Pinocchio (Live-Action)

[Elladorine]

So apparently Gideon and Honest John are a couple.

Or it might just be Gideon’s wishful thinking?

[Sotiris]

^Nice catch! Is Gideon male or female in the remake?

[D82]

A new clip featuring the Blue Fairy singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" has been released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmsXIQ1ehiE

[Vlad]

I don't know why, but her singing the song kinda ruined the moment for me. It kinda made me lol. But her voice is lovely though. She's a beautiful woman in real life. I don't get why they made her so ugly in the movie.

[Elladorine]

^Nice catch! Is Gideon male or female in the remake?

Wow … you know, I have absolutely no idea, it didn’t even occur to me that they tend to switch some of the characters in these remakes.

I know I haven’t commented on the actual movie yet; it’s no secret I don’t get excited about these live-action remakes, but I really wanted to give this one a chance.

It’s strange how Pinocchio’s character design is pretty faithful to the original, yet it somehow comes off so cold and lifeless. I get that they were going for making him feel like a moving puppet, but in the process it almost feels like early CG. I don’t know, maybe the wood needed to be a little warmer in color? And the eyes … again, I know where they were coming from with the look of them being painted on, but they needed to be outlined with a darker color or something, even if it was just a subtle touch.

I didn’t care for Jiminy’s design, but I imagine they had as difficult of a time on making his design “realistic” as Ward Kimball did before he basically gave up on the idea of making him look like a cricket. I did enjoy his voice actor and most of his dialog though, and the unexpected reference to the ”I’m No Fool” series with the crack about “living to 103” made me laugh at loud.

Not having the Blue Fairy return to teach some lessons about lying and give him a chance to apologize seems odd, and even more so when Pinocchio figures out he can actually use his lying as a helpful tool in order to escape?

I didn’t expect to like the Coachmen, but they did an excellent job with the character.

I understand why they went with root beer instead of actual beer and why smoking was dropped altogether at Pleasure Island, but I feel like it really pulled away the metaphorical impact of children not fully understanding the consequences of their actions. I was almost surprised they were allowed to say “jackass,” but of course that’s what they were literally turning into.

Lampwick’s transformation in the original is possibly the most frightening scene in all of Disney’s history (well, at least as far as I’m concerned), and I imagine it would be incredibly difficult to pull it off without the caricature of animation. I thought the “real” Lampwick actually worked well with the actor they chose, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Fred Moore’s masterpiece, and I didn’t feel any sympathy during his realization of what’s happening as I do for the original.

Also really odd to me that Geppetto doesn’t find Pinocchio face-down in the water, dead. Also ruins the light-hearted shift in tone of him absent-mindlessly telling him “Because you’re dead, Pinocchio. Now lie down and ... And did I miss the moment Pinocchio made a true sacrifice in order to save his father? To be fair I wasn’t fully engaged anymore, but it felt he just kind of … turned into a real boy without notice.

It was ok altogether, but not particularly memorable. If anything, it’s gotten me in the mood to watch the original again. I get the impression the original film, although it obviously has critical acclaim and has been beloved for generations, perhaps it’s not particularly popular or considered relevant anymore, especially with younger audiences. Maybe there’s a possibility that this film’s existence can help revitalize the original?

[carolinakid]

Great review, Eliadorine! Now I’m convinced more than ever I would hate this thing. Regarding how many of the darker elements of the animated classic were dropped or changed, it amazes me how much “stuff” people think today’s kids can’t handle. Thank goodness I grew up when I did.

[unprincess]

Yes, that is such a nice story about the Beast and whales, Vlad. Lord-of-sith, hm, yeah I guess it does seem random and unexplained. Unprincess, yes to your question about the donkey scene, though it is a little less terrifying, and that Fox isn't really that feral in the film, but he is kinda sexy, I agree. Haha!

lol well I meant feral in the predatory way they're baring their tongue and teeth, like real animals tend to...there's an air of danger to these 2 critters as opposed to the way cute CGI furry creatures are usually depicted. Of course theyre villains so that was probably intentional. I just realized too that this might be a glimpse of what to expect from that live action Robin Hood remake.

[Disney Duster]

Oh. Hm, I don't remember how much teeth and tongue bearing they do, unprincess.

Good catch, Elladorine, and good review!

[Patricier21]

Still haven’t seen the movie yet, but here is a fan made trailer I did for it, inspired by my love for the 2002 Pinocchio’s trailer

https://youtu.be/3xG1B1jUveY

[D82]

^Nice job, Patricier21!

A clip featuring Honest John and Gideon has been released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ABHXppwkc

^Nice catch! Is Gideon male or female in the remake?

Wow … you know, I have absolutely no idea, it didn’t even occur to me that they tend to switch some of the characters in these remakes.

Judging by his appearance and name, I'd say the character hasn't been genderbent. This reminds me a lot of Gaston and LeFou in the Beauty and the Beast remake.

[geniuswalt]

Watched this with an open mind wanting to enjoy it but i have to say, having watched it, it’s just unnecessary, uninspired and frankly useless.
The only thing that I enjoyed were some of the gags with the cuckoo clocks reimagined with some classic and modern Disney characters. Nice touch and put a smile on my face.
I also enjoyed the reimagining of the blue fairy more than I thought I would if not for those weird jelly fish-like wings. It ruined the otherwise top-notch fairy dust CGI work.
But after that, it was all downhill. The worst part is the CGI for Pinocchio himself. Very cheap and the even worse, the inexpressive eyes and gaze. Looking like he’s dead inside (how not to compare it to the wonderfully lively and charming performance in the classic movie we are all familiar with?).
Finally, the only original character, the young puppeteer girl, which no one asked for or needed and actually took me out of the story.
Such a waste of time and talent (Tom Hanks, in what is probably his worst performance of his otherwise amazing career)

[Disney's Divinity]

SPOILERS (I don’t know what’s considered spoiler or not in this case, so just don’t read if you haven’t seen it yet.)

I liked this! Tom Hanks was definitely the best part of it, no surprise there. While there was no universe where Figaro could be as cute as the original *ever*—he is the cutest “sidekick” of all time—he was still pretty adorable here. I'm a sucker for cats though. I think the only thing I *didn't* like was the Coachman's song.... I didn't mind the introduction of the shadow creatures alongside him though; he had to have some kind of magical means in order to transform the children to donkeys anyway. I did like that they had Pinocchio seeing the clocks at Pleasure Island being destroyed to make him uncomfortable about what was happening. I didn’t mind the puppeteer girl either and liked her song. I assume she was there to offset any criticisms of racism about Stromboli. Thankfully Stromboli wasn’t cut altogether. I also liked girls being at Pleasure Island and the little change of Pinocchio’s donkey appendages disappearing based on his own decisions (for good) as a counter balance to when bad decisions cause his nose to grow.

The Blue Fairy’s wings moved oddly, they almost made me think of a jellyfish. There were certain scenes (particularly the scene at the shore just before the Monstro stuff) that were very striking. I didn’t mind the way Monstro looked, it made him come across almost like a leviathan to me, which sort of suited the moment. It’s sort of biblical to me, them ending up in the belly of the whale much like Jonah. And I loved how Pinocchio found Geppetto on the raft and then the mouth came up from below them, that part made me laugh (including the part before with Geppetto's line poking fun about how all these things happened in 24 hours. ). Joseph Gordon-Levitt sounded more like the original film than I expected. I didn’t think he’d change his voice, simply be himself, so that surprised me and he sounded pretty good, imo. I just wish “When You Wish Upon a Star” hadn’t been so brief and that it had been framed differently. I thought maybe she could sing it over the scene before she appears or after she leaves, I don’t know.

I don’t mind the ending change so much, although I was sort of hoping that Pinocchio crying over Geppetto and “loving” Geppetto would be what would turn him human once I realized they were doing it differently. It seemed like that was what was going to happen with the focus on the tear there, I thought they were going to copy B&tB just like Tangled did. But then they decided to end the film with that whole “legends say….” That was odd since that kind of ending is supposed to de-mystify the aura around a story, but in this case…it’s not like a living puppet would be more realistic than a living puppet who later turns human would be??

This is definitely one of the few I’d like to get on Blu-ray eventually. Has Lady and the Tramp ever been released on Blu-ray yet? At least, I’m scared that it being a “streaming exclusive” might mean it won’t get a Blu-ray release? I'd probably put this one about on level with, perhaps above, The Lion King remake, below TJB, B&tB, and Aladdin.

[blackcauldron85]

Pinocchio (2022) Pitch Meeting (it's funny, parody sort of, not the actual pitch meeting, which is obvious if you watch it- just trying to lower expectations if the title is misleading)
https://youtu.be/57xcebZlQ0E

[geniuswalt]

Pinocchio (2022) Pitch Meeting (it's funny, parody sort of, not the actual pitch meeting, which is obvious if you watch it- just trying to lower expectations if the title is misleading)
https://youtu.be/57xcebZlQ0E

LOL, that was fun! Looking at the end result I don’t think the real pitch was that much different

[Vlad]

I love they guy doing these Pitch Meeting videos. His facial expressions are so funny.

Meanwhile, I wonder if Disney is considering releasing this on Blu-ray and Digital. Maybe as a Movie Club exclusive.

[D82]

New featurettes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD-ZZGEubnM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI-KPdKdwU4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFOztBQTO8M

[Sotiris]

Pinocchio debuted at #6 on Nielsen's overall streaming chart and at #2 on the movie streaming chart.




Source: https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/cobra- ... 235395023/


During its second week, it left the Top 10 of the overall streaming chart, but was still at #2 on the movie streaming chart.


Source: https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/cobra- ... 235402590/


During its third week, it fell to #5 on the movie streaming chart.

[Disney's Divinity]

Ah, interesting! A Nielsen chart for streaming. I'd been wondering how we're supposed to gauge things in the streaming world.

[blackcauldron85]

VFX Artists React: Pinocchio vs. Pinocchio
https://youtu.be/sidE5lj0xt0

[Farerb]

Pinocchio gets multiple nominations in the Razzie awards:

— Worst Picture
— Worst Actor (Tom Hanks)
— Worst Remake/Sequel
— Worst Supporting Actress (Lorraine Bracco)
— Worst Screenplay
— Worst Director

Source:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 235306782/