christian movie reviews pinocchio

Pinocchio (Christian Movie Review)

Verdict: A live-action remake as stiff as a wooden puppet and lacking any classic Disney magic to bring it to life.

About The Movie

Anyone who claims that the 1940 animated film Pinocchio is one of their favorite Disney movies will probably see their nose grow at least a foot. The story about the puppet who aspires to become a “real boy” is arguably the darkest and most bizarre entry in the Disney canon. It’s unsurprising that it’s been left on the bottom of the barrel during the recent phase of live-action remakes. Having now watched this Robert Zemeckis-directed remake, it seems clear that it should have been left there. Pinocchio (2022) is as stiff and lifeless as its puppet hero.

The one sprinkle of blue fairy magic in the film is Tom Hanks as Geppetto. Hanks manages to bring warmth and whimsy to the story that is otherwise void of it. Unfortunately, not much else about the movie works.

The story remains largely true to the original, following the plot almost beat-by-beat. Like the original, it begins slow (Pinocchio doesn’t leave Geppetto’s house until more than 26 minutes into the runtime), and then unfolds in series of episodic and disjointed adventures. The fragmentary nature of the story is heightened as, unlike in the original, characters such as the Blue Fairy and the conniving fox, Honest John, do not reappear after their initial introduction.

There are also some modern updates to the 88-year-old tale. These changes are hit or miss. Pleasure Island has been updated and sanitized, with the delinquent children drinking root beer instead of booze, and by incorporating more modern temptations (such as allusions to modern social media), rather than cigars. I like these changes, which make the story more relatable to young audiences. Other modern updates, however, such as Honest John tempting Pinocchio to become “an influencer” or a “Chris Pine” gag, are cringeworthy.

There is also original material created for the remake. The ending has been altered and left more ambiguous than the original. The change is sure to be controversial, but I liked it and found it more consistent with the film’s overarching message. On the other hand, the four new songs are entirely forgettable and uninspired. An original character named Fabiana and her puppet are also introduced, but because the story sticks so closely to the original plot, the character has nothing of consequence to do and is quickly abandoned. Even the menacing whale, Monstro, who is one of Disney’s more frightening villains, is now transformed into a bland sea monster with octopus-like tentacles that make it appear silly rather than terrifying.

Speaking of frightening, as with the original, the remake is quite dark. The original’s veiled, shadowy henchmen at Pleasure Island are transformed into full-blown smoke monsters, and the donkey transformation scene remains disturbing. The movie is in desperate need of some humor or whimsy to counterbalance the gloomy color pallet and grim story.

For Consideration

Profanity: There are no swears, but Jiminy Cricket says several placeholder or replacement words, such as “darn,” and “What the cuss is that all about?” Upon discovering the truth of Pleasure Island, he declares, “It’s like I dropped into H…E…double hockey sticks.” Other character says “bollocks,” which can have multiple meanings, but is also a slang for male genitalia. In Pleasure Island, there is a location called “Contempt Corner,” where children proclaim rude insults into a microphone or carry hateful signs (“I hate you,” “You’re ugly,” “Shut your mouth,” etc.).

Violence: None.

Sexuality: None.

Engage The Film

A good conscience.

As in the original animated version, the story has a didactic function by exploring the role of the conscience in distinguishing between right and wrong. Jiminy Cricket describes a conscience as a “still small voice that most of the world refuses to listen to.” The film presents a worldview in which people instinctively know what is wrong (whether they listen to it or not). There is perhaps an echo of the struggle against the sinful flesh described by the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:14-25 . In fact, this idea is established even more directly than in the original. In this version, Pinocchio never seems fully at ease in Pleasure Island. On the one hand, this caution seems to downplay the allure of sinful behavior. On the other hand, the nuance makes it clear that Pinocchio already possesses enough of a conscience to understand that all the pleasures made available to him are not as satisfying as they appear.

A Prodigal Son

Pinocchio has always been a quasi-allegorical morality tale. A puppet being bought to life, who spends his first days in blissful innocence and fellowship with his creator before being sent out into a cruel and broken world (and fittingly handed an apple on the way out the door). Pleasure Island is depicted as a hellish place, with Jiminy even calling it so by name. To various degrees, the story touches on creation, fall, and redemption.

Another biblical element, which is more clearly established in the remake, is that the story also unfolds as a sort of re-imaging of Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son ( Luke 15 ). Geppetto is given a bit more to do in this film, as a father/creator pursuing his lost creation/child. In a new storyline, he even sells all his clocks, which are established earlier as his prize possessions, in order to buy the boat needed to go find Pinocchio. Pinocchio is told, “Those clocks meant everything to him. You meant more to him than his beloved clocks. More than anything.” Later, when they are reunited and Pinocchio apologizes, Geppetto declares, “All is forgiven. I’m just happy to see you!” The film ends with the two characters walking side by side to “follow the light.”

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Disney Pinocchio Christian Movie Review Synopsis:

From Disney+ “Academy Award® winner Robert Zemeckis directs this live-action and CGI retelling of the beloved tale of a wooden puppet who embarks on a thrilling adventure to become a real boy. Tom Hanks stars as Geppetto, the woodcarver who builds and treats Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) as if he were his real son. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is Jiminy Cricket, who serves as Pinocchio’s guide as well as his “conscience”; Academy Award® nominee Cynthia Erivo is the Blue Fairy; Keegan-Michael Key is “Honest” John; Academy Award® nominee Lorraine Bracco is Sofia the Seagull, a new character, and Luke Evans is The Coachman.”

Disney Pinocchio (Live Action and CGI) remake of Walt Disney’s original 1940 animated classic follows the storyline from the animated show, which was created from the Carlo Collodi fiction story, “The Adventures of Pinocchio.”

This movie not only follows the original Disney Pinocchio storyline, but it also has many of the same characters such as Stromboli, Jiminy Cricket, as Pinocchio’s conscience) and the Blue Fairy.

Disney Pinocchio What Parents Want to Know

The movie has very little objectionable content, which I detail below. The movie’s overall plot is very similar to the animated with a few changes.

Furthermore, they did make a change that I found refreshing. Instead of the Blue Fairy appearing every time Pinocchio finds himself in a tight situation, Pinocchio makes wise choices that reverse the course. This shows that we can have an impact on our own lives by the choices we make.

Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket in the 2022 Live Action Pinocchio

My number one objection to this movie is Tom Hanks. First, he does not sound like an Italian man, and his voice is too noticeable to play Geppetto. Furthermore, he goes in and out of character. There were times when I thought I was watching Toy Story and Sheriff Woody was talking.

Additionally, there are things within the movie that would not be possible in the time setting of the movie, such as a cuckoo clock depicting a cowboy.

The storyline itself is creepy. Geppetto builds a puppet of a picture of his son, and the entire scene surrounding that was just weird.

Additionally, the hands of some of the animal characters are human and odd looking.

Geppetto played by Tom Hanks talking with Pinocchio

“What the cuss” is spoken. Additionally, the following words are used: jerk, H-E-Double hockeysticks, and Jack-A-s (however, a donkey brays while saying it).

Pinocchio is thrown out of school by the teacher. He is put inside a cage. Pleasure Island is not a happy place and depicts children rioting and looting. There are bricks thrown through buildings. If you have children that have witnessed riots or vandalism, this could prove to be traumatic.

Pleasure Island is also a place where children are lured into thinking they will have a good time and then are enslaved to work in the salt mines. While that may have been the reality in the original movie, and in some areas of the world, that still is happening, modern-day slavery of children in the United States involves sexual abuse and exploitation. These are tough conversations to have with children, but are necessary in the times we are living in.

Scary Images:

There are smoke monsters with glowing eyes that are very evil looking, and they gather up the boys and girls who have turned into donkeys. Pinocchio and Geppetto are also swallowed by a sea monster (not a whale as in the original movie).

The Blue Fairy fails to impress and has a very small role. However, in scenes where you expect the Blue Fairy to show up, she does not. Some of Pinocchio’s troubles go away on their own when he shows himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish.

Disney Pinocchio 2022 The Blue Fairy and Pinocchio

Disney Pinocchio Christian Movie Review – My Viewing Recommendation:

I cannot tell a lie; therefore, I will say watch the original Pinocchio and enjoy it. Tom Hanks really ruins Geppetto. He switches between his voice and a bad Italian accent. His laugh sounds like Woody in Toy Story. Additionally, the music and singing cannot compare with the original movie.

If you must watch it, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Walt is surely shaking his head and wondering if there was anything he could have done to prevent this train wreck.

Movie Facts:

Rating: PG for Peril/Scary Moments, Rude Material, Language

Family, Fantasy, Musical

Release date: September 8, 2022 Direct to Disney+

Runtime: 1 hr., 51 min.

Geppetto (Tom Hanks) talking with Pinocchio in the 2022 Live Action

The cast of Disney Pinocchio:

Jiminy Cricket: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Geppetto: Tom Hanks

Pinocchio: Benjamin Evan Ainsworth

Signore Rizzi: Angus Wright

Blue Fairy: Cynthia Erivo

Signora Vitelli: Sheila Atim

Sofia: Lorraine Branco

Honest John: Keegan-Michael Key

Headmaster: Jamie Demetriou

Stromboli: Giuseppe Battiston

Fabiana: Kyanne Lamaya

Sabina: Jaquita Ta’le

Lampwick: Lewis Lloyd

Coachman: Luke Evans

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis & Chris Weitz

Producers: Andrew Miano, Chris Weitz, Robert Zemeckis, Derek Hogue

Executive Producers: Jack Rapke, Jacqueline Levine, Jeremy John’s, Paul Weitz

Music Composed by: Alan Silvestri

Original Songs by: Alan Silvestri & Glen Baillie

Based on Disney’s Animated Classic and “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi

Frequently Asked Questions:

Where can i watch disney pinocchio (2022).

Disney Pinocchio (2022) is streaming on Disney+ beginning September 8, 2022.

Are there Easter Eggs in Pinocchio?

All of the cuckoo clocks in Geppetto’s house have Disney movie references. There is Toy Story, Donald Duck, Roger Rabbit, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo, Lion King, Snow White.

Cinderella Castle can be seen in one set.

Items that pay homage to the original animated Disney Pinocchio:

There are cuckoo clocks that were in the original Pinocchio. One has a man coming out of a bar.

Is this movie identical to the 1940 Disney Pinocchio?

Robert Zemeckis has weighed in on this. “The original animated film is a vast departure from the source material. We use the 1940 Disney version as a template and an outline for our story. So it follows pretty much the same adventure that the Pinocchio follows in the animated version. We modernize the storytelling because there was a different sort of pacing in movies sixty years ago than there is now, but we basically kept the spirit and the tone and the theme of the first movie.”

Scenes such as when Pinocchio’s ears turn into donkey ears and he grows a tail are still in this movie. The scene where he is locked in a cage and his nose grows from lying is also present, however, it lacks the substance from the original movie.

Differences between the original 1940 Pinocchio and 2022 version:

1940 versus 2022 Versions

Drinking alcohol versus Drinking root beer

Smoking cigars versus Eating sugar

Additionally, in the 2022 version, they use social media, bullying, looting and rioting as vices.

Also, there are both boys and girls on Pleasure Island. And Pleasure Island seems like a creepy version of Walt Disney World. Children are seen rioting and looting.

Monstro is no longer a whale but has become a sea creature in the 2022 version.

What other films has Robert Zemeckis been involved in?

Back to the Future

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Death Becomes Her

The Polar Express

A Christmas Carol

Reviewing movies for parents from a Christian perspective since 2005. Know Before You Go!

Christian Homeschooling mom – 30 years and counting

Autism Mom & Disney enthusiast

Teaching with Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Schooling with disney’s pinocchio movie plus review, 3 thoughts on “disney pinocchio christian movie review (2022)”.

lampwick gets me mad because he is a hate sink he is a temptation to strike down he’s that anno

this movie was awful I mean lampwick deserves to be struck down by Rey Skywalker but it isn’t typically the Jedi way

I don’t like it I prefer Pinocchio animated series episode rise of cricket Webby Vanderquack Cricket (Rey Skywalker) is Pinocchio’s 4th conscience and hero Jedi sentinel and last of her kind over this terrible movie

Content Guide

Violence/Scary Images: PG action and violence. War time imagery; bombs are dropped and buildings are destroyed, where characters die offscreen. Boys are trained for combat. The film is set within a fascist government regime and characters are coerced to act in support or otherwise face violence. A living wooden puppet is repeatedly threatened with violence—to be chopped up, left to rot, burnt, etc (although due to the character’s special circumstances, the consequences are limited). There are a number of creatures in the film that are scary in appearance. There are scenes featuring animal cruelty, and moments when animals attack humans. Language/Crude Humor: God’s name is used in vain. Nasty quips are said to demoralize characters. Sexual Content: None. Drug/Alcohol Use: Cigarette smoking is depicted. A character grieves and turns to alcoholism; they are seen repeatedly swigging a bottle, staggering around, having violent outbursts, and waking up with a hangover. Spiritual Content : The characters are implicitly Catholic but the church is depicted as an accomplice of fascist war crimes and cruel towards outsiders. A Pagan forest sprite is depicted in the form of a Biblically accurate angel, and an afterlife is depicted. Other Negative Themes: Some subversive themes about the true meaning of life and love. A character is manipulated and abused financially. Positive Content: A beautiful depiction of fatherly love, sacrifice, and anti-authoritarianism.

It is curious that 2022 has seen two different adaptations of the classic fairy tale Pinocchio , or maybe it isn’t. Hollywood chases trends all of the time and it probably isn’t shocking that Disney+ might try and rush out a live-action Robert Zemeckis film ahead of a Guillermo del Toro stop-motion film for Netflix. What is more surprising though is how much the two movies appear to agree with one another.

As film writer Titus Techura notes, “ Pinocchio is a story about how children learn to become moral. The puppet is a metaphor not only for helplessness but also for the way children are made to do what they do by their parents.” Both adaptions subvert this moral for stories about authenticity rather than conscience. And Guillermo del Toro—one of our greatest living genre filmmakers and equally one of our most prolific subversives—can’t help but turn a story like Pinocchio into his own special brand of subversive fairy tales.

It must be said that his rendition of Pinocchio is not only one of the most visually creative and wrenching films of 2022, but that it is a complete and total revamping of the character for his unique vision of the world. Del Toro remains one of my favorite filmmakers for the reason that his work is totally unique and uncompromised. It is messy in parts, particularly with the motivation of its central character, but our director’s eccentricities carry the film to its tear-jerking conclusion.

It should be celebrated solely because he managed to get a stop-motion animated film created in 2022 when those are consistent theatrical bombs.

Anyone familiar with the tale of Pinocchio likely needs no spoiler warning (although I won’t reveal any major spoilers unique to this version) but the film mostly plays out as a direct adaptation. Set between 1914 and 1945 in Mussolini’s Fascist Italy, the story follows a woodcarver named Geppetto who has grieved for decades over the tragic death of his son Carlo during World War One.

Unable to move on, a forest spirit appears one night and blesses a wooden doll he’d drunkenly assembled in his grief to look like his son. The living wooden boy comes to life and quickly becomes a nuisance and a burden to the town as Geppetto struggles to keep the local fascist townsmen from lashing out against the boy who doesn’t understand how or why to obey authority.

The story plays out as one would expect but with the details swapped around to fit Del Toro’s new themes. Instead of the story teaching Pinocchio what it takes to become a real boy, it teaches Geppetto what it means to accept Pinocchio as his son on his own terms, learning to love him in spite of his grief and the boy’s eccentricities, sending him on a journey to save him from a horrific fate at the hands of those who want to take advantage of his unique powers.

Swapping out the theme doesn’t entirely work. It doesn’t give Pinocchio enough of a complete character arc for some of his character choices to fully land, and his good-hearted rambunctiousness tends to be overbearing in tangible ways. It comes off as intermittently naive or annoying in its worst moments. It does hit hard in the right moments though. However, some of the musical numbers come off as a bit underwhelming (by the way, this is technically a musical).

Del Toro’s voice speaks loudly throughout the piece and his usual aesthetic flourishes give the film a unique and creative visual style. Pinocchio’s creation scene plays out like a scene from Frankenstein , his character design is more overtly inhuman than in the Disney adaptations, the plot explores the importance of his relative invulnerability, and the entire production is filled with moments of brilliant quirky humor that undercut some of the implicit horrors of life in fascist Italy (although he certainly doesn’t undermine them).

As anyone who has seen Del Toro’s masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth can attest, Del Toro is a director who wants to encourage people to disobey authority—and to sympathize with the unjustly downtrodden and hated. The worlds of his films— Shape of Water , Nightmare Alley , etc—exist in the space between the freaks and the fascists and you must choose your side or watch your humanity be destroyed.

And his Pinocchio is very much that—a story about why authority is evil, love is the most important thing in life, and accepting your mortality makes the suffering of life worth it. I don’t know if I share all of those values as a Christian, as authority and hierarchy can be healthy in the right contexts, but I can’t deny he is one of the most heartfelt depictors of those values on film.

+ Strong Emotional Moments + Amazing Stop Motion Animation + Mostly Solid Script

- Some Curious Thematic Subversion of the Original Story

The Bottom Line

Guillermo Del Toro made a Pinocchio film that only he could make and the end result is a lovingly crafted, visually sumptuous, and politically subversive children's story that will break your heart!

Tyler Hummel

“Drug/Alcohol Use: None.” What? Gepetto literally turned into an alcoholic when his son died.

Right I was thinking the same thing. The story and this version might not be great for some kids or Christian parents concerned about the content or themes.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Unfortunately our website settings make it difficult for writers to update reviews once published, so as editor I made some changes on their behalf. Hopefully the new additions to the Content Guide portion of the review is now more informative.

Having now viewed this film myself, as expected, Del Toro’s version isn’t suitable for the youngest of children (Disney’s new live action remake is more for that age group). For older children, however, provided they are mature enough to begin learning about the nature of war and world history surrounding that topic, along with the heavier themes regarding life, death, and grief, this is a beautiful version of Pinocchio, although we always encourage parental supervision so that parents are able to discuss any issues raised with their children.

Thanks for your review. I was specifically looking for a review of this film from a Christian worldview, as I teach literature from that same view. This sets me up well for what I can expect from this adaptation.

GDPR & CCPA:

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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio review: a remarkable new take on an old tale

Guillermo del toro brings his signature macabre view to pinocchio, finding new depth and meaning with a roughly carved puppet.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio - (L-R) Gepetto (voiced by David Bradley) and Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann)

What a difference a director makes. In Robert Zemeckis’ recent remake of Disney’s Pinocchio , it felt like a downright creepy and unnecessary addition to give Geppetto a dead son as motivation for creating a wooden replica in his place. When Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (in select theaters now and on Netflix December 9) does the same, however, with a drunken Geppetto carving a grotesquely half-assed surrogate son replica he pledges to finish when he’s sober, only to have it come to life first ... that feels appropriate. The director, known for his love of the grotesque, put his name in the title for a reason. Obviously, he wanted to distinguish it from the Disney films, but the full title also makes clear that this is distinctly his version of the classic. Carlo Collodi’s serialized story for kids may have inspired it, but del Toro isn’t going for fealty. He very much has a take, and if he creeps you out with it, so much the better.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a radical reimagining, and an extraordinary experience

And its focus on fascism and conformism puts it right back in the territory he explored in Pan’s Labyrinth

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This review was originally published in conjunction with the premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival. It has been updated and republished for the film’s Netflix debut.

From the opening frames of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio , it’s obvious this is a del Toro film — and not just because of the possessive title. He’s a filmmaker with a visual signature as strong as Tim Burton or Wes Anderson, albeit one that hasn’t hardened so formally, and still has the ability to adapt and to surprise. With Pinocchio , del Toro turns, as both those directors have, to stop-motion animation, which allows him to retain the texture of his live-action work while controlling the look of every single element in the frame.

But the film’s success is about more than looks. What’s surprising about Pinocchio is how personal to del Toro it feels, despite him sharing director credit with Mark Gustafson, despite its shoot overlapping with that of Nightmare Alley , despite the work of its creation being done by teams of artisans spread across three continents. This Netflix animated film might be the most del Toro movie since Pan’s Labyrinth ; it’s certainly one of the best since then, and as distinctive as any of his English-language work.

What it isn’t is anything like the timeless 1940 Walt Disney film, or its recent, lifeless remake , or either of the two Roberto Benigni-starring, live-action Italian takes, or any of the dozens of other attempts to adapt Carlo Collodi’s 1883 book. Extraordinarily, it is the first to be done in stop-motion, and thus the first in which Pinocchio, the wooden puppet boy who comes to life, is played by an actual puppet. Beyond this, del Toro (who co-wrote the script, as well as the lyrics for a handful of songs) takes a few key passages and themes from Collodi, discards even more than Disney did, and moves the story to the mid-20th century. He expands it to take in many of his own key motifs, especially from the horrific fairy tales The Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth : Europe between the wars, the specter of Fascism, the terror of childhood, the land of the dead, and the meeting point of the monstrous, the human, and the sublime.

Sebastian J. Cricket stands on a twig in the foreground, behind him, bathed in sunset orange, is a pine tree and a small wooden grave marker

In this telling, Geppetto the humble woodcarver (David Bradley) has a beloved human son, Carlo, who dies in a World War I bombing. Years later, he creates Pinocchio (Gregory Mann), not out of whimsy, but in a quite wild and frightening bout of drunken grief with more than a hint of Frankenstein to it. Pinocchio is hewn from a pine tree grown from a cone that Carlo had collected, and where Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor), a pompous insect raconteur, had set up home. Cricket witnesses an austere, angelic Wood Sprite (played by Tilda Swinton, who else) bring Pinocchio to life. But he still crawls back into his home in the wooden boy’s heart to live.

This Pinocchio is quizzical, rash, and impulsive — a far cry from the dutiful Carlo. Hours after coming to life, he is wheeling around Geppetto’s workshop in a crazed whirligig, his spindly limbs jerking and spinning, smashing everything he touches. It’s delightful and also slightly threatening. Pinocchio is raw and unfinished, with nails and twigs still sticking out of him, ungainly movements, and chaotic behavior. But unlike most tellers of this tale, del Toro has no interest in smoothing these imperfections away.

Pinocchio challenges every symbol and situation del Toro throws at him. “Why do people love him and not me?” he asks, looking at a wooden Christ in the local church. Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz), an avaricious circus ringmaster, and the Podestà (Ron Perlman), a Fascist official, both try to trick the credulous puppet into serving their interests. But where the wooden boy goes, anarchy tends to follow: into the presence of Il Duce himself, Mussolini, or into the belly of a giant, monstrous dogfish, or into a sepulchral afterlife where rabbits with exposed ribcages play cards.

Count Volpe, a sinister ringmaster with ginger wings of hair, holds up a contract with a quill for Pinocchio to sign

There’s a lot going on here. It’s a messy, episodic scheme for a film, and the filmmakers don’t hit every target they aim for. This is not a kids’ movie, although it sometimes has the mannerisms of one (and adventurous kids may get as much out of it as anyone else, if not more). In the later stages, elements of satire, parable, creature feature, dark fairy tale, and sweet sentimentality rub up against each other, not always harmoniously. But many of its threads are pure pleasure, such as the rivalry between Pinocchio and Count Volpe’s monkey puppeteer Sprezzatura. There’s more to this cunning, grotesque animal than meets the eye (and that’s before you realize its wordless screeches and yelps were supplied by no less an actor than Cate Blanchett).

Pinocchio is also a feast for the senses, even by del Toro’s gluttonous standards. There’s a rich, melodic, romantic score by Alexandre Desplat ( The Shape of Water ). There is exquisite voice work, especially from Bradley (the veteran Game of Thrones and Harry Potter character actor) as the irascible Geppetto, and from McGregor, who nails all the biggest laugh lines and whose voiceover does so much to leaven and bind together this sometimes awkward movie.

And there is the animation, produced by ShadowMachine in studios in the U.S., U.K. and Mexico. It is an incredible spectacle of a sort that CG and even hand-drawn animation cannot hope to achieve: rich, tactile, somehow intimate, even in its grandest moments. The puppets , as you might expect from the creator of Pan’s Labyrinth ’s Pale Man, are variously eerie, uncanny, grotesque, adorable, and sad creations, and always memorable. The screen is always saturated with light, color, and detail, and the animators stage amazing coups of action and scale. But what stays with you are the gentlest gestures: the way Geppetto trails his long, careworn fingers across a blanket, or the way Pinocchio’s expression changes in the wood grain around his eyes.

There’s no doubt that this is, technically and artistically, one of the great works of stop motion, a rarefied and quixotic art form. Within its stubbornly practical world of rubber and clay, paper and paint, joints and wires and levers, this is as ambitious an undertaking as Avatar . But del Toro’s greatest achievement is not to let all the artistry overwhelm the art. It’s an unruly, wild, and tender film that sometimes gets lost but, by the end, finds its way to a very moving state of grace.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is streaming on Netflix now.

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‘Pinocchio’ Review: Guillermo del Toro’s Best Movie in a Decade Is a Stop-Motion Triumph

Rafael motamayor.

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Editor’s note: This review was originally published on October 15, 2022. Netflix releases the film in select theaters on Friday, December 2 and on its streaming platform on Friday, December 9.

“ Guillermo del Toro ‘s Pinocchio ” reimagines the classic fantasy tale through the most beautifully-made stop-motion animation in years, a powerful and life-affirming father-and-son story about acceptance and love in the face of pain, misery, and fascism, and the filmmaker’s love of monsters in what is easily his best film in a decade.

The film is set in 1930s Italy, as fascism is sweeping the nation. We see how dangerous ideologies spread quickly and quietly at first, and what starts with just the town’s blacksmith being a bit too obsessed with uniformity and order gives way to hordes of fanatics screaming for Il Duce, kids being sent to boot camps, and everyone who is different being excluded – or worse.

In the middle of all this, we meet Geppetto, a humble woodcarver once beloved by all and with a happy outlook on life. Things change when he loses his son during a senseless air raid on the town toward the end of The Great War, turning Geppetto into a grief-stricken drunk who one day curses god and the natural laws, and decides to bring his son back to life by carving a child-size puppet. David Bradley gives a fantastic performance as Geppetto, but it is the animation team at ShadowMachine that pushes the boundaries of stop-motion animation to bring some of the best puppet performances in a film.

When Geppetto breaks down and cries by his son’s grave, you not only feel the pain in the vocal performance, but you see the puppet’s difficulty breathing, the trembling of his legs, the shaking of his hands; even the clothes move and flow naturally with the puppet’s body, something we rarely see in stop-motion. Just as Pinocchio’s wooden body is brought to life by magic in the film, so does del Toro, who directed alongside Mark Gustafson, and their army of over 40 animators breathe life into wooden (well, technically plastic and silicone) puppets to create some of the most stunning performances in a film this year — animated or otherwise.

Every character moves and behaves like a completely different individual, with the performances being animated in 2s (meaning animated half the frames that a regular film would) in order to bring their imperfect movements to life. They have quirks and itches, they make mistakes, and they shift weight when sitting down. Meanwhile, cinematographer Frank Passingham brings live-action lighting and blocking techniques to the film, making it look like it was shot with natural light and using negative space the way Hayao Miyazaki does.

In his grief, Geppetto makes a wooden boy. Like Victor Frankenstein, he tempers with powers he should leave alone, and his creation is unnatural, so this version of Pinocchio has more in common with Frankenstein’s cobbled-together look than the uniform, cute look from the Disney version. Indeed, Geppetto’s work is left unfinished when it comes to life, and he is kind of ugly, and moves more like a J-horror monster.

In several ways, “Pinocchio” is a giant middle finger to the Disneyfication of both the original Carlo Collodi story, and of fairy tales in general. Though this is a movie the whole family can see and get something out of, it never tones down the story for kids, nor does it talk down to them. The bones of the original tale remain, like Pinocchio’s time in the circus, the lessons he learns about being good, and the mess with the terrible dogfish (done here in a fantastic Ray Harryhausen homage), but here the story is reimagined as one of rebellion against expectations. The escape to the circus is not initially a sinful choice of laziness, but a desperate plea for acceptance and a rejection of the conformity and complacency of the fascist town’s school.

If you expected the whole “set during Mussolini’s Italy” thing to be pure window dressing, think again, because the threat of fascism informs every aspect of the film — down to Pinocchio’s circus acts eventually becoming propaganda shows supporting the army. The script, which del Toro has spent a decade trying to get made, initially with Matthew Robbins, now with “Over the Garden Wall” creator Patrick McHale, is all about disobedience, once again making what would otherwise be considered a villainous monster into the story’s hero, the only one who sees the error in people’s ways and rejects them.

Likewise, the film does not give Pinocchio the goal of being a real boy, and it does not shy away from the horrors of real life. The creature that gives Pinocchio life is not a traditional fairy, but a frightening and hauntingly beautiful being that looks like a biblically accurate angel, with wings filled with eyes — more like the Angel of Death from “Hellboy II.” When Pinocchio first wakes up, he is a bit of a nightmare, an overtly curious child thrown into a world he doesn’t know, a kid who smashes, breaks, and talks back with disrespect. His world is not one of easy moral lessons and rewards, but a world full of cruelty, death, and violence. Like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Devil’s Backbone,” this is a movie set during a particularly cruel period, focused on how children coped and suffered. There is some rather gruesome imagery, and it is not only the villains who die horrible deaths.

And yet, “Pinocchio” is far from a sour or bleak film. It’s about the beauty of life being fleeting, a movie not about a monster who wants to be a real boy, but about a monster that wants his creator to love him the way he is, and to be accepted for who he is. This is a movie about imperfect fathers and imperfect sons, about not meeting expectations, and learning to live with them, about accepting that life ends, that loved ones will leave us, and about embracing the time we had together. There’s horror, sure, but also warmth, laughs, and plenty of songs. Patrick McHale, who gave us the hit song of 2014 “Potatoes and Molasses” co-writes several songs with Roeban Katz and del Toro that are as cheerful and catchy as they are melancholic and profound. Meanwhile, Alexandre Desplat’s score is essentially a spiritual continuation of his “The Shape of Water” score, and it works wonderfully for the romantic tone of the film.

There’s plenty of comedy here too, particularly thanks to Ewan McGregor’s sarcastic, would-be philosopher Sebastian J. Cricket. The film gets a lot of mileage out of visual gags involving his tiny stature and penchant for being smashed, and it works every time. Where many star-studded animated movies feel like they lack actual performances, the cast here disappears into their stop-motion characters to the point where it is not always obvious who is playing who.

Guillermo del Toro has spent over a decade trying to get his dream stop-motion film made, and in that time he’s evolved as a filmmaker. Yet “Pinocchio” feels like the best mix of classic del Toro and new del Toro, with the wisdom and melancholy that comes with age and experience, yet his bright-eyed love of fairy tales from his Spanish-language films. Perhaps more impressive is how “Pinocchio” pushes the oldest form of animation to new places, and like the puppet himself, breathes life into inanimate objects.

Netflix will release “Pinocchio” in theaters this November before a streaming premiere on Friday, December 9.

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Review: ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’ entertains and disarms

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Every “Pinocchio” is some wonder-struck filmmaker’s hope that their carved, sculpted and painted version of Italian author Carlo Collodi’s 140-year-old story about a manufactured boy will be accepted as a real movie someday. ( Roberto Benigni and Disney have each tried twice.) Are we surprised, then, that Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro — the closest thing genre cinema has to a Geppetto considering the painstaking care of his imagined worlds — had his own in the works for more than a decade?

And is it any wonder that the choice of stop-motion for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” is just the modeling magic this tale needs to feel new-old again? Combining a darker tone closer to Collodi’s spirit with a commedia dell’arte sensibility regarding familiar elements and bizarre tangents, Del Toro, his co-screenwriter Patrick McHale and co-director Mark Gustafson — a stop-motion veteran getting his first feature credit — have made more of a Frankenstein-ed fairy tale than some irreverent answer to the Mouse House’s 1940 hand-drawn classic. That’s a good thing. Sometimes an odd, awkward thing, and at times a naggingly modern thing, but mostly a good thing.

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It’s clever, for instance, to tweak Collodi’s fixation on discipline over disobedience by simply setting “Pinocchio” during fascist Italy during World War II, when the populace were puppets. But before it gets into “Hunger Games”-meets-“Pan’s Labyrinth” territory in the second half, war is what drops a stray bomb on the mountain village where Geppetto lives, killing his adored son Carlo. That’s the background tragedy that spurs the bereft woodcarver — voiced with crusty finesse by David Bradley — to one night drunkenly build a spindly boy out of pine.

Our six-legged gentleman narrator is Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor), here a pompous raconteur frequently subjected to splat gags but still positioned as a commenting conscience. The deep-blue apparition awarding life to Pinocchio (a spirited Gregory Mann) is a kindly but eerie-looking wood sprite (Tilda Swinton), who we later learn has an Underworld sister (also Swinton) named Death. This is Del Toro, remember, so a twig nose growing into a leafy branch isn’t the only consequence for misbehavior, and it goes without saying that the filmmaker’s handling of mortality in his “Pinocchio” is, pardon the pun, unvarnished. I wooden lie to you. (OK I’ll stop.)

Sweet and defiant, Pinocchio has a generous, inquiring soul but succumbs to the corrupting pull of carnival boss Count Volpe (a lushly louche-voiced Christoph Waltz) and his hench-monkey Spazzatura (the noise stylings of Cate Blanchett). But he must also deal with the oppressive eye of a severe Catholic priest (Burn Gorman) in cahoots with a Fascist official (Del Toro fave Ron Perlman), whose son Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard) is jealous of the attention a charmed puppet boy is getting.

A man with a white beard holding tolls and a wooden boy in the animated movie "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio."

Building a lost-art atmosphere of Old World detail in which canonical whimsy can still be mined for critiques about religion and politics, and be resonant about “imperfect fathers and imperfect sons,” as Sebastian tells us, is where this “Pinocchio” works best. When it plays like a hobbyist’s hidden art project come to peculiar life, it entertains and disarms.

Where it stumbles is when it goes neo-frantic kiddie movie — namely the second half’s kid soldiers, Mussolini cameo (an almost Warner Bros. cartoon touch) and monstrous dogfish. The choppy editing of the relentless peril resembles something computer-generated and scaled to pummel, rather than patiently solicitous of a rarely used animation form’s quirky intimacies. It also drives a few of the vocal performances toward shoutiness, while the delicate weirdness of Del Toro’s existentially minded travelogue between worlds loses some of its emotional potency. The songs, though, by composer Alexandre Desplat and often sporting Del Toro’s own lyrics, benefit from being interludes of feeling instead of big showy numbers, particularly the nicely turned “Ciao Papa.”

But it’s all plenty inventive and heart-conscious, grim without being punishing and, in its openness about impermanence and humility, could spark some significant parent-child exchanges about love, flaws and the necessity of meaningful time together. Which makes a bracingly big-picture, big-themed “Pinocchio” like Del Toro’s a worthy movie candidate for a close-knit family’s catalog of shared experiences.

'Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio'

Rated: PG, for dark thematic material, violence, peril, some rude humor and brief smoking Running time: 1 hour, 57 minutes Playing: Starts Nov. 9, Laemmle Royal, West Los Angeles; Nov. 11, Bay Theatre, Pacific Palisades; Los Feliz 3; available Dec. 9 on Netflix

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Disney masterpiece is darker than you may remember.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Pinocchio learns in the roughest of circumstances

Pinocchio learns the importance of listening to hi

A character shoots a gun when he thinks an intrude

Jiminy Cricket places his hand on the rear end of

Decades after the film was released, "Pleasure Isl

Geppetto smokes a pipe in bed. Kids are shown smok

Positive Messages

Pinocchio learns in the roughest of circumstances what happens to little boys who aren't brave, truthful, and unselfish. He's tricked, cheated, lied to, and kidnapped, sometimes with his own consent, as he ignores his conscience (as embodied by Jiminy Cricket). Ultimately he learns what it means to be a good, "real" boy. Humility, compassion, and integrity are additional themes.

Positive Role Models

Pinocchio learns the importance of listening to his conscience and always trying to do the right thing. Jiminy Cricket tries his best to teach Pinocchio right from wrong and to keep his charge out of harm's way. Geppetto is a kind and selfless man, rewarded for making so many people happy by being given a real son in the form of Pinocchio. Bad guys are manipulative and creepy, but they're clearly evil.

Violence & Scariness

A character shoots a gun when he thinks an intruder is in his house. Young boys are shown fighting each other and destroying a mansion. Cartoonish violence throughout: Characters fall, run into each other, hit each other in the face. Some scenes and themes may be intense for younger or sensitive viewers, such as when Pinocchio is kidnapped and caged, threatened with destruction, can't find his father, and nearly drowns.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Jiminy Cricket places his hand on the rear end of a female statue, realizes what he's doing, and says, "Pardon me...."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Decades after the film was released, "Pleasure Island" became an adult-themed part of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Plenty of tie-in merchandise available.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Geppetto smokes a pipe in bed. Kids are shown smoking cigars. Pinocchio is shown smoking cigars but becomes sick after taking too long of a drag. He also is shown drinking beer with another boy and acting intoxicated. Other characters are shown smoking cigars and drinking beer while in a tavern, including a cat who hiccups and looks and acts intoxicated. Stromboli takes lengthy swigs from a bottle of wine. One of Geppetto's cuckoo clocks shows a drunk puppet holding a bottle of alcohol as he lurches during every sounding of the hour, and another cuckoo clock features two men clinking their beer-filled mugs together.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Pinocchio is a Disney classic that easily passes the test of time for a beautiful and effective lesson on the perils of doing wrong when you know better. Some scenes and themes may be intense for younger or sensitive viewers, such as when Pinocchio is kidnapped and caged, threatened with destruction, can't find his father, and nearly drowns. Pinocchio's friend Lampwick introduces him to cigar smoking but is punished for it. Kids may be disturbed by Pleasure Island, where "bad boys" are turned into donkeys and sent to work in salt mines. But overall this morality tale is a good reminder of the importance of listening to your conscience. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Outdated messages, scenes that could terrify even adults

What's the story.

First released in 1940, PINOCCHIO tells the story of a kindhearted but lonely wood-carver named Geppetto (voiced by Christian Rub) who wishes that the wooden puppet he carved would be a real boy. His wish is granted by a fairy (Evelyn Venable) but only in part; it is up to the suddenly mobile Pinocchio (Dickie Jones) to finish his transformation to boyhood by being brave, truthful, and unselfish. The fairy gives him help in the form of Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards), his designated "guide along the straight and narrow path." But when that path is strewn with temptations to skip school and visit Pleasure Island, Pinocchio's quest to be a real boy -- not to mention his father's life -- is imperiled.

Is It Any Good?

Seven decades after it first came out, this Disney classic harks back to a time when the stars of animated films were the illustrators, not celebrity voice talent. More recent reissues also include digital restoration of the film's original colors, so that, for instance, scenes of various cuckoo clocks chiming simultaneously in Geppetto's workshop would be reason enough to recommend the film. The soundtrack includes classics such as "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "Give a Little Whistle" that will still be familiar to families today.

But the lessons in Pinocchio also are timeless: The same traits of bravery, honesty, and selflessness that make Pinocchio human are ones we would like our children to possess in adulthood. The downside of ignoring your conscience is rendered in a way that may be uniquely terrifying to children: how indulging in the temptations of Pleasure Island results in separation from family and utter loss of self. Though Jiminy's reassuring presence allows viewers to hope for the puppet boy's rescue, Pinocchio acts as the original Scared Straight experience for the younger set.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what it means to "let your conscience be your guide," both in general and in Pinocchio . How do you tell the difference between right and wrong, and what do you do if you can't figure it out?

How are smoking and drinking treated in this movie, and how would this be different if the movie came out today?

When Pinocchio is first kidnapped, Jiminy wants to tell Geppetto but worries about being "snitchy." What's the difference between being a tattletale and helping a friend in danger?

How do the characters in Pinocchio demonstrate humility , compassion , and integrity ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

In theaters : February 23, 1940
On DVD or streaming : March 10, 2009
Cast : Cliff Edwards , Dickie Jones , Mel Blanc
Director : Hamilton Luske
Studio : Walt Disney Pictures
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Puppets
Character Strengths : Compassion , Humility , Integrity
Run time : 88 minutes
MPAA rating : G
MPAA explanation : nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children
Award : Academy Award
Last updated : February 18, 2023

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Decades before his name became instantly associated with macabre wonder, Guillermo del Toro conjured up accomplished special effects makeup for Mexican productions. Now, with an esteemed body of work as a director, it's still the tangible handcraft that distinguishes his monstrous brainchildren from those conceived solely as digital confections.

Del Toro 's creatures exist as entities in this plane of reality—often in the body of Doug Jones as in " Pan's Labyrinth " and " The Shape of Water ." They take up space, react to light, have complex textures, and interact with actors in human roles. But as sophisticated as their configuration seems, they obey cinema's longstanding tradition of engendering fanciful worlds in front of the camera with practical ingenuity.

Del Toro's lifelong commitment to turning the figments of his imagination into physical realities makes his decision to opt for stop-motion for his first animated feature an obvious and perfectly suitable one. Glorious in its tactile fabrication, his "Pinocchio" epitomizes the melding of tale and technique into a cohesive philosophical unit. For a story about imperfect fathers and sons, this method capitalizes on the irreplicable quality of the human touch one frame at a time.

Decidedly more mature in tone than previous animated iterations of Carlo Collodi's 19th-century fable, though no less stirring or disarming, this version penned by del Toro and co-screenwriter Patrick McHale (creator of the miniseries "Over the Garden Wall") transports the characters first just a few years into the future to the early 1900s, as the Great War ravages Europe. The peaceful countryside is home to chipper woodworker Geppetto ( David Bradley ), to the townspeople, "a model Italian citizen," and to his 10-year-old son Carlo ( Gregory Mann ), an obedient boy who fulfills all of his father's expectations.

But like a cruel stunt from the heavens, a bomb, not unlike the one that falls on the orphanage in " The Devil's Backbone ," takes Carlo from Geppetto, destroying his once idyllic outlook. A fabulously cast Ewan McGregor voices Sebastian J. Cricket, a pompous insect initially only interested in recounting his feats, who narrates the tragedy. Grief-stricken still years later, with Mussolini now in power, Geppetto carves a puppet from the pine tree near Carlo's tombstone in a drunken stupor that plays out with the uncanniness of a "Frankenstein" movie.

Pinocchio (also Mann) gains consciousness by the hand of the Wood Sprite (the always alluring Tilda Swinton ), a new take on the Blue Fairy that resembles an angel as described in the Old Testament—think Angel of Death in " Hellboy II: The Golden Army ." This winged figure, and the beguiling chimera that represents Death later in the story (also Swinton), illustrate del Toro's interest in the otherworldly forces that affect mortals' paths on earth, as well as a singular vision of the afterlife, just not those prescribed by modern Christianity.

"In this world, you get what you give," the fantastical do-gooder tells Sebastian, tasking him with Pinocchio's moral guidance in exchange for a wish. The cricket replies, "I try my best, and that's the best anyone can do." Del Toro and McHale feature multiple pithy refrains like these, which avoid repeating fairytale platitudes based on impossible rectitude. Instead, they advocate for the wisdom found in forgiving oneself for the mistakes of the past because it's in between failures and triumphs that our lives are written. Precisely how the illusion of stop-motion animation occurs in between the frames that remind us of what we are witnessing is painstakingly executed cinematic puppetry.

Unlike the face replacement technology that some studios such as Laika employ to achieve nuance in the performances of the stop-motion puppets, del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson , who honed his skills with Claymation master Will Vinton, utilized figures with mechanical visages that require delicate manipulation from the animators for a slightly less immaculate result in movement, but one that makes the hand of the artists known.

One can't help but marvel at the superb craftsmanship in every detail of the characters that inhabit this darkly whimsical realm. Every hair strand on Geppetto's head, the wrinkles in his weathered artisan hands, or the material of his garments are individual, minuscule strokes of genius. The design of Pinocchio himself feels elemental, with the organic blemishes of real wood, without clothing, and sporting a mischievously adorable face and an explosive hairstyle. This might be the most truthful on-screen depiction of the character ever. In the breathtaking dedication of those in charge of the production design, the costumes, and the constructions of the sets, large and miniature, the film finds its soul.

Yet as innocent as Pinocchio is—early on, he sings about every object he encounters as an incredible discovery—there's an abrasive side to his personality that resonates honestly with the less flattering aspects of children's behavior. Not only is Geppetto not immediately accepting of his new offspring, given that the Catholic churchgoers believe it to be sorcery, but he hopes to mold him into who Carlo was.

But Pinocchio, born without the inhabitations of the human condition, only conforms to the norms to gain his father's validation. Del Toro is nothing if not a gentle champion of the misunderstood to those whose appearance, origin, or worldview isolate them from the homogeneity of the masses. And in this wooden boy, he finds a walking and talking symbol for the indomitable power of nature, of chance, of the unpredictable factors that can enrich our days even if they weren't precisely what we had hoped for.

Fascism, a dangerous ideology that demands submission while it derides uniqueness, is explored via personal relationships. In failing to accept their sons for who they are and not who they wish them to be, all the fathers in "Pinocchio" partake in its perverse dynamic of control: Podesta ( Ron Perlman ), a government official raising his kid, Candlewick ( Finn Wolfhard ), with strict discipline; the villainous puppeteer Count Volpe ( Christoph Waltz ) and his mistreatment of his baboon sidekick Spazzatura ( Cate Blanchett ); and even a cleverly ridiculed Mussolini ( Tom Kenny ), as a father figure for an entire nation.

Organized religion seeks similar servitude, holding one's missteps against us as a reminder of our unworthiness and why we should listen to the teachings of its ancient practice. A wooden Jesus on the cross, the image of a faultless god, looks down on its sinful flock.

Its critique of Catholicism notwithstanding, del Toro and Gustafson's "Pinocchio" remains a striking spiritual experience. Its emphasis on the material, in what we can see and feel, in the here and now—defects all—speaks to the notion that our brief time alive isn't measured in faultless accomplishments but also in the precious glimpses of the divine we carve from the rubble left behind by personal and collective catastrophes. Despite the sorrow that comes with our flesh-and-blood constraints, we replenish our will to go on.

At some point, the expertly plotted narrative veers its sights to teach Pinocchio, who is unable to die for a while, a lesson on why mortality is both a curse and a gift. That Carlo and Pinocchio are both voiced by Mann, while Swinton enlivens both the Wood Sprite and Death, denotes a marked duality at play about what was but no longer is and what wasn't but now exists. Two sides of the same coin remind us that loving is a burden worth carrying, life is an ordeal worth dying for, and that in the crevices of all which we consider that make us misfits, we can find pockets of happiness with others like us.

With the screenplay's unassumingly poetic final line, Sebastian casts a lovingly life-affirming spell, a phrase that applies to the entirety of the piece, noting that even the artists behind this production will someday also die; only their stories will endure.

A wondrously affecting work, "Pinocchio" becomes a magnum opus for del Toro that channels his interests and beliefs long present in his oeuvre but spun with a luminous new gravitas. It may go against its ethos to deem del Toro's "Pinocchio" an impeccable masterpiece, even if that's an adequate description, but know that if the art of making movies resembles magic, this is one of its greatest incantations.

In limited release now and available on Netflix on Friday, December 9th.

Carlos Aguilar

Originally from Mexico City, Carlos Aguilar was chosen as one of 6 young film critics to partake in the first Roger Ebert Fellowship organized by RogerEbert.com, the Sundance Institute and Indiewire in 2014.

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Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio movie poster

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

Rated PG for dark thematic material, violence, peril, some rude humor and brief smoking.

117 minutes

Ewan McGregor as Sebastian J. Cricket (voice)

David Bradley as Gepetto (voice)

Gregory Mann as Pinocchio (voice)

Christoph Waltz as Count Volpe (voice)

Tilda Swinton as Wood Sprite / Death (voice)

Ron Perlman as The Podestà (voice)

Finn Wolfhard as Candlewick (voice)

Cate Blanchett as Spazzatura the Monkey (voice)

Tim Blake Nelson as The Black Rabbits (voice)

John Turturro as Il Dottore (voice)

Burn Gorman as Priest (voice)

Tom Kenny as Mussolini / Right Hand Man / Sea Captain (voice)

Alfie Tempest as Carlo (voice)

Guillermo Del Toro
Mark Gustafson

Writer (novel)

Carlo Collodi
Patrick McHale

Cinematographer

Frank Passingham
Ken Schretzmann
Holly Klein
Alexandre Desplat

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PINOCCHIO (2022)

"marred by woke post-modernism".

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Title character is sometimes fooled by dishonesty, tall tales and fame, but he starts to grow a conscience that helps him to do the right thing, plus the Blue Fairy breaks her promise to Pinocchio and a school teacher says Pinocchio can’t attend school because he’s not a “real boy,” which seems to be another politically correct, transgender message, this time against conservatives and parents who don’t want government teachers to teach transgender politics to schoolchildren.

More Detail:

PINOCCHIO is a live-action remake of Disney’s classic 1940 animated cartoon musical about a living puppet who must prove himself morally worthy to be a real boy. Streaming on Disney+, this new live action PINOCCHIO is well produced and entertaining, with a nice performance by Tom Hanks as the puppet-maker, Geppetto, but it lacks the charm, humor and power of the original and dilutes the original movie’s redemptive ending and other parts of the story to conform to today’s woke, post-modern, politically correct sensibilities.

The live action version opens similarly to the original cartoon, with Jiminy Cricket narrating the story. Years ago, Jiminy Cricket was a vagabond who traveled from home to home trying to find shelter.

One cold night, he arrives in a small Italian village. No one is around and the only light is a light coming from the local, widowed clock maker, Geppetto. The fire inside is warm and inviting. So, Jiminy Cricket slips under the door, where he finds Geppetto putting the finishing touches on a wooden puppet of a little boy. The puppet matches a portrait of Geppetto’s dead son.

Before going to bed, Geppetto opens the bedroom window and sees the wishing star high in the sky. He wishes upon the star that Pinocchio would become a real, live boy.

After Geppetto, his cat Figaro and his goldfish Cleo fall asleep, the Blue Fairy flies into the house and sings, “When You Wish Upon a Star.” She then uses her magic wand to make Pinocchio a talking, living puppet. She also appoints Jiminy Cricket to be Pinocchio’s conscience and promises Pinocchio he will become a real boy if he is truthful, brave and unselfish.

However, when Pinocchio tries to go to school, he’s waylaid by a crafty red fox named Honest John. Honest John convinces Pinocchio to achieve success and fame by becoming an actor instead of going to school like his father told him to do.

This leads to all sorts of bad situations for Pinocchio. Meanwhile, Geppetto goes looking for him.

Disney’s original animated comedy fantasy, PINOCCHIO, contains wishful thinking and mentions of Fate guiding one’s life and wishing upon a star. This problem is rescued by the movie’s morally uplifting discussions of doing the right thing, learning to tell the difference between right and wrong, love, honesty, bravery, and acting unselfishly. It’s also rescued by the movie’s striking, emotionally powerful redemptive climax, which contains a theme of death, resurrection, reward, and transformation.

This live-action remake contains the parts about Fate and wishing upon a star. It also stresses truth, honesty, bravery, caring for others, being unselfish, and doing the right thing. However, it changes and thus weakens the story’s redemptive ending. Sadly, because of this, Disney’s live action PINOCCHIO has no theme of death, resurrection and reward, though it does have a theme of transformation. The transformation here, however, is weakened and lacks the wonderful power of the original movie’s ending.

That said, this live action PINOCCHIO movie is well produced and entertaining, up to a point. It has some comedy, adventure and jeopardy. However, the story and plot itself lack the charm, details, humor, and power of the original animated movie. For example, the detailed bits of comedy in the first half hour of remake pale in comparison to the wonderfully edited bits of comedy in the original. Also, the songs in the remake seem over-produced and not as enjoyable. Finally, the remake has an unnecessary, distasteful joke about horse dung.

Ultimately, this PINOCCHIO diminishes the original story by inserting woke, post-modern, politically correct, deceitful, leftist, transgender sensibilities and a broken promise. For example, the Blue Fairy breaks her promise to turn Pinocchio into a real boy. Also, the ending strongly implies that a child can just declare themselves to be a real boy, even if the facts prove otherwise. By eliminating a real death, resurrection and transformation, this PINOCCHIO just wastes the viewer’s time.

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DVD & Streaming

Pinocchio (2022)

Animation , Comedy , Kids , Musical , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket (voice); Tom Hanks as Geppetto; Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Pinocchio (voice); Lorraine Bracco as Sofia (voice); Keegan-Michael Key as Honest John (voice); Giuseppe Battiston as Stromboli; Luke Evans as The Coachman; Lewin Lloyd as Lampwick; Kyanne Lamaya as Fabiana; Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy

Home Release Date

September 8, 2022
Robert Zemeckis

Distributor

Movie review.

When Geppetto pines for his lost son, he does so somewhat literally.

How long he’s worked on his little wooden boy—painstakingly carving him from blocks of pine—it’s hard to say. Even Geppetto himself might not know. But chip by chip, shave by shave, he’s pulled a puppet from the wood, one that Geppetto thinks looks a little like his own dearly departed child—even if his cat, Figaro, disagrees.

“Happily ever after was never meant to be,” he sighs, making some final adjustments. “If only this could be more than a memory.”

And then Geppetto’s done, doing his best to push the sadness away. This, after all, is a happy occasion. And Pinocchio—so named because he’s made out of pine—is a happy creation.

“This is why I gave you a smile,” he tells the puppet. “So you will always be happy.”

Jiminy Cricket—an impoverished insect who just stopped in to warm himself up—watches this small family drama unfold from a shelf. He watches Geppetto prepare for bed. And then the old man sees a “wishing star.” The carpenter makes his wish and refuses to say what it is.

“If I was to tell you,” he says to Figaro, “you would think I was—”

His thought is interrupted by a cuckoo clock. And so Geppetto snuggles under his blankets as Jiminy curls up on his shelf.

But lo, around midnight, the cricket gets startled awake by a strange, blue light—a beam of blue radiance that pounds against the picture of Geppetto’s lost little boy. But the light finds no way past the glass in the frame, and—by accident or design—the blue beam deflects, pouring all its magic into the wooden puppet.

For magic this is. Powerful magic. Disney magic. Pinocchio is no longer a puppet: He talks. He walks. And after a short talk with the Blue Fairy (originator of said beam of magic), he has one simple ambition: To make his creator—his father —proud.

He might need a little help with that. A little, six-legged, top-hatted help.

Positive Elements

The Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio that he must pass an ordeal to become a real boy and “prove that you are brave, truthful and unselfish.” But honestly, the wooden waif starts off with some good traits right from the block.

First, Pinocchio really does want to make Geppetto proud. Often, even when he makes bad decisions, that core motivation remains. He ultimately proves to be brave and unselfish, too. And while Pinocchio’s nose does grow from fibbing, at least some of those lies he tells for an altogether different purpose—needing a longer schnoz to make an escape.

And while he runs across many terrible people in his adventures, he stumbles on a couple of good ones, too. Fabiana, a kindly puppeteer, helps Pinocchio when he’s in the clutches of Stromboli, a dastardly and greedy entertainment mogul. A kindly seagull named Sofia chauffeurs both Pinocchio and Jiminy when the plot requires. And, of course, Geppetto is a loving, giving, devoted father—one who makes some tremendous sacrifices when he learns that Pinocchio is in danger.

As was the case in the original 1940 animated classic, this version of Pinocchio often illustrates how boys and girls ought not to behave. Pleasure Island offers attractions such as “Contempt Corner” (where revelers are encouraged to hurl insults) and “Degrade School” (free bricks are available outside to break windows). “Sugar Mountain” offers a gluttonous thrill ride, where candy can be scooped right off the mountainside, and “Shop ‘n’ Lift” allows consumers to just take whatever they want.

“No one is ever going to tell you no ” at Pleasure Island, Pinocchio is told—which tells viewers that, sometimes, no is a very important word in deed.

The new Pinocchio adds a few lessons that weren’t in the original, too. When the duplicitous fox Honest John pushes Pinocchio to Stromboli’s puppet show, he couches it in very 21 st -century temptations for fame, promising Pinocchio he could be not just an actor: He could be an influencer .

“I want to be real!” Pinocchio tells Honest John.

“Why, to be famous is to be real!” Honest John insists. “Until then, you’re just a nobody.”

In a similar vein, Pinocchio’s trip to Pleasure Island isn’t the product of being tempted by all the bad stuff there. Instead, it’s a lesson in peer pressure. In a song, Pinocchio is told to not be a “party pooper—you’ll ruin it for everyone!” So reluctantly, Pinocchio agrees to go.

Spiritual Elements

Geppetto clasps his hands as he makes his wish—as if praying to that wishing star. The Blue Fairy who answers his wish is, of course, a magical creature with some very serious powers.

Children are transformed into donkeys and are gathered up by what would appear to be supernatural monsters. And while it’s played as a joke, Pinocchio becomes a big believer in the power of “positive thinking.”

Sexual Content

The Blue Fairy wonders why Geppetto made a boy out of wood. “Well, sure, there are other ways to make a boy, but I don’t think Geppetto gets out much,” Jiminy Cricket tells her.

Pinocchio innocently fancies a dainty ballerina marionette. Another marionette—this one a can-can dancer—thrusts her rear in Pinocchio’s face. (The can-can dance is far less suggestive, though, than the one found in the 1940 cartoon.) Jiminy rests his arm on the bustle of a small wooden sculpture. (“Pardon me,” he says, in a scene repeat from the original.)

Violent Content

The film is replete with slapstick humor—including gags taken straight from the original as well as some new ones. Rarely does anyone get seriously injured, though, other than when Honest John and Gideon are knocked out courtesy a large sledgehammer.

That said, some scenes can get pretty scary.

Stromboli literally throws Pinocchio into a bird cage and leaves him to languish there. And at Pleasure Island—where little boys and girls are turned into donkeys and sent off to the salt mines—the Coachman collects these newly transformed critters with the help of some frightening “vapor monsters.”

The most frightening creature, though, might just be Monstro—no longer a mere whale, but a sea monster sporting teeth and tentacles and sail-shaped fins. (It looks a little like a whale mixed with a prehistoric mosasaurus, with a bit of octopus thrown in.) He swallows our heroes whole, and their escape is quite perilous. Indeed, it appears for a bit that one character doesn’t survive.

Pinocchio’s feet move quite rapidly, and they nearly burn down a stage at one point (because of the friction they cause). Someone is hit with a firework, setting his rear on fire and necessitating a dunk in water. A cuckoo clock features a woman spanking a child—a gag pulled from the original 1940 film. In this version, though, an apparent police officer is added, and he prods the woman as she spanks.

We know that both Geppetto’s wife and son died somehow, but we don’t know how.

Crude or Profane Language

We hear two British profanities (“b–locks” and “bloody”). When Jiminy sees something amiss happen on Pleasure Island, he exclaims, “What the cuss is that all about?” And when Lampwick, Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island pal, messes up a billiards shot, he says “ap-cray,” the pig Latin version of the vulgarity “crap.”

Lampwick also repeats a line from the original 1940 cartoon involving the word “jackass” (used literally here, as Lampwick himself morphs into a donkey.) When Jiminy arrives at Pleasure Island, he says it’s as if he was “dropped into h-e-double hockey sticks.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

A cuckoo clock depicts a man drinking from a bottle marked “XXX.” Root beer and sarsaparilla are served liberally on Pleasure Island. While both drinks are non-alcoholic, of course, their presence there is meant to feel edgy and hedonistic.

Other Negative Elements

Pinocchio closely examines a pile of feces during his first day outside. Flies buzz around the pile, and Pinocchio makes a face when he smells it. He appears close to touching it, too, but we don’t see him make contact.

When he and Geppetto are stuck inside Monstro, Geppetto says that escape seems difficult. “It looks to me like everything comes in, but nothing goes out—except the other way, presumably, but that’s not a good option.”

[ Spoiler Warning ] Early on, Pinocchio actually makes it to school n this version of Pinocchio—and had he been allowed to stay, this would’ve been a significantly shorter movie. Instead, the school master literally throws him out, telling him that school is meant for “real” boys and girls.

Not every Disney classic needs a remake.

Many consider 1940’s Pinocchio to be the greatest movie Disney ever made. Ambitious, resonant, filled with beautiful art and memorable songs, it rates a perfect 100% “freshness” rating on Rotten Tomatoes .

I can pretty much guarantee the latest Pinocchio won’t come near that acclaim. Director Robert Zemeskis takes a timeless bit of art and turns it into an of-the-moment muddle, filled with lots of winks and nods but not much heart. Both Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket look a little creepy in CGI, and neither Tom Hanks (who stars as Geppetto), nor Cynthia Erivo (who sings a beautiful version of “When You Wish Upon a Star”), nor the sometimes delightful visuals can help this film find its footing.

It feels, if you pardon the pun, a bit wooden.

It also excises, in some ways, the whole point of Pinocchio . The story is, and has always been, a story of transformation—an exploration of what it means to be not just a real boy, but a good person . That goodness is hard-earned in most tellings, a product of difficult lessons gleaned from a difficult world. Here, Pinocchio starts off good and changes very little. This isn’t about learning hard lessons: It’s about self-acceptance—an oh-so-21 st -century moral. And in embracing that temporal ethos, this version of Pinocchio loses much of the original’s real, resonant oomph.

But if the new Pinocchio doesn’t reach its much-beloved predecessor, it still has merit.

Yes, Zemeskis swaps out a message of change for a message of acceptance. But there’s real value in that message, too. One could take away from the original Pinocchio that love must be earned. And, of course, that’s not true. We didn’t earn God’s love. Our kids don’t earn our love. We love them for who they are, even as we encourage them to grow.

This version of Pinocchio might be especially resonant for kids who’ve been adopted, but any child who has felt the sting of a parent’s disappointment may find something to embrace here. “I might have made you think I wanted somebody else,” Geppetto tells Pinocchio. “But it was you .”

And while the language can be a bit coarse and the bathroom humor unfortunate, the film sticks closely to its PG rating, too. In fact, many of its content issues actually come directly from the G-rated 1940 original—a reminder that while we may sometimes think that our entertainment is on a continual downward slide, the reality can sometimes be more complex.

No, the new Pinocchio will not become a classic—watched by generations to come. But when it comes to finding a decent watch for families in this generation, you could do a lot worse.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Pinocchio Horror Movie Plot Revealed, Adds Constantine Star Peter Stormare as Geppetto

Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness promises to be a "gripping cinematic journey through fear" according to director Joona Tena.

Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness brings a dark twist to the classic tale, with a vengeful puppet carved from cursed wood.
Big names like Peter Stormare and a mix of live action and CGI promise a surreal, riveting horror experience for audiences.
Director Joona Tena promises a gripping journey with poignancy, empathy, and modern horror themes like bereavement and broken family ties.

Everyone's favorite puppet, Pinocchio , is getting yet another horror movie treatment, this time by way of Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness , which is launching at the Cannes Film Market this week. The character of Pinocchio was first created by Italian author Carlo Collodi in 1881 when ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’ began as a serialized work of fiction in the magazine ‘Giornale per i bambini.’ The stories were later collected into one novel, which was published in 1883, and the character was made famous by Disney in 1940 when they released their animated classic , Pinocchio .

As per Variety , Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness will be directed by Joona Tena ( Superfurball ), and produced by Oceana Studios, the same company behind the likes of Terrifier 2 , Monstrous , and Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend . The premise will see the beloved puppet carved from a block of cursed wood, turning him into a vengeful killer . Check out the full synopsis below.

"This dark turn on Carlo Collodi’s classic 1883 tale sees woodcarver Geppetto carve a puppet resembling his recently deceased son from a of block of wood discarded at a crime scene and cursed by Agatha , the priestess of a dark cult. As Pinocchio turns into a vengeful killer, a teen named Charlie and his mother Nancy arrive in the town looking for a fresh start. Meanwhile, a detective named Georgina starts investigating Agatha’s crimes. The characters intertwine with some tragic consequences."

Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness has some fairly big names attached thus far, with Peter Stormare ( Constantine , John Wick: Chapter 2 ) on board as Geppetto, Vicki Berlin ( Triangle of Sadness ) tapped to play the semi-alcoholic mother of Charlie, Nancy, as well as Daniel Nuta ( Watcher ) who will portray Ronnie, a local gangster who gets mixed up with Charlie’s circle of high school friends. Filming is expected to get underway in early 2025 , with the movie aiming for a summer release.

Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness Will Combine Live Action with CGI

This isn't the first time Pinocchio is being turned into a horror movie, as earlier this year we got our first look at Pinocchio: Unstrung , which comes from the same team behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey . Pooh will also square off against Mickey Mouse in the upcoming slasher film, Mickey vs. Winnie from director Glenn Douglas Packard , and if that wasn’t enough, Ghostbusters mainstay Ernie Hudson will star in Oswald Down the Rabbit Hole , which is a horror retelling featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

With Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness , Danny Sawaf, the CEO of Oceana Studios, says that this new film will be “surreal,” and combine elements of live action and CGI . He promises that audiences are going to be “riveted” by the experience.

"We’re thrilled to tell a story that has entertained people around the world for well over a century. Ours is set in a modern world while subverting the audiences expectations given the character has personified good since its inception. The combination of CG and live action will be surreal and audiences are going to be riveted."

Natasha Henstridge on Her Horror Fairytale Film Cinderella's Revenge & the Sci-Fi Classic Species

As for director Joona Tena, he says that his horror film will be one “with poignancy and empathy.” He calls it a “ gripping, cinematic journey .” Check out his comments below.

"We’re using the premise of the classic tale to make a dark modern horror film, but one with poignancy and empathy as our Pinocchio is carved from evil but nurtured with affection. It will be a gripping cinematic journey through fear while dealing with themes of bereavement and broken family ties."

Whether Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness will find success in the wake of a plethora of public domain characters getting turned into horror movies remains to be seen, but with Oceana's track record there's a better than even chance it will at least have the opportunity to find an audience.

Pinocchio Is Officially Joining the Poohniverse With ‘Unstrung’

He will follow in the footsteps of Winnie the Pooh and Cinerella.

The Big Picture

Unstrung, the new R-rated Pinocchio film, will feature practical effects and a dark, twisted take on the classic story.
The success of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey spawned the 'Poohniverse,' a new horror franchise with twisted childhood characters.
Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will bring together iconic figures like Pinocchio and Tinkerbell for a crossover event.

Strap in, another of your favorite childhood characters is receiving the horror treatment . As reported by Variety , exclusive details have been officially released for Pinocchio: Unstrung , which is currently selling in Cannes via Premiere Entertainment. Helmed once again by Rhys Frake-Waterfield , Unstrung will feature an emphasis on practical effects over CGI, with the central villain portrayed by a practical doll in a cinematic landscape where VFX is so often relied upon. Animatronics and puppetry will be supplied by Todd Masters of MastersFx, with the Prosthetics Studio adding Unstrung to their long list of projects which includes the likes of Harry Potter and Star Wars .

With filming slated to begin in September and a release date of next January already suggested , Unstrung is officially full speed ahead. As cited on Variety , Frake-Waterfield has discussed his intentions for the project, saying: "This will be an extremely unique and R-rated depiction of Pinocchio. Featuring a high kill count, a subversion of the original story, and lots of practical gore. I’m going to welcome Pinocchio into the Poohniverse with a bang." Variety also stated that "one scene will see Pinnochio wearing the skin of his victim so he can "feel like a real boy".

The 'Poohniverse' Could Be the Next Big Horror Franchise

Released in 2023 to an unsuspecting audience, the Independent British slasher Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey took the fondly remembered children's character and twisted him into a horror novelty act that felt impossible to ignore. Capturing the attention of the world's press, the movie earned a staggering $5.2 million from a budget of just $50,000 , proving that the hunger to see A.A. Milne 's creation twisted into a bloodthirsty serial killer was rife. This then led to the release of a sequel in March 2024 .

Although they wouldn't know it at the time, Blood and Honey would become the first in the Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU), or the Poohniverse as it is being endearingly referred to by fans. Despite being panned by critics and receiving five Golden Raspberry Awards including for Worst Picture, the Box Office success would be enough to launch a new franchise, with the announcement of "Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble" coming soon after . This Avengers -style crossover would feature famous figures from the worlds of children's media, including the likes of Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, the Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty. The upcoming Pinocchio:Unstrung is truly just the beginning of this ambitious project.

Pinocchio: Unstrung is expected to arrive in theaters in January 2025. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is avaiable to stream on Peacock right now.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

After Christopher Robin abandons them for college, Pooh and Piglet embark on a bloody rampage as they search for a new source of food.

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First look: Christian Bale revealed as Frankenstein’s Monster in ‘The Bride’

"Meet The Bride and Frank"

Maggie Gyllenhaal has revealed a first look at Christian Bale as Frankenstein’s Monster and Jesse Buckley as a reanimated corpse in her upcoming movie The Bride .

Gyllenhaal, for whom this will be her second directorial outing after 2021’s The Lost Daughter , shared the images on Instagram following a recent camera test for the Warner Bros. period film.

The actress-turned-director captioned the post simply: “Meet The Bride and Frank,” along with a black heart emoji.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Maggie Gyllenhaal (@mgyllenhaal)

The Bride takes place in 1930s Chicago and offers a spin on the iconic Frankenstein story. Buckley plays a murdered young woman who, after being revived, surprises her creators as she lusts for romance and ignites a radical social movement.

Starring opposite Bale and Buckley are Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Annette Bening. Joker cinematographer Lawrence Sher is also on board.

Filming on del Toro’s Frankenstein, which is being produced by Netflix , began in February. It will be the Mexican director’s first feature film since 2022’s Pinocchio , and his thirteenth directorial feature overall. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for 2017’s The Shape of Water , which also picked up Best Picture.

Gyllenhaal’s The Bride is set to be releases in cinemas October 2, 2025.

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Pinocchio Horror in ‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey’ Universe Unveils R-Rated Details: Skin Suits, High Kill Counts and Lots of Gore (EXCLUSIVE)

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Pinocchio is entering the Poohniverse.

The frequently adapted children’s story is set to become the latest standalone film introduced into the extremely bloody and gory world of “ Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey ,” the IP-bludgeoning microbudget slasher that that sparked headlines for turning A. A. Milne’s jovial bear into a feral serial killer (and made $5.2 million at the box office after costing under $50,000 to make).

Popular on Variety

“This will be an extremely unique and R-rated depiction of Pinocchio,” said Frake-Waterfield. “Featuring a high kill count, a subversion of the original story, and lots of practical gore. I’m going to welcome Pinocchio into the Poohniverse with a bang.”

Earlier this year, Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey, his filmmaking partner prolific horror banner Jagged Edge Productions, unveiled “Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble,” an Avengers-style crossover bringing together Pooh and various other beloved children’s character gone bad. Alongside Pooh, other figures set to appear include Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, the Mad Hatter and Sleeping Beauty, with production set to kick off this year. Like Pinocchio, Bambi and Peter Pan also have standalone films in the works.

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COMMENTS

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (Christian Movie Review)
About The Movie. The Blue Fairy is working overtime. Everyone's favorite long-nosed puppet has gotten not one, but two new adaptations this year. After Disney's wooden and lifeless remake, visionary filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro, now takes his own crack at carving the story into something captivating. Including the filmmaker's name in the movie's title is not just a convenient way to ...
Pinocchio (Christian Movie Review)
Having now watched this Robert Zemeckis-directed remake, it seems clear that it should have been left there. Pinocchio (2022) is as stiff and lifeless as its puppet hero. The one sprinkle of blue fairy magic in the film is Tom Hanks as Geppetto. Hanks manages to bring warmth and whimsy to the story that is otherwise void of it.
Disney Pinocchio Christian Movie Review (2022)
Disney Pinocchio Christian Movie Review Synopsis: From Disney+ "Academy Award® winner Robert Zemeckis directs this live-action and CGI retelling of the beloved tale of a wooden puppet who embarks on a thrilling adventure to become a real boy. Tom Hanks stars as Geppetto, the woodcarver who builds and treats Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth ...
Pinocchio (2022)
Read our written review here: https://thecollision.org/pinocchio-christian-movie-review/TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro1:13 About the Film7:33 Content to Consider9:03 ...
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Movie Review. Death is a thief, cruel and greedy. Not content with taking who we love, it takes pieces of ourselves in the process: our joys, our hopes, our will. ... But Pinocchio's Christian elements are also muddied by del Toro's cynicism and love of pre-Christian fairy tales (Catholic and pagan elements are frequent bedfellows in the ...
Review
Review It is curious that 2022 has seen two different adaptations of the classic fairy tale Pinocchio , or maybe it isn't. Hollywood chases trends all of the time and it probably isn't shocking that Disney+ might try and rush out a live-action Robert Zemeckis film ahead of a Guillermo del Toro stop-motion film for Netflix.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio review: a remarkable take on an old tale
Obviously, he wanted to distinguish it from the Disney films, but the full title also makes clear that this is distinctly his version of the classic. Carlo Collodi's serialized story for kids ...
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Read our written review here: https://thecollision.org/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio-christian-movie-review/TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro0:47 About The Film5:33 Cont...
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio review: a stunning ...
This review was originally published in conjunction with the premiere of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival. It has been updated and republished for the film's ...
Pinocchio Review: Guillermo del Toro's Best Movie in a Decade
Guillermo del Toro has spent over a decade trying to get his dream stop-motion film made, and in that time he's evolved as a filmmaker. Yet "Pinocchio" feels like the best mix of classic del ...
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Movie Review
December 17, 2022. age 9+. Stunning! Marvelous! ( I am a film critic, so here is my view on GDT's Pinocchio) GTD's Pinocchio is a beautiful, intricate movie with a fascinating storyline. It is encapsulating to watch and gives the viewer a specialized sense of thrill that is extremely rare to find otherwise.
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Parents need to know that this live-action/CGI adaptation of Pinocchio is a bit more intense than the animated classic (which itself has some fairly dark moments). Pinocchio (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is kidnapped, imprisoned, nearly turned into a donkey, and swallowed by a sea monster. One beloved character….
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Nov. 8, 2022 2:17 PM PT. Every "Pinocchio" is some wonder-struck filmmaker's hope that their carved, sculpted and painted version of Italian author Carlo Collodi's 140-year-old story about ...
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Positive Role Models. Pinocchio learns the importance of listening to hi. Violence & Scariness. A character shoots a gun when he thinks an intrude. Sex, Romance & Nudity. Jiminy Cricket places his hand on the rear end of. Language Not present. Products & Purchases. Decades after the film was released, "Pleasure Isl.
Pinocchio movie review & film summary (2022)
It's not just a block of wood, but it's not a real boy, either. Robert Zemeckis ' high-tech reinvention is faithful to the Italian children's novel source material and the 1940 original film, but it also features new songs and cheeky pop-culture references. (Most of them clang and feel forced, but one is admittedly laugh-out-loud funny).
'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' Review: A Distinctive New Version
There's little collective appetite for another version of 'Pinocchio,' but Guillermo del Toro's Netflix version, with a voice cast including Ewan McGregor and Cate Blanchett, makes us hungry again.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Review: One of the Best ...
The world doesn't need any more Pinocchio stories. Sorry everyone, we're all full up. While Carlo Collodi's story of the woodcarver Geppetto and his wooden boy come to life have led to some ...
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio movie review (2022)
Advertisement. With the screenplay's unassumingly poetic final line, Sebastian casts a lovingly life-affirming spell, a phrase that applies to the entirety of the piece, noting that even the artists behind this production will someday also die; only their stories will endure. A wondrously affecting work, "Pinocchio" becomes a magnum opus for ...
GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO tackles themes of grief, family struggle and courage, and the staple of any good Pinocchio story, sacrifice for the ones we love. It has a strong Christian worldview with Christian imagery, including a church and crucifix built by Geppetto. The movie explores war, tragedy and fascism through the lens of a fairytale.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Review
No strings attached. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio will stream on Netflix on Dec. 9. It was reviewed out of the Manchester Animation Festival. When it comes to Pinocchio, there's arguably a ...
'Pinocchio' review: A reimagined story is beautiful but comes with too
CNN —. The mere title "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" announces that this stop-motion animated movie reflects the keen eye and visual style of the directing auteur, with a healthy dose of ...
PINOCCHIO (2022)
PINOCCHIO is a live-action remake of Disney's classic 1940 animated cartoon musical about a living puppet who must prove himself morally worthy to be a real boy. The movie follows the outline of the original comedy fantasy. Geppetto, the clock maker wishes that his wooden puppet was a real boy.
Pinocchio (2022)
Jiminy Cricket—an impoverished insect who just stopped in to warm himself up—watches this small family drama unfold from a shelf. He watches Geppetto prepare for bed. And then the old man sees a "wishing star.". The carpenter makes his wish and refuses to say what it is.
Pinocchio Horror Movie Plot Revealed, Adds Constantine Star Peter
Pinocchio: Carved from Darkness brings a dark twist to the classic tale, with a vengeful puppet carved from cursed wood. Big names like Peter Stormare and a mix of live action and CGI promise a ...
Pinocchio Is Officially Joining the Poohniverse With 'Unstrung'
Capturing the attention of the world's press, the movie earned a staggering $5.2 million from a budget of just $50,000, proving that the hunger to see A.A. Milne's creation twisted into a ...
First look: Christian Bale as Frankenstein's Monster in 'The Bride'
Maggie Gyllenhaal has revealed a first look at Christian Bale as Frankenstein's Monster and Jesse Buckley as a reanimated corpse in her upcoming movie The Bride.. Gyllenhaal, for whom this will ...
Pinocchio Film in 'Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey' Universe ...
Alongside Pooh, other figures set to appear include Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, the Mad Hatter and Sleeping Beauty, with production set to kick off this year.

Pinocchio (Christian Movie Review)￼