Disney’s endless parade of live-action remakes continues with an adaptation of the 1940s animated film Pinocchio went to Disney Plus later that year. In the latest trailer for the new film, we get a look at Tom Hanks’ Geppetto and plenty of CGI. The film was also directed by Robert Zemeckis, reuniting with Hanks for the first time since 2004 polar express. Pinocchio slated for release on “Disney Plus Day,” the company’s annual day of previews and release news. This year it falls on September 8th.
The trailer will certainly look familiar to anyone who remembers the original animated film. Toymaker Geppetto (who got his own disturbing movie musical in 2000) creates a wooden puppet named Pinocchio, though he looks a lot more plastic in this trailer. Then Pinocchio comes to life and dreams of being a real boy. The doll then has adventures including but not limited to: hanging out with a cricket named Jiminy, being sold to a circus, and being swallowed by a whale.
Disney’s slew of live-action adaptations of its animated classics began in earnest following the success of Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland in 2010. Since then, the effort has resulted in films of varied quality but undeniable box office success Aladdin, The Lion King, The jungle Bookand Beauty and the Beast all exceed one billion dollars worldwide. The last few live-action remakes have gone straight to Disney Plus, just like Pinocchio Will. they include mulan, Lady and the trampand the hybrid version Cruella.
Along with Hanks’ Geppetto, Pinocchio will also be Cynthia Erivo (Bad times at El Royale, The outsider) as The Blue Fairy, who sings the classic Disney song “When You Wish Upon a Star” in this trailer. Additional cast members include Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast) as Coachman, Keegan-Michael Key (key and peele) as the voice of Honest the fox and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight rises) as the voice of Jiminy Cricket.
Surprisingly, this is the third Pinocchio project currently underway in one form or another. In addition to the Disney film by Zemeckis, there is also an adaptation of the original children’s novel by Carlo Collodi by Guillermo del Toro on Netflix and a confusing video game called The lies of Pthe combined bloodborne-style battle with the story of the wooden puppet with the growing nose.
