo gives us a beautiful rendition of “When You Wish Upon A Star,” getting me even more excited to see her as Elphaba in 2024 and 2025’s upcoming “Wicked” films.

All in all, this version of “Pinocchio” is a visual spectacle with good performances that does follow the original pretty religiously. The few moments that it has to be different that would have probably made it even better and a must-see for me aren’t handled as well as they could have been. While it was mostly a good film, I would have my nose grow if I said that it was everything I wanted it to be.