Disney’s New Pinocchio Movie (2022): A Fresh Review!

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Our Sunday afternoon, Disney’s new Pinocchio movie (2022) was our movie of choice. In our household, we enjoy snuggling on the sofa and watching a Sunday afternoon film. Usually after a hearty Sunday roast. You can even see my little one representing his love for the movie here.

Now, the live-action Disney movies really do get a bad rep but I often find them fun… if they stick to the original!

The original Pinocchio movie from 1940 is an absolute classic that I hold dearly in my heart. Well, most of it, anyway. Not the part with the donkeys. I’m still traumatised by that to this day!

It was a part that I hoped had been left out of the new Pinocchio movie but, alas, I was to be traumatised once more.

But let’s start at the beginning, instead of jumping to a part of the movie that occurs towards the end.

Was Tom Hanks the best choice for Gepetto in the new Pinocchio movie?

Yes! Yes, he was! Tom Hanks really does play the role of Gepetto with as much warmth as you would imagine him to. The only thing I would perhaps state here is that Gepetto is supposed to be Italian and all I could hear throughout the movie was just the normal Tom Hanks voice. It was like having Woody as Pinocchio’s father… which I suppose is a little ironic, really!

Did the new Pinocchio movie stay true to the original 1940 movie?

The movie itself pretty much followed the exact storyline as the original. This made for perfect viewing for me, as an avid Disney fan. If it had strayed at all, I wouldn’t have been as invested. When I think back to watching the “live-action” Jungle Book, I was far more impressed with this movie than that one.

One thing I absolutely loved in Disney’s new Pinocchio movie was that Joseph Gordon-Levett provided the voice of the wonderful Jiminy Cricket. JGL can do no wrong in my eyes and this just proved how fabulous he is as I had to search for Jiminy’s voice on IMdB – I genuinely thought it was the original voice actor from the 1940 movie for a moment. He sounded that similar to the original!

Were all of the original characters in it?

You will be pleased to know that there were no surprises. Well, not really. All of the original characters made an appearance and that was good enough for me!

I’m not sure how I felt about the Blue Fairy in this adaptation of Pinocchio; don’t get me wrong, I thought Cynthia Arivo was absolutely stunning but what on earth was with her dress?? She looked like she had tentacles floating behind her and, for a moment, I thought Ursula was going to pop up. I’m not sure who designed that monstrosity but it was very distracting, and not in a good way.

I was curious as to whether Honest John and Gideon would be in the movie too but they were. They even had some additional screen time compared to the original which I felt could only be responded with a hey diddly dee. These two characters were exactly as I expected and the CGI animators should be commended here. Not so much for Jiminy, who had a weird James and the Giant Peach-style face, but certainly for Honest John and Gideon.

Moving on to the grotesque Stromboli; once again, the new Pinocchio movie did not stray from the animated movie of 1940. He was brutish as a cartoon and his live-action actor (Giuseppe Battiston) portrayed him perfectly. However, please don’t tell him I said this!

It was good to see him expel this brutish behaviour towards not only his puppets but towards another captive of his: Fabiana. I have to say, I absolutely adored this new addition to the story. Fabiana was just delightful and I loved that she expressed her personality through her own puppet to help Pinocchio. Adorable!

A cheeky surprise…

Moving through the film, I absolutely loved that Luke Evans popped up. As soon as I saw him, I shouted, “It’s Gaston!” and then resumed watching him play the Coachman. He certainly had a menacing quality in this movie that enhanced the eeriness of the children turning into donkeys.

As mentioned previously, this part of the movie is just odd and creepy. It’s bad enough seeing the feral children run riot in an abandoned amusement park. Even in the original movie, this did not look like a fun place to be. But to then have the children turn into donkeys with no knowledge of their fate, it really does make me feel unsettled.

However, would I have preferred they left that bit out? Absolutely not! I’d have been fuming if they had.

Whale they include Monstro in the new Pinocchio movie?

The presence of Monstro the whale in the new Pinocchio movie was also a welcomed familiarity. Even though, in both films, I found this part rather boring (sorry to those avid Pinocchio fans out there!), I’m glad they included it. I think the fact that it defies science and logic just annoys me, even when I was young, I just questioned the believability of these characters surviving sinking to the bottom of the sea, as well as living inside the whale. And don’t get me started on them using fire within the whale to smoke themselves out!

Final thoughts…

So, on the whole, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I did enjoy Disney’s new Pinocchio movie and I don’t think it deserves the 5.1 rating on IMdB or 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. I would have at least given it a 6.2. Those donkeys knocked off 1 point and the tentacles knocked off 0.2 points each.

Where can I watch the new Pinocchio movie?

Pinocchio is now streaming on Disney+

Have you seen the new Pinocchio movie yet? What were your thoughts? Did you think it did the original movie justice?

I would love to know what you thought about it and feel free to share the rating you would have given the movie too.

Loulabella xoxo