Tom Hanks as Geppetto is shown in the first image for Disney's live-action Pinocchio. Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future, Forrest Gump, The Witches) directs the all-new retelling of the classic tale.
In 1940, Disney turned Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio into an animated musical, which became a classic piece of their animated library. Rather than a new adaptation of the story, Zemeckis' rendition appears to be more akin to the animated Pinocchio film.
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Pinocchio: Disney Offers First Image of Tom Hanks as Geppetto
Now, Disney+ has unveiled a first-look image from the live-action adaption, which features Hanks as the good-natured woodcarver, Geppetto. Hanks has already collaborated with Zemeckis on films such as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, and The Polar Express, making Pinocchio their fourth collaboration.The Polar Express, making Pinocchio their fourth collaboration.
While Pinocchio is a live-action rendition of the Disney classic, it will use CGI upgrades, including the main figure. The likeness, as shown in the image above, is straight out of a 1940s animated film.
Zemeckis has experimented extensively with CGI and live-action in his most recent films (The Witches and Welcome To Marwen), as well as dabbling in full-fledged animation and motion capture with his ImageMovers films, which include The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol. These ventures have been met with different degrees of success for the director, with viewers and fans divided on their reception.
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But Wait, There’s More!
The live-action Pinocchio film from Disney isn't the only version of the story coming out this year; Netflix is also releasing a stop-motion animated version from Guillermo del Toro, which is believed to be a more modern interpretation of Collodi's novel.
Because Pinocchio is in the public domain, both Disney and Netflix are free to create fresh interpretations of the character, despite the fact that the parallels and differences already appear to be striking.
After The Witches, which skipped theaters and debuted on HBO Max in 2020, Zemeckis' Pinocchio marks the director's second feature picture debut on streaming.
The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy, Keegan-Michael Key as "Honest" John, Lorraine Bracco as Sofia the Seagull (a new character), and Luke Evans as The Coachman, with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Pinocchio.
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