Pinocchio Review: Disney's Liveaction Remake Fails To Come To Life

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8 Sep, 2022

Disney Plus Live Action Pinocchio Gets September Premiere First Teaser Trailer Metacritic

Remakes are always divisive, but that seems especially true when it comes to Disney since the originals were such an important part of our childhood. Pinocchio is the latest in a long line of Disney remakes, and it begs the inevitable question: is it worth it?

The diplomatic response would be to say that there is nothing in the Robert Zemeckis version that would make you change your mind about the Disney adaptations. Even with the always-reliable Tom Hanks as Geppetto, this new version of Pinocchio - the first of two to release in 2022 with Netflix's Guillermo del Toro in December - ironically never comes to life.

Unlike 2020's Mulan, Zemeckis and Chris Weitz's remake decides not to make major changes to the 1940 Oscar-winning animation. Few surprises will be found other than the Coachman (Luke Evans) who says "crazy".

Watch Pinocchio on Disney+

The changes made are also odd, such as the Blue Fairy's role has been drastically reduced, so much so that you wonder why they chose Cynthia Erivo instead of just skipping CGI.

At least she can sing the classic "When You Wish on a Star," but if you've heard the trailer, you've mostly heard her new version.

Composer Alan Silvestri and composer Glenn Ballard created four new tracks for the remake, cutting only one from the original ("Gimme a Little Whistle"). Luke Evans brings his best charisma to Pleasure Island Coach, but it's Fabiana's (Kiann Lamaia's) playful new character I Will Always Dance that is most impressive.

None of the new tracks overlap the classics, which is good, because there are no remakes either. Live action can sometimes take a fresh look at a classic, but there's so much CGI involved that sometimes you might even be watching a cartoon.

Perhaps instead of being an animatronic, Pinocchio (voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is a fully computer-generated creation with a cartoon-like design. Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Joseph Gordon Levitt) and Honest John (voiced by Keegan Michael-Key) are also CGI, while Geppetto Figaro the Cat and Cleo the Goldfish are also the weirdest.

Given Zemeckis' backstory, one would expect CGI and live-action elements to work well together, but they rarely occupy the same space. This is especially true, since in any interaction between Geppetto and Pinocchio, the lines of the eyes do not match, and Geppetto never touches Pinocchio.

CGI isn't the only modern aspect of the remake that still feels immersed in the past, but has some updated touches. There's a "Chris Pine" joke, Jiminy Cricket breaks the fourth wall more often, and the Pleasure Island section no longer has Pinocchio and his comrades smoking cigars and drinking beer.

But the updates aren't enough to avoid comparisons to the original, as the remake follows the animation too closely. Everything here seems flat and boring, even the transformations into donkeys that plague generations of children.

If you've never seen "Pinocchio" and don't want to watch the original, you can get more out of the remake because it's done smartly, not to mention the CGI. Despite trying to create a touching ending, nothing here really brings it to life.

If you still want to try the Pinocchio remake live, you can watch it on Disney+ right now because it was one of the previews at Disney+ Day.

It's available to all subscribers, but if you don't subscribe to the streaming service, you can take advantage of a limited special offer to get a month of Disney+.

Provided by Disney Enterprises

Offer valid through September 19 and only available to eligible new Disney+ members. After the first month, your subscription will automatically renew at the current monthly price of £7.99 per month.

If you want to compare the live-action remake to the 1940 original, you can watch the classic Disney version of Pinocchio on Disney+, as well as many other Disney classics and the latest Marvel offerings, among others.

Pinocchio is now available on Disney+.