Did you know there are two Pinocchio adaptations coming out in the near future? There’s Guillermo del Toro’s version, which he said is closer to Frankenstein than the Disney version. And there’s the “live-action” one coming from the Mouse House, which has Tom Hanks as Pinocchio’s sincere albeit bumbling father, Geppetto.
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The Disney version is coming out in just a few short weeks, and we’ve got a trailer that gives us a tease as to what this version will look like. It has Hanks pulling off an admirable Gepetto, and it also features the voices of the CGI-ed characters, including Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the titular puppet; Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing a very squeaky rendition of Jiminy Cricket; Lorraine Bracco is Sofia the Seagull; and Keegan-Michael Key as “Honest” John, the fox who (spoiler!) isn’t so honest.
Pinocchio is Disney’s latest “live-action” remake of its most popular animated features, and as the trailer shows, it still as a very strong Disney feel to it. Back to the Future writer-director Robert Zemeckis is directing here as well, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Weitz. We’ve yet to see how the story in this version will differ from Disney’s first Pinocchio film, but we do at least know that there’s one new character in the form of Bracco’s Sofia the Seagull.
We can see any potential differences ourselves, however, when Pinocchio premieres on Disney+ on Thursday, September 8th, which is also apparently Disney+ Day, in case you want to mark your calendar.