Several new images from the upcoming remake of Pinocchio offer another look at how Disney will bring these animated characters to life in live action. Released courtesy of Disney+, the platform on which Pinocchio will make its debut, the images provide new looks at the likes of Tom Hanks as Geppetto, Cynthia Erivo as The Blue Fairy, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Pinocchio.
The images also show off the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, who serves as Pinocchio’s guide as well as his "conscience," Beauty and the Beast star Luke Evans as The Coachman, the sly owner and operator of Pleasure Island, and Keegan-Michael Key as Honest John, a deceptive, anthropomorphic red fox who cons Pinocchio.
Directed by Academy Award winner Robert Zemeckis, the filmmaker behind such classics as Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, who will work from a screenplay by himself and Chris Weitz, Pinocchio also stars Kyanne Lamaya as Fabiana and her marionette Sabina, Giuseppe Battiston as Stromboli, a cruel and greedy Italian puppeteer, Lewin Lloyd as Lampwick, a mischievous boy who Pinocchio befriends, and Lorraine Bracco as Sofia, a friendly seagull and friend of Jiminy Cricket.
Pinocchio is a remake of a much-loved Disney animated classic from 1940 and will follow a similar path to its treasured animated predecessor. Set in an Italian village, Pinocchio follows a wooden puppet that is brought to life by the Blue Fairy and seeks the life of adventure while striving to be a real boy.
Robert Zemeckis Has Spoken of the Difficulty of Bringing Pinocchio to Life in Live Action
Disney has seen huge success in its strategy of crafting live-action retellings of some of its most classic tales, with the likes of Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast all making over a billion dollars at the box office. But, while the triumphs have been great, Pinocchio director Robert Zemeckis has discussed the difficulty of turning Disney animated outings into live action.
"Walt Disney was really clever. He always looked for stories to make movies of that were pretty much impossible to do as live-action movies," Zemeckis explained previously. "They could be done very wonderfully as animation because he was able to do animated stories about talking animals and puppets, fairies and dwarves, and things that would be impossible to do in live-action."
The director praised the animated original, calling it "one of the most, if not the most, beautiful animated features that was ever made," before adding, "I loved it so much. But now, since digital cinema has emerged, the puppet could be very much three-dimensional. It occurred to me that you could do a very plausible version of Pinocchio as a live-action movie. And so even though I was concerned I was standing on hallowed ground, I thought that was a worthwhile project to do."
Pinocchio is scheduled to be released on Disney+ on September 8, 2022. Disney has several other live-action remakes in the works alongside Pinocchio, including Peter Pan & Wendy, The Little Mermaid, Hercules, and Robin Hood.