Everyone is familiar with The Adventures of Pinocchio, the classic fable about the wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy. Written by Italian author Carlo Collodi in 1883, this children's fantasy novel has inspired countless adaptations, from lost and found 1911’s silent film by Giulio Antamoro and Walt Disney's 1940 iconic animated version to Robert Zemeckis’ 2022 live-action take for Disney and Guillermo del Toro's 2022 long-awaited dark stop-motion animation for Netflix.

As Zemeckis’ Pinocchio sees its release and del Toro’s version is coming, let’s take a look at the best Pinocchio movies so far.

7 The Adventures of Pinocchio (1996)

1996’s The Adventures of Pinocchio mixes animation with live action. Film critic Roger Ebert believed that this is what ruined the film, proclaiming, "The Adventures of Pinocchio places an animated Pinocchio in a real world, where he looks so out of place that we can scarcely think of him as anything but a special effect." But despite being both a critical and commercial failure, Steve Barron’s adaptation with Academy Award winner Martin Landau as the old woodcarver Geppetto has its charms.

Related: Pinocchio: Why the Classic Fable Has Been Rebooted So Many Times

6 The Adventures of Pinocchio (1976–1977)

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio known for producing anime movies and TV shows based on works of European literature. They were the ones who made the Japanese version of Pinocchio. Based on Carlo Collodi’s book and influenced by Disney, Nippon Animation’s 52-episode The Adventures of Pinocchio tells the classic story of the wooden puppet. However, the cute anime show differs from the original novel - for example, in The Adventures of Pinocchio, the title character's guide, the Talking Cricket, is replaced with Gina the duck and Rocco the bird.

5 The Adventures of Pinocchio (1972)

A major commercial success back in the day, the 1972 miniseries The Adventures of Pinocchio by Italian film director Luigi Comencini stars a brilliant combination of international sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida (the Fairy with Turquoise Hair), Italian-style comedy star Nino Manfredi (Geppetto), and comedy duo Franco and Ciccio (the Fox and the Cat). Like in all Pinocchio movies, the plot here follows a lonely woodcarver named Geppetto who carves a puppet he calls Pinocchio, soon the Fairy with Turquoise Hair appears to Pinocchio and promises that good behavior will make him a real boy. An utterly charming work, Comencini's miniseries is Pinocchio with a heart.

4 Pinocchio (2019)

Disney always takes dark fairy tales and turns them into sweet magic stories. So, many of us grew up with the lovely 1940 Pinocchio version – but Carlo Collodi's novel has a lot of creepy moments, with Pinocchio killing the Talking Cricket, getting his feet burnt off, and being hanged. Italian filmmaker Matteo Garrone’s adaptation, 2019’s Pinocchio, brings back the darkness of the original fable. His nightmarish live-action film stars child actor Federico Ielapi as the misbehaving wooden puppet and Life Is Beautiful star Roberto Benigni as Geppetto. It is the real adventures of Pinocchio.

3 The Adventures of Buratino (1959)

Buratino is a Soviet version of Pinocchio – but unlike the main character of Carlo Collodi’s story, the Soviet long-nosed wooden puppet carved by poor Papa Carlo (Geppetto in the original novel) never shifts to proper behavior and does not become a real boy. 1959’s animated feature by the patriarch of Soviet animation, Ivan Ivanov-Vano, along with Dmitriy Babichenko, The Adventures of Buratino, is arguably the best screen adaptation of the story about Buratino. In the film, the wooden boy sets off on a quest for the Golden Key that opens a secret door. You will like The Adventures of Buratino if you have enjoyed legendary Soviet cartoons such as Hedgehog in the Fog and Cheburashka.

2 Pinocchio (2012)

Screened at the Venice International Film Festival, this dreamy watercolor re-imagining of the classic tale invites you to go on "an adventure like you wooden believe." Directed by Italian animator Enzo D'Alò, 2012’s Pinocchio is faithful to the original storyline of Carlo Collodi’s novel, presenting children’s favorites Pinocchio, Geppetto, the Fairy with Turquoise Hair, the Talking Cricket, the Fox, the Cat, Mangiafuoco, and others. But this adaptation feels worlds away from the other Pinocchio movies, with its offbeat animation style that may charm kids and adults.

Related: Pinocchio Trailer and Poster Teases Guillermo del Toro's Wonderfully Warped Fairy Tale

1 Pinocchio (1940)

The 1940 review in The New York Times described Pinocchio as "the best thing Mr. Disney has done and therefore the best cartoon ever made." Even after more than 80 years, Pinocchio remains one of the best works of children’s cinema. A captivating morality tale that features one of the best-loved Disney animated movie soundtracks, including the iconic song When You Wish Upon a Star, Pinocchio is the story of what it means to be human.

Disney remade a number of their classic films into live-action hits, including $1 billion passing movies, Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Alice in Wonderland. Pinocchio is being adapted into a live-action version too. But if you miss the magic of traditional animation, watching Pinocchio from 1940 is always a good idea.