Disney isn’t slowing down with their live-action adaptations. Next on their list is the talking puppet Pinocchio. Just take a minute and think about how many live-action adaptations Hollywood has attempted with this character. Yeah, none of them were very good and couldn’t light a candle to the original. That’s usually how it works, doesn’t it? But now, things are a little different. Disney is on a mission to adapt basically every animated classic movie into a live-action movie. So far, it has been rather hit-and-miss. Again, it’s hard to measure up to the original. Still, you can’t blame Disney for wanting to play with their food. What we need to realize is that even if these live-action adaptations are bad, we still have the original movies. And to be honest, this upcoming Pinocchio movie looks quite promising.
So if you haven’t checked out the trailer yet, you probably should. Just keep in mind, you might not see the talking puppet as much as you would like to. In fact, I’m pretty sure you don’t even hear him talk. There’s a lot going on, the most notable standout being Tom Hanks as Papa Geppetto. As of now, he’s the real star of this live-action Pinocchio movie. How can he not be? He’s freaking Tom Hanks. But then again, this movie is loaded with a stellar cast.
On top of Tom Hanks playing the loving creator/father of the talking puppet, the other key characters of this classic tale has big names attached to them. Let’s start with Pinocchio’s insect sidekick, his best friend and living conscience, Jiminy Cricket. The man behind this little insect’s voice is Joseph Gordon-Levitt. After seeing this man be in so few projects in the last few years, it’s quite the surprise to see him return to form. And holy smokes, Jiminy Cricket looks spectacular in this trailer. For those who remember the 2019 The Lion King live-action adaptation, you probably remember how real the animals looked. Maybe a little too real, since we didn’t really see them express any real emotions, but you have to admit that they killed it with the CGI.
In this case, they have done it again with Jiminy Cricket. Ever wonder what an actual cricket looks like if it were to wear a suit and a top hat? Well, this trailer would give you an idea. But as we all remember about the animated classic, Jiminy Cricket wasn’t the only anthropomorphic animal that was so flamboyant. Who can possibly forget about the talking and deceptive fox character, “Honest” John Worthington Foulfellow? Don’t worry, his silent companion Gideon will be conning Pinocchio with him. And just like Jiminy Cricket, these two look just as real.
And guess who will be voicing the cunning red fox this time around? The one and only Keegan-Michael Key. I just hope this movie doesn’t waste him like the 2019 Lion King movie did. He was supposed to be one of the three hyenas, except he didn’t really get to do much. In fact, I’m pretty sure he just said a few lines and that was it. Honestly, how do you get Keegan-Michael Key of all people and just give him a few lines of dialogue? That is just senseless, but it seems like this new Pinocchio movie will fix that mistake. If they got him to voice the Foulfellow character, then there’s no way he’ll have a bit part. And I do believe he is the right actor to voice that character. An actor’s life for me.
But wait, what about the titular character himself? How does Pinocchio look? Well, for the limited amount of time we got to see him, he actually looks good. In fact, he looks just like how he did in the animated movie. And you know what? That’s totally okay. I’m glad Disney didn’t try to make him look more “realistic” so to speak. If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. An attempt to make him look more real would just spark backlash from fans and there’s just no need to change how he looks.
And let’s not forget about the other colorful characters that made up the classic Pinocchio movie. For starters, who is playing the villains? Playing the cruel puppeteer Signor Stromboli is actual Italian actor Giuseppe Battiston. That is about as fitting as you can possibly get, considering the character. And probably the real villain of the story, only known as The Coachman, will be played by another familiar face, the massively underrated Luke Evans. This man has notable experience with these live-action Disney adaptations, playing the villainous Gaston in the 2017 Beauty and the Beast adaptation. And as we all remember, he actually did a darn good job playing him.
Speaking of which, his spin-off series has been put on hold, but as long as he’s involved, it’s something to look forward to. You get to see a brief glimpse of him in the trailer and he still looks menacing. That’s good, because that character truly was frightening. Oh, but don’t worry, there are other characters who look beautiful as well. Needless to say, I’m referring to Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy. This glowing character will be a standout, as she is the one who made Pinocchio a living thing. Even in the trailer, she actually stood out more than most of the other characters. That would include Pinocchio himself.
Okay, so the trailer might lack some Pinocchio and even his voice, but it still looks promising. I mean, could we have at least heard him sing part of “There are no strings on me!” song? I guess Disney is saving that for the actual movie, but so far, I’m just impressed with how every character looks. It makes me wonder, if the animated characters look that good, just imagine how incredible Monstro will look? I’m most excited to see the hungry whale and everything else in this live-action adaptation. What are thoughts, Pinocchio lovers? If you haven’t seen the trailer, check it out on YouTube. Just don’t expect to see his wooden nose grow long.
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