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The newest live-action remake Disney tackled is “Pinocchio.” This remake of the 1940 film is directed and co-written by Robert Zemeckis (“Back to the Future,” “Forrest Gump,” “The Polar Express”) and, in the lead live-action role, stars Tom Hanks, who has previously worked with Zemeckis, as Geppetto the woodcarver. In the lead voice roles are Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the titular character and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket.

The remake follows the same beats as the animated original: Geppetto’s wish for his puppet to become a real boy comes half-true — Pinocchio is brought to life by the Blue Fairy, but must prove that he is brave, truthful and unselfish in order to be transformed into a real boy. This begins Pinocchio’s perilous adventure, testing his resolve, and ultimately, his worthiness of humanity.

The 1940 original includes stellar animation, and is a powerful, contemplative film that follows Pinocchio’s adventures with purpose. It bears emotional weight and a unique message. But the 2022 remake doesn’t add enough to reinvent the story and it fundamentally misunderstands the meaning of the original film. It is a cash grab of a film that only appeals to the nostalgia of longtime Disney fans.

One major problem with the film is that it suffers from a noticeable lack of focus. Moments that were emotionally or narratively significant in the original film feel neglected in the remake. For example, when the Blue Fairy — played by Cynthia Erivo — gives Pinocchio life and tells him how to become a real boy feels less like a call to action, and more like a disinterested script read. Emotionally, it feels insignificant and distant compared to the passionate emotion that defined the same scene in the original.

Other emotionally significant moments, such as the song “When You Wish Upon a Star” and the donkey transformation scene on Pleasure Island, are pared down considerably, giving off the impression that the film is simply following the story beats without truly understanding their significance to the story.

Certain characters’ roles are also scaled back. Significant characters such as Honest John (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key) and his crony Gideon, the Blue Fairy, and, to an extent, Jiminy Cricket have their roles from the original diminished in the remake, devaluing their importance to the story. They are given less screentime and their roles are written with less importance. These characters all play major roles in the progression of the story of the animated original, but in the remake, those characters are either written with less complexity or simply feel like footnotes.

The film also features new, secondary characters who seem more decorative than consequential to advancing the plot. In particular, the addition of Fabiana (played by Kyanne Lamaya) and her talking puppet Sabina (voiced by Jaquita Ta’le) takes the story in a direction that ultimately proves pointless, unnecessarily lengthening the film’s runtime and diluting the emotional progression of the story as a whole.

In addition, some musical numbers that served as clever ways to advance the story are removed and placed with other songs that do nothing to advance the story, even further throwing off the film’s focus. One song that Disney cut from the remake is “Give a Little Whistle.” As a song, it establishes a bond between Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket, serving the dual purpose of allowing Jiminy to instruct Pinocchio on how to follow the straight and narrow path as well as to begin building the relationship between the aspiring real boy and his conscience.

This film also suffers from a lack of creativity, as the changes made in the script from the first edition are unoriginal and predictable, falling upon clichés that detract from both the story and the film-watching experience.

The film’s ending is particularly egregious as well. In the original, the film ends with Pinocchio’s death as he saves Geppetto and his friends from Monstro the whale, later followed by Pinocchio’s triumphant revival as a real human boy. In the remake, Pinocchio weeps over a seemingly dead Geppetto, only to have Geppetto come to life after a lengthy cry scene. Recent Disney films such as “Tangled” and “Frozen,” as well as a number of films from other companies, have used this kind of ending, and with how often it has been repeated in film, this film’s use of that ending feels like nothing more than an obvious and unintelligent ploy to emotionally manipulate the audience.

The remake is much less harsh than the original, which has a cruel and nightmarish tone, as evidenced in scenes such as the donkey transformation. The film’s cruelty does serve a purpose, however — it gives the story weight and it makes the ending that much more triumphant. The remake, though, is smoothed around the edges, which makes for a more easygoing, yet significantly less compelling watch.

Perhaps the biggest flaw of this film, however, is that the message is changed from something unique to something common. The original film has an important and distinctive message that has remained relevant through the ages: always let your conscience be your guide.

The remake’s message, however, as stated by the Blue Fairy, “the most important part about being real isn’t what you’re made of — it’s about what’s in your heart,” changes the original theme of the film. The remake replaces the wonderfully contemplative message of the original film with an unbelievably trite, “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” message.

This film does have some things that work about it. Ainsworth as Pinocchio and Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket deliver good performances, with Ainsworth almost capturing the same sense of naiveté that made the character in the original film so great.

The film’s aesthetic is also appealing, and the film’s Pleasure Island looks downright amazing. Pinocchio himself does look like he does in the cartoon and isn’t given a hideous redesign like how a number of Disney live-action remakes redesign its characters in pursuit of a feigned sense of realism, and the decision to maintain Pinocchio’s cartoonish appearance is one that works quite well.

None of the things that the film does right — which are few in number — mitigate its downfalls. All told, Disney’s remake of “Pinocchio” fails on the most fundamental level to understand what made the 1940 original an animated classic.

Published on September 12, 2022 at 11:13 pm