Pinocchio
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Cynthia Erivo, Kyanne Lamaya, Jaquita Ta’le, Luke Evans, Lewin Lloyd, Giuseppe Battison, Keegan Michael-Key, Lorraine Bracco,
On a quiet, star-lit night, a wooden puppet named Pinocchio is brought to life by the Blue Fairy, when she answers the heartfelt prayers of a humble toymaker named Geppetto (Tom Hanks). As Pinocchio embarks on his journey to prove he is worthy of becoming a real boy, he occasionally falls into the dark chasm of temptation, but ultimately, with the help of his loyal conscience, Jiminy Cricket (Joseph Gordon Levitt) Pinocchio can make his father’s wish come true.
One of the most remarkable things about Pinocchio’s character is that he is given this extraordinary task of becoming a real boy, but while has the Blue Fairy, Jiminy Cricket, and his father to guide and protect him, he must ultimately face his journey alone. While Pinocchio attempts to follow the path expected of him, he finds himself repeatedly drawn into the dark shadows of temptation and left with the uncomfortable challenge of redeeming himself. Like most children, Pinocchio finds conceding to the truth a harder pill to swallow than maintaining the lie, and despite his attempts to mask his transgressions, the truth is soon revealed by the proverbial growing of his nose. Ultimately, Pinocchio fulfills his father’s wish when he chooses to save his father from certain peril, even though it meant possibly sacrificing his own life.
Grief is a powerful theme in this film, and nowhere is the journey of grief illustrated more perfectly, than in the character of Geppetto and how his journey with his almost real boy allows his heart to be healed.
I liked the extra detail that they gave to Geppetto's character…having him lose a beloved wife and son, and that is his purpose for making Pinocchio. Geppetto’s grief is illustrated by him refusing to sell his Cuckoo clocks. His wife loved these clocks, and it is for the sake of her memory that Geppetto holds onto them and refuses to sell them...because they are a connection to his wife, and he doesn't want to lose that connection, because the clocks are all he has left of her. He also finds this connection with his lost son, by creating Pinocchio and giving him a name. There are two distinct changes in the moment when Geppetto makes his wish to the wishing star. Unlike in the animated movie, this time, Geppetto does not reveal that for which he wished. And there is a marked difference in how the Blue Fairy brings Pinocchio to life. In the original movie, she touches Pinocchio with her wand, and her magic allows the puppet to come to life. In this movie, a beam of magic enters Geppetto's home, after he makes his wish to the star, and the magic touches the photograph of Geppetto's son first…before bringing Pinocchio to life. As if Geppetto was wishing for his lost child to be restored to him through the puppet he made.
There are two particularly important moments that happen in the movie that I think represents Geppetto's letting go of his grief and finding healing by loving Pinocchio.
The first moment is illustrated when Pinocchio returns from Pleasure Island to find both his father and the beloved clocks gone. Geppetto would not sell any of his hand-carved clocks, because his wife loved them so much. It is also this moment, when Pinocchio is on Pleasure Island, that we see Pinocchio’s love for his father shine through. The other boys are smashing the Cuckoo clocks and Pinocchio…knowing how his father loved the clocks and that his father would not want him to do this…cannot bring himself to smash the clocks. When Pinocchio goes missing, to Pleasure Island, a seagull tells Pinocchio that his father loved him so much that he sold all his precious clocks to find Pinocchio and bring him home.
The second moment of Geppetto’s healing is illustrated in the bond he shares with Pinocchio. Geppetto had a wife and a son, and they met a tragic fate, so he created Pinocchio, hoping to recapture that same love that he felt for his son, with this almost-real boy. As the story unfolds, I understand why the storytellers chose to have Geppetto’s journey end the way that it did. If Pinocchio had become a real boy, it would have felt like Geppetto was replacing his lost son with Pinocchio. By doing it in this way, Geppetto accepts Pinocchio as his true son, and not a replacement for the son he lost. This is illustrated when he tells Pinocchio "When you first came to me, I might have made you think I wanted someone else (meaning his son) ...but it was you I was wishing for. You will always be my real boy.” It is also the first time we hear father and son tell each other "I love you." I believe the reason they chose to end it in the way they did is perhaps both Pinocchio and Geppetto perished in the sea. When Geppetto asks Pinocchio if he knows the way home, Pinocchio says "we'll follow the light." Usually, the expression "go towards the light" is associated with finding peace in death. I think, in this moment, they both found peace.
"Pinocchio" is one of Disney’s darkest and most beautiful movies and has endured the passage of time because its message is so profound. I watched the new Pinocchio this morning and I have to say, I was extremely impressed. I am a film critic and I have been known to LOATHE the Disney live action remakes because they dishonor, disrespect, and destroy their animated counterparts that they are supposed to be paying homage too. I didn't feel any of those things in Pinocchio. Indeed, I appreciated the new layers they added to the story...especially for Geppetto (who is the best live action portrayal of Geppetto that I have seen to date. While this latest version of Pinocchio does sugar-coat and gloss over the darker elements of Pinocchio’s story, it is still a worthy addition to the Disney canon.
© 2022 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Tom Hanks, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Cynthia Erivo, Kyanne Lamaya, Jaquita Ta’le, Luke Evans, Lewin Lloyd, Giuseppe Battison, Keegan Michael-Key, Lorraine Bracco,
On a quiet, star-lit night, a wooden puppet named Pinocchio is brought to life by the Blue Fairy, when she answers the heartfelt prayers of a humble toymaker named Geppetto (Tom Hanks). As Pinocchio embarks on his journey to prove he is worthy of becoming a real boy, he occasionally falls into the dark chasm of temptation, but ultimately, with the help of his loyal conscience, Jiminy Cricket (Joseph Gordon Levitt) Pinocchio can make his father’s wish come true.
One of the most remarkable things about Pinocchio’s character is that he is given this extraordinary task of becoming a real boy, but while has the Blue Fairy, Jiminy Cricket, and his father to guide and protect him, he must ultimately face his journey alone. While Pinocchio attempts to follow the path expected of him, he finds himself repeatedly drawn into the dark shadows of temptation and left with the uncomfortable challenge of redeeming himself. Like most children, Pinocchio finds conceding to the truth a harder pill to swallow than maintaining the lie, and despite his attempts to mask his transgressions, the truth is soon revealed by the proverbial growing of his nose. Ultimately, Pinocchio fulfills his father’s wish when he chooses to save his father from certain peril, even though it meant possibly sacrificing his own life.
Grief is a powerful theme in this film, and nowhere is the journey of grief illustrated more perfectly, than in the character of Geppetto and how his journey with his almost real boy allows his heart to be healed.
I liked the extra detail that they gave to Geppetto's character…having him lose a beloved wife and son, and that is his purpose for making Pinocchio. Geppetto’s grief is illustrated by him refusing to sell his Cuckoo clocks. His wife loved these clocks, and it is for the sake of her memory that Geppetto holds onto them and refuses to sell them...because they are a connection to his wife, and he doesn't want to lose that connection, because the clocks are all he has left of her. He also finds this connection with his lost son, by creating Pinocchio and giving him a name. There are two distinct changes in the moment when Geppetto makes his wish to the wishing star. Unlike in the animated movie, this time, Geppetto does not reveal that for which he wished. And there is a marked difference in how the Blue Fairy brings Pinocchio to life. In the original movie, she touches Pinocchio with her wand, and her magic allows the puppet to come to life. In this movie, a beam of magic enters Geppetto's home, after he makes his wish to the star, and the magic touches the photograph of Geppetto's son first…before bringing Pinocchio to life. As if Geppetto was wishing for his lost child to be restored to him through the puppet he made.
There are two particularly important moments that happen in the movie that I think represents Geppetto's letting go of his grief and finding healing by loving Pinocchio.
The first moment is illustrated when Pinocchio returns from Pleasure Island to find both his father and the beloved clocks gone. Geppetto would not sell any of his hand-carved clocks, because his wife loved them so much. It is also this moment, when Pinocchio is on Pleasure Island, that we see Pinocchio’s love for his father shine through. The other boys are smashing the Cuckoo clocks and Pinocchio…knowing how his father loved the clocks and that his father would not want him to do this…cannot bring himself to smash the clocks. When Pinocchio goes missing, to Pleasure Island, a seagull tells Pinocchio that his father loved him so much that he sold all his precious clocks to find Pinocchio and bring him home.
The second moment of Geppetto’s healing is illustrated in the bond he shares with Pinocchio. Geppetto had a wife and a son, and they met a tragic fate, so he created Pinocchio, hoping to recapture that same love that he felt for his son, with this almost-real boy. As the story unfolds, I understand why the storytellers chose to have Geppetto’s journey end the way that it did. If Pinocchio had become a real boy, it would have felt like Geppetto was replacing his lost son with Pinocchio. By doing it in this way, Geppetto accepts Pinocchio as his true son, and not a replacement for the son he lost. This is illustrated when he tells Pinocchio "When you first came to me, I might have made you think I wanted someone else (meaning his son) ...but it was you I was wishing for. You will always be my real boy.” It is also the first time we hear father and son tell each other "I love you." I believe the reason they chose to end it in the way they did is perhaps both Pinocchio and Geppetto perished in the sea. When Geppetto asks Pinocchio if he knows the way home, Pinocchio says "we'll follow the light." Usually, the expression "go towards the light" is associated with finding peace in death. I think, in this moment, they both found peace.
"Pinocchio" is one of Disney’s darkest and most beautiful movies and has endured the passage of time because its message is so profound. I watched the new Pinocchio this morning and I have to say, I was extremely impressed. I am a film critic and I have been known to LOATHE the Disney live action remakes because they dishonor, disrespect, and destroy their animated counterparts that they are supposed to be paying homage too. I didn't feel any of those things in Pinocchio. Indeed, I appreciated the new layers they added to the story...especially for Geppetto (who is the best live action portrayal of Geppetto that I have seen to date. While this latest version of Pinocchio does sugar-coat and gloss over the darker elements of Pinocchio’s story, it is still a worthy addition to the Disney canon.
© 2022 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.