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In recent news, Disney has announced that its latest live-action remake, Pinocchio, will be released on Disney+ in late 2022. It will star Tom Hanks as Gepetto, Luke Evans as the Coachman, and Keegan Michael-Key as Honest John the Fox.
Many fans have already seen the first look at the teaser and were overjoyed to find what they would hope to be a Disney-accurate version of the puppet.
However, not all is peachy-keen in the wonderful world of Disney. Most fans worry that it will not live up to 1940 original and possibly be a shot-for-shot remake.
Here are the reasons fans should be worried about the Pinocchio remake.
What could go wrong with ‘Pinocchio’
Motion-Capture may spoil the film
Robert Zemeckis is known for films like The Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol. All of those movies have used extensive performance capture and received a mixed reception from critics because of the technology utilized. Many of the characters fell into the uncanny valley.
As a result, this made the look of the films seem creepy. Realizing that he will most likely use motion capture for Pinocchio will lead many to wonder if the main character will look like a synthetic replica of its hand-drawn counterpart.
Zemeckis is, nevertheless, a wonderful director. However, he must understand that there must be enough visual effects when using motion capture to separate the actor and the character.
There’s not a lot of lore behind ‘Pinocchio’
The one thing that the filmmakers would need to do for this remake is to add details that the original didn't have. This comes as a challenge since there is not that much history behind Pinocchio.
Zemeckis could easily include elements in the book that were omitted from the hand-drawn animation. However, some of the book's content would not be suitable for a Disney movie anyway. They couldn’t show Pinocchio squashing Jiminy Cricket or the fox and cat hanging the puppet from a tree.
It’s probably safe to say that very little will be altered in the remake. That may not be inherently bad, but it is predictable.
Some of the casting is puzzling
What seems like the true elephant in the room is the casting choice for the film. Understanding that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be playing Jiminy Cricket has already tilted a few heads with the lift of an eyebrow.
What seems more puzzling is will it be Gordon-Levitt’s voice or also his performance-capture to bring cricket to life?
A more understandable, yet still questionable, casting choice is Luke Evans as the Coachman. Honestly, it’s strange Evans would be playing this character and not a much older man. Evans was phenomenal as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, but seeing him as the Coachman is a little hard to grasp.
Only time will tell if this remake of the beloved classic will live up to the hype.
