Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

x4 That just reminds me of Pinocchio's Christmas from Rankin-Bass, which also focuses on the Circus part, and gives Pinocchio a love interest (in the form of another puppet he steals from the circus owner). Tom Kenny is always a positive, but Pauly Shore as Pinocchio...

Neither of these Pinocchio adaptations look bad, but if I want to watch a Pinocchio I'll just stick to the classic from Disney, or for Christmas time, the Rankin-Bass special.

Oh, something I just found out: Over the Garden Wall creator Patrick Mc Hale is credited as having worked on the screenplay.

It's been a while since I'd heard from him.

Even though the main character is a literally wooden boy, it feels too stiff and lifeless.

And they had to shoehorn in a token romance too? FFS.

Sure the original Disney animated flick took a lot of creative liberties with the original story too, but c'mon.

Edited by M84 on Jan 31st 2022 at 2:59:46 AM

To be clear to any thread newcomers: the film being discussed in the last few posts is not GDT's Pinocchio, but the more generic Pinocchio: A True Story.

To make matters more confusing there seems to be a recent horror movie (2018-2019ish) titled The True Story of Pinocchio that only circulated in indie circles (so, no wide-release and it is in fact very hard to find any material about the film's existence and there's a possibility it was never completed) that pitches Geppeto as a serial killer in modern day New York killing people and turning them into puppets in an attempt to make Pinocchio a real boy and a private detective has to stop him.

Pinocchio has been getting into some weird shit these past few years.

Edited by Gaon on Jan 30th 2022 at 11:29:32 AM

I'm confused why True Story starts out with a TMNT reference.

Everything else looks boring AF, that was just bizarre.

And Pauly Shore is a lifeless VA, like wow.

Edited by slimcoder on Jan 30th 2022 at 11:32:50 AM

He was alright in Futurama, at least.

Edited by Diana1969 on Jan 31st 2022 at 6:34:28 AM

Pinocchio is a weird property regardless. That is why it is so beloved.

...And I thought that Souls-like Pinocchio game was the weirdest Pinocchio thing to come out in recent memory.

Pinocchio is one of those properties that kind of gets headspaced as "that charming old Disney movie" by people who either haven't seen it at all or haven't watched it since they were kids, and then occasionally people rediscover that both the original story and the movie are really messed up. The movie to a lesser degree but goddamn it is full of really intense stuff.

Like, there was a blip of interest in, I believe, the mid-70s and another one in the late 80s. It doesn't really ever get enough traction to stay in the public consciousness beyond being "a Disney movie".

Yeah, I've read the original book. One bit that sticks out in my mind is Pinocchio's first encounter with the cricket.

Suffice to say that Disney changed it considerably.

I too had the original story read to me

The moment that stands for me is how Pinocchio finds his friend Candlewick (lampwick in the Disney movie) as a donkey worked to death in a barn

There are lots of disturbing details in the original story. Even the whimsical parts are a lot more graphic than the Disney version; for example, instead of just getting donkey ears, Pinocchio is turned completely into a donkey, but then a group of helpful little fish chew off his donkey flesh, making him become a wooden boy again. Also, the main characters are much bigger jerks - Pinocchio is a brat with little respect toward the people around him (until he goes through his Jerk-to-Nice-Guy Plot), Gepetto is a very temperamental man who is often harsh with Pinocchio. And yes, Pinocchio KILLS the Talking Cricket.

To be fair, doesn't the talking cricket reappear later on though? I just don't remember if it was as a spirit or if he recovered somehow.

Edited by good-morning on Jan 31st 2022 at 4:52:39 PM

Yup,he comes back as a ghost after his father lands himself in in prison

Edited by Ultimatum on Jan 31st 2022 at 7:43:04 PM

I wonder why Disney changed the Blue-Haired Fairy into the Blue Fairy, a blonde woman in a blue dress. What was wrong with blue hair? Though it's just a small detail that doesn't really matter.

Edited by Snicka on Jan 31st 2022 at 12:14:10 PM

It was 1940, I don't think non-realistic hair colors were that popular back then.

Probably because it flows better when you say it.

Here's a new teaser trailer for the film:

Why do I feel my eyes welling up already?

I know it's just a trailer, but I'm already getting the feeling that this will be the Pinocchio movie to pay attention to.

That looks so good! I know some people were expecting a darker interpretation due to Guilhermo's other works, but I'm happy the story is still whimsical and full of adventure.

Wow, after more then a decade its actually happening. And I could not imagine a more perfect animation style for the story of Pinocchio then stop motion, its beautiful.

It's a shame it's probably going to be overshadowed by Disney's live-action remake later this year. The animation here is very charming and I can see this is exploring some different territory than the Disney one.

Finally got a page for the movie up and running!

Bump.

As a part of TUDUM 2022, Guillermo del Toro gives us a behind the scenes look at his take on Pinocchio. (And also stressing that stop-motion kicks ass.)

Bump.

It's only based on eight reviews, but we got a pretty good picture on how this movie is thanks to Rotten Tomatoes.

No surprise here. Of all the three Pinocchio movies released this year, this one is the GOAT!