Pinocchio

The classic story of 'Pinocchio' is coming to life in Disney's new live-action movie. So, who is voicing Pinocchio? Here's everything you need to know.

The new Pinocchio is inspired by the character’s look in the 1940 animated original movie. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is the voice of Pinocchio in Disney’s live-action film. They have to be doing the line, acting the lines. In the 1940 animated movie, the character was voiced by Dick Jones. Pinocchio is getting the live-action treatment. As you watch the movie, you might be asking: who is voicing Pinocchio?

Director Robert Zemeckis and star Tom Hanks reunite for "Pinocchio," a live-action update of the Disney animated classic.

Zemeckis’ “Pinocchio” prompts one to wish upon a star that Disney would stop diluting the legacy of its beloved animated features with these soulless knockoffs. In an incredible feat of time mismanagement, this “Pinocchio” is about 20 minutes longer than the 1940 version and still manages to blatantly sidestep having a poignant and magical ending. There’s a clear through line connecting Zemeckis’ longstanding affinity for animation and the utilization of technological advancements in storytelling. This unadventurous pursuit entails imitating its characters’ details, costumes and color palette to mimic, as closely as possible, what the audience is already familiar with. She deputizes Jiminy as the newly born figure’s voice of reason. But with Robert Zemeckis’ new hybrid incarnation — which combines live-action elements and 3-D CG animation — the Oscar-winning director has carved a lackluster replica.

Like the titular puppet at its center, “Pinocchio” lingers in an existential purgatory. The latest live-action remake of an animated Disney classic occupies ...

As always, the moral of the story is the importance of being honest. The Blue Fairy whooshes into the workshop and, with a sprinkling of magic dust, tells Pinocchio (voiced by So yes, you get “When You Wish Upon a Star” (which powerhouse [Cynthia Erivo](/cast-and-crew/cynthia-erivo) now sings as the Blue Fairy), but you also get little meta bits about education, parenting, and the perils of fame. Just as the original “Pinocchio” was groundbreaking in its artistic complexity, Zemeckis has always pushed the possibilities of animation and visual effects, from the dazzling hybrid of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” to his pioneering use of motion capture in “ [The Polar Express](/reviews/the-polar-express-2004).” (And, thankfully, technology has evolved since 2004 to keep human characters from looking so terrifyingly rubbery.) This is especially true toward the end of the perky puppet’s journey when he ends up in the mouth of a ferocious sea monster. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, and clearly need the sunny narration of Jiminy Cricket (

New movies streaming or in theaters this weekend: Tom Hanks stars in a new "Pinocchio," while "Thor: Love and Thunder" arrives on Disney+.

[Colonel Tom Parker](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/06/21/elvis-review-austin-butler-rules-king-over-musical-mess/7652227001/) in "Elvis," Hanks is back in ["America's Dad"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2020/03/16/tom-hanks-10-essential-roles-coronavirus-crisis/5056649002/) mode as kindly Italian woodcarver Geppetto in a decent revamp of the 1940 cartoon. [Tom Hanks](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/06/26/tom-hanks-colonel-tom-parker-favorite-elvis-song/7688237001/), while the Mouse House also releases a bonkers horror movie probably not for kids, wooden or otherwise. In director Zach Cregger's head-scrambling chiller, a researcher (Georgina Campbell) rents an Airbnb in suburban Detroit and finds it's been double-booked when she meets a strangely polite guy (Bill Skarsgård) already staying there. 15) The houseguests feel something's wrong but stick around instead of escaping, leading to an unbelievably brutal third act. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a so-so choice for Pinocchio's dapper insect conscience Jiminy Cricket, but as the Blue Fairy, [Cynthia Erivo](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/09/17/cynthia-erivo-debut-album-ch-1-vs-1-emmys-aretha-franklin-childrens-book-disney-role/8363326002/) sings a stellar "When You Wish Upon a Star" that dares you to stop the waterworks. [Where the Crawdads Sing](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/07/16/where-crawdads-sing-movie-biggest-changes-from-book/10037952002/)," an adaptation of the Delia Owens novel, is now streaming on [Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/where-the-crawdads-sing/umc.cmc.4jxbvck9zakqjsb34ccw09mub), [Vudu](https://www.vudu.com/content/movies/details/Where-the-Crawdads-Sing/2064554)and [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/Where_the_Crawdads_Sing?id=M1pP5Ex6sPA.P&hl=en_US&gl=US). Wilson and fellow Brit Tom Burke have a winning chemistry in this immersive, mature character study. [Marcel the Shell With Shoes On](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/06/25/marcel-shell-movie-jenny-slate-interview/7696547001/)," starring Jenny Slate as the voice of an adorable, sneaker-clad shell, is on [Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/marcel-the-shell-with-shoes-on/umc.cmc.23mlvs843dhgo7ir7bk727xm2)and other on-demand platforms. [on demand](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/mack--rita/umc.cmc.6z0mzebv8x0hjpju062hwdp8z)is the body-swap comedy "Mack & Rita," with Elizabeth Lail as a 30-year-old who wishes she was more like her grandma and [Diane Keaton](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/08/11/mack-and-rita-movie-diane-keaton/10281391002/)as her 70-year-old wish-fulfilled self. [Queen Latifah](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/06/08/queen-latifah-red-table-talk-discusses-weight-journey-obesity-stigma/7539334001/) hits the road with ["Fast and Furious"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2019/08/01/every-fast-and-furious-film-definitively-ranked-best-worst/1856145001/) regular [Chris "Ludacris" Bridges](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/07/28/ludacris-starts-education-through-music-kids-new-kidnation-site/5524968002/) for a Netflix thriller, and British actress [Ruth Wilson](https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/08/28/why-little-stranger-and-affair-star-ruth-wilson-always-delight-amid-darkness/1122483002/) ("The Affair") plays a woman looking for love – and finding a flighty boyfriend – in an English drama. [fall movie season](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/09/06/fall-movies-2022-most-anticipated-releases/7894249001/) out with a new take on a classic.

Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Luke Evans star in Robert Zemeckis' live-action remake of the 1940 animated classic ...

It will be difficult to forget the image of Pinocchio staring at a pile of horse manure and touching it out of curiosity. (Coincidentally, his The Witches remake for HBO Max is the only other serious contender against Pinocchio for his worst film.) When Disney Plus first kicked off in 2019, one of its opening-day original films was [the Lady and the Tramp remake](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2019/11/12/20961761/lady-and-the-tramp-review-disney-plus-remake), which is predictable, lifeless, and entirely unmemorable. Though the 1940 version of Pinocchio isn’t as aggressive and rowdy as his fellow boys on Pleasure Island, he’s perfectly willing to dive into bad behavior, aping his cigar-smoking pal Lampwick. Where Jiminy Cricket performs it as a quiet, telling moment in the original film, the 2022 Pinocchio truncates it and gives the shorter version to the Blue Fairy. It’s a gross image in a film that otherwise doesn’t add in scatalogical humor, a gag that isn’t in the original and has no purpose in the remake, and a weirdly unnecessary cost in a film that struggles to merge CG and live-action elements. The story’s outline will still be extremely recognizable to anyone with a passing familiarity with the animated film or Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio. Because this is a modern film, though, apparently someone felt the film needed to scoff a bit at its own flights of fancy. Unfortunately, remakes of [Aladdin](https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/23/18637207/aladdin-film-review-disney-live-action-remake-will-smith-guy-ritchie-mena-massoud-naomi-scott), [The Lion King](https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/11/20690363/the-lion-king-2019-review), [Beauty and the Beast](https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/17/14962212/beauty-and-the-beast-review-remake-gay-lefou-bill-condon-controversy), and others had less room to stretch. These are answers to questions best left unasked — many of the small touches in the original Pinocchio are haunting because they defy explanation. Like the animated version, the straight-to-Disney Plus live-action remake tells the story of a wooden marionette (a CG creation voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) brought to life by a magical Blue Fairy (Cynthia Erivo), who sends him on a journey to become fully human by exemplifying the traits of bravery, truthfulness, and selflessness. Songs such as “Give a Little Whistle” and “Little Wooden Head” have been jettisoned in favor of four lifeless new songs by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard. He also explains why he refuses to sell off his dead wife’s treasured cuckoo clocks — which feature characters like Rafiki and Simba, Roger Rabbit, and Sheriff Woody, which may go down as one of the most painful bits of corporate synergy in film history.

After a string of live-action remakes, from "Beauty and the Beast" to “The Lion King," the Walt Disney Co. has finally gotten around to “ Pinocchio.

“Pinocchio,” a Disney+ release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America for peril/scary moments, rude material and some language. Or when Pinocchio's nose shoots out and Jiminy teeters on it like how Gordon-Levitt, as high-wire artist Philippe Petit, did at a higher altitude in “The Walk.” The best reason to see “Pinocchio” is, unsurprisingly, Hanks, who brings a soulful melancholy to Geppetto. It's a corollary to Hanks' performance as another European-accented performance as Presley manager Tom Parker in “Elvis." Certainly, “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor’s Life For Me)” has a different resonance in a movie where actors compete with CGI creations for oxygen. Alongside some live performers (Tom Hanks, Cynthia Erivo) and some CGI characters, director Robert Zemeckis has used computer imagery to render Pinocchio (voiced by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) much in the style and vocal pitch of the 1940 cartoon.

Chris Pine, influencers and ... a "Toy Story" Easter egg? Here's what's new, what's the same in the "Pinocchio" remake streaming Thursday on Disney+.

The movie sadly omits two tracks, "Little Wooden Head" and "Give a Little Whistle," while adding four new ones: two ditties spoke sung by Hanks' Geppetto, a ballad for Fabiana, and a sinister song-and-dance number for The Coachman (Luke Evans) as he lures Pinocchio and children to Pleasure Island. In the animated movie, Geppetto returns home with a lifeless Pinocchio after escaping the whale. The scene in the live-action film is still pretty traumatizing, as Pinocchio's slick-talking companion Lampwick (Lewin Lloyd) begs for his mother as he transforms into a braying burro. Pinocchio also discovers he has uncannily fast-moving feet, which he can rub together to spark fires and even use as a sort of motor to help propel boats forward. But tobacco has (unsurprisingly) been axed for this new version, and multiple characters clarify that their foamy drinks are in fact "root beer" and not alcohol. Regardless, Geppetto still loves him for exactly who he is. Melfi on HBO's "The Sopranos"), who helps Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket. And with the help of his "conscience," a cricket called Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), he learns how to be brave, truthful and unselfish. There are some updates that are less groan-worthy, such as Geppetto's myriad cuckoo clocks that adorn the walls of his workshop. He later suggests stage names for Pinocchio, one of which is Chris Pine (of The movie adds a handful of new characters to the story, including a street-smart seagull named Sofia, voiced by Lorraine Bracco (aka Dr. ["Pinocchio"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewed/2022/09/05/stream-disneys-pinocchio/7953020001/) ( [streaming now on Disney+](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/09/08/10-new-movies-see-week-disney-pinocchio-barbarian/7998488001/)), a live-action remake of the studio's 1940 movie.

Even taking it as a given that Disney's animated classics will all receive live-action makeovers eventually, "Pinocchio" feels like an unnecessary exercise ...

Mostly, "Pinocchio" itself washes ashore into a kind of no-man's land -- too uninspired to bring anything fresh to the material, dutifully playing like a pallid redo of the 1940 classic, arguably one of Disney's most beautiful animated films from that pivotal stretch in its early history. They build toward his encounter with the seafaring Monstro, upgraded to "sea monster" status, having maligned whales quite enough. But "Pinocchio" unfortunately mirrors the lifelessness of Zemeckis' early experiments with animation and doesn't much augment the well-known story with the snippets of music added, other than Cynthia Erivo, as the Blue Fairy, belting out "When You Wish Upon a Star."

Now, Pinocchio, the delightful story of a wooden boy who comes alive, is getting the live-action treatment with Tom Hanks starring as the puppet maker Geppetto ...

[Disney+ subscription](https://disneyplus.bn5x.net/c/256585/564546/9358?subId1=SC-&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.disneyplus.com%2F&subId3=xid:fr1662582401815ggg) with its Unlimited plans (a.k.a. (Disney+ costs $7.99 per month, Hulu starts at $6.99 per month and ESPN Plus costs $6.99 per month for a total of $21.97 compared to [The Disney Bundle’s $13.99 per month](https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=t1ZX7*4ybQA&mid=42392&u1=SC-%7Cxid:fr1662582401815gjc&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Fstart) price.) Disney+ and ESPN Plus also come free with [Hulu+ With Live TV](https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=t1ZX7*4ybQA&mid=42392&u1=SC-%7Cxid:fr1662582401815cgh&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Flive-tv), which costs [$69.99 per month](https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=t1ZX7*4ybQA&mid=42392&u1=SC-%7Cxid:fr1662582401815jae&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hulu.com%2Flive-tv). The Pinocchio cast includes Tom Hanks as Geppetto and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, the narrator of the story who acts sort of as Pinocchio’s conscience. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale. [Parade](https://parade.com/celebrities/joseph-gordon-levitt-pinocchio-interview-2022) that what he loves about the story of Pinocchio is that the lesson is about telling the truth. They of course worked together on the film Forrest Gump, for which Hanks won Best Actor at the 1995 Academy Awards. “Hard to know, I guess we have to see how this one does,” she told So there you have it—a way to watch Disney+ for free. The story of Pinocchio tells the tale of a puppet maker, Geppetto, who carves a little boy out of wood which miraculously comes alive. “I love the moral of the story, which is all about telling the truth,” he said. Pinocchio wishes to become a real boy and through a series of adventures, misadventures, and eventually good deeds, his wish comes true. Or the 1996 version starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, a movie that scarred 90s kids for life.)

Can 'Pinocchio,' which five years ago would have been in theaters, pull Disney+ viewership on par even with theatrical bombs like 'Lightyear'?

However, I don’t know if there’s an equation for ‘losing X dollars in theaters for Y streaming viewership gains.” As for Pinocchio, it’s a disappointment, to be sure. It may not be worth spending tens of millions of dollars for a film like Pinocchio to bomb in theaters (with resultant bad press and tisk-tisking from pundits like myself) to boost its streaming potential. However, it’s also a way for Zemeckis to indulge his decades-long interest in pushing the technical envelope now that Hollywood can’t afford to spend $100 million on films like Contact and Cast Away. Disney+ is dominated by MCU television shows (whose success was predicated upon the theatrical popularity of the Marvel movies), theatrical Marvel movies (Thor: Love and Thunder debuted just today), Star Wars shows and Disney/Pixar animated films. That caused a (primarily online) kerfuffle when The Help (an Oscar-winning and Best Picture-nominated film that grossed $169 million domestic in 2011) became Netflix’s most-watched movie during a moment of intense civil protests against arguably improper (and racially motivated) police violence. Netflix gets high-end third-party films while Sony gets a cushion and a financial motivation to take the chance on the next Where the Crawdads Sing or the next Baby Driver. [just dropped for the week of August 8 through August 14](https://www.nielsen.com/top-ten/), and Lightyear earned 700 million minutes. Prey is the best Predator movie since the first Predator movie, and offhand The Harder They Fall may be the best mainstream western since Open Range. As much as any of the lesser Walt Disney remakes over the last decade, it alternates between being a redundant rehash of the 1940 animated feature and a needlessly watered-down adaptation of the same. As noted in 2019, that audiences flocked to Batman doesn’t mean they wanted a big-budget version of The Shadow. Likewise, that audiences showed up in theaters for Aladdin doesn’t mean they would do so for Dumbo. I would argue the end game has been to create the definitive live-action version of these respective oft-told tales to sit alongside their already classic animated adaptations.

Prepare to lose your bearings in Pinocchio, Disney's regeneration of its 1940 animated landmark. The movie is being sold as live action, or thereabouts at ...

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Check out what critics are saying about Disney+'s live-action remake of Pinocchio, starring Tom Hanks.

[Games Radar](https://www.gamesradar.com/pinocchio-2022-review-disney-plus-live-action/) also gives the movie 3 out of 5 stars, saying that Tom Hanks is wonderful, the animation is great, and the familiar characters inspire nostalgia. As with Disney’s other live-action remakes, this one seems to inspire mixed reviews, except maybe where Tom Hanks and the updated animation are concerned. [CinemaBlend’s review of Pinocchio](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/disneys-pinocchio-review-the-darkest-live-action-disney-remake). However, the critic ponders, with the movie targeting a new generation, maybe it doesn’t matter that the story hasn’t changed. [latest Disney live-action remake](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2477185/ranking-all-the-disney-live-action-remakes-including-lion-king). The animated Disney movie from 1940 captured generations of fans with its magical adventure and morality lesson (Jiminy Cricket wasn’t so bad himself), and director Robert Zemeckis is hoping to recapture some of that magic in the

Well, they pop out of cuckoo clocks made by woodcarver and Pinocchio's dad, Geppetto (Tom Hanks), and it's a rather blink-and-you'll-miss-it montage of Easter ...

In a nod to the first animated Disney film released in 1937 before Pinocchio in 1940, Snow White stands outside a clock resembling the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. Jessica Rabbit picks up her husband, Roger, and gives him a big old smooch in front of a cuckoo clock with hearts all around it. Well, they pop out of cuckoo clocks made by woodcarver and Pinocchio's dad, Geppetto (Tom Hanks), and it's a rather blink-and-you'll-miss-it montage of Easter eggs. Here are the references I could see — maybe you've spotted more? But did you notice a few familiar faces, too? Maleficent, the antagonist from 1959's Sleeping Beauty, storms out of her castle clock with her staff and raven Diablo, as the camera pans up to poor ol' Aurora in the attic, touching the forbidden spindle on the chime.

This week, pop culture critic Richard Crouse reviews new movies: 'Pinocchio,' 'Barbarian' and 'Medieval.'

But there are finally signs that prices in the used car market may have peaked. Five divers from Vancouver Island have been exploring parts of the East Coast that very few Canadians will ever see. From how the federal government is expected to respond, to the ceremonial and memorial elements, CTVNews.ca explains what to expect in the coming days. Ukraine's armed forces have made significant early gains in their counter-offensive against Russian troops in southern and eastern Ukraine but fighting appears set to drag on for months, U.S. CTVNews.ca outlines what is set to happen in the coming days. There are interesting elements, particularly regarding the warrior’s religious convictions and political leanings, but the Foster feels miscast. From the title on down, “Medieval” has a generic feel. In retaliation, France sends an army to retrieve her. In other words, “Yikes!” The Holy Roman Empire is in chaos following the death of its reigning emperor. It’s a vibrantly coloured romp of an action adventure that, despite the up-to-the-minute technology involved, feels old-fashioned -- dare I say wooden -- in its approach. The edgy details from that movie and the 1883 book by Carlo Collodi have been smoothed over—Pinocchio does not, for instance, smoke a cigar in this version—but visually, Zemeckis takes his lead from the classic Walt Disney Animation style. Hanks is Geppetto, an Italian woodworker who carves a puppet named Pinocchio out of a block of white pine.

Les relectures en prise de vue réelle des films d'animation produits par les studios Disney ont jusqu'ici donné lieu à du meilleur (Le livre de la jungle de ...

Tout à fait dans la personnalité du gamin de bois devenu chantre de la pensée positive (c’est lui qui le dit). La version de Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future), où des personnages en images de synthèse côtoient des acteurs et évoluent dans un monde « réel » (avec un résultat inégal), fait malheureusement pencher la balance du côté des ratages. Le dessin animé prenait déjà des libertés très grandes par rapport à l’histoire originale afin d’en faire un conte pour enfants plus…

Why can't we stop adapting this story? And why is every single adaptation just so creepy in its own special way?

That reflection of the human condition comes through in nearly every adaptation, but to get there with Pinocchio we have to cross the uncanny valley, traveling with a character who is almost-but-not-quite human, through most of the story. If you want to dig into what it is that appeals to us about the story of Pinocchio, take a look at what all these versions have in common: there’s a moral through line that connects his adventures, and a series of hard and scary lessons he must learn on his way to becoming a real boy. This might be the one time that the creepiness works in the story’s favor. - The Erotic Adventures Of Pinocchio (1971): An X-rated version billed as “a bedtime story for adults,” this hot take involves a “virgin” named Geppetta who stumbles upon a talking log in the forest and decides to carve it into the perfect man. This one is by far the oddest of the two. Later this year, Guillermo del Toro will put his own spin on the story in a version that makes use of miniatures and stop-motion animation and sets the story against the backdrop of fascist Italy. You can even find traces of it in the popular anime Astro Boy. But it was in the 1960s and ’70s when Pinocchio adaptations really started getting strange. What is it about Pinocchio, the story of a marionette puppet who wants to become a real boy, that makes filmmakers keep coming back to it, again and again? Collodi eventually collected the stories into a single volume and published it in 1883, but that serialized origin will always be a part of Pinocchio’s DNA. The next notable adaptation came along in 1957, a black-and-white television special starring Mickey Rooney as the title character (he would have been 37 at the time). It was a 45-minute Italian silent film that shows Pinocchio—portrayed by a fully grown man in a clown costume, complete with long nose—defying Geppetto as soon as he finishes carving him and wildly rampaging through a little village square.

Un vieil artisan, Geppetto, sculpte une marionnette de bois qu'il nomme Pinocchio. Ce dernier rêve de devenir un véritable petit garçon, mais pour cela, ...

Guillermo del Toro proposera sa propre lecture du conte de Pinocchio dans un film d’animation qui devrait sortir en décembre sur Netflix. Il y a une certaine évolution par rapport au film de 1940 : il y a plusieurs filles parmi les vilains enfants, pas juste des garçons. Les enfants ne sont pas tellement plus sympathiques : ce sont des mauvais garnements, plus âgés, qui se dirigent tout droit vers la catastrophe.