With the release of the upcoming live-actionPinocchioremake just over a week away, a new featurette has been released which offers new insight into the film from its cast while also revealing some new footage as well. The featurette featuresTom Hanks, who plays Gepetto, offering praise for the vision of the film’s directorRobert Zemeckis.
“Bob is one of these filmmakers that takes you to places beyond your expectations,” the actor said.Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who lends his voice to Jiminy Cricket, also appears in the featurette and calls the pairing of Zemeckis andPinocchioa match made in heaven as the featurette offers behind-the-scenes footage of the director working on the film.Cynthia Erivo, who stars in the film as the Blue Fairy, praises the story, which will encourage audiences to follow tehir dreams. Erivo will also be singing a new rendition of the Academy Award-winning song “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
Alongside the insight given by the cast, the featurette also offers some insight fromLuke Evans, who was very briefly seen in the trailer as the Coachman. The featurette showcases more footage of the character as he takes children to Pleasure Island, which anybody who grew up with the original classic knows is notable for turning badly behaved children into donkeys — however, it remains unknown how closely this section of the story will be adapted to live action. Evans previously played Gaston in the live-actionBeauty and the Beastremake, and with his appearance as the terrifying Coachman, it appears he isn’t quite done playing classic Disney villains.
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Zemeckis is well known for directing classic films such as theBack to the Futuretrilogy andForrest Gump. Zemeckis previously collaborated with Disney onWho Framed Roger Rabbit, which featured the animated Pinocchio character in a brief cameo appearance. The director last worked with the company on his directorial featureDisney’s A Christmas Carol, starringJim Carrey.With a director with a history of dark children’s films attached to one of Disney’s darkest stories, perhaps Zemeckis may be the one who can bring the animated classic to the realm of live-action.
Alongside the release of Disney’s remake, acclaimed filmmakerGuillermo del Torois also directing his own adaptation of the classic story. Set for a Netflix release this December, his version of the story will be told through stop-motion animation and features a radically different Pinocchio design compared to the Disney counterpart. Del Toro had been previously trying to launch the project for over a decade with its status remaining in development hell before Netflix picked it up. With two morePinocchiofilms releasing this year, it could be interesting to see how differently they approach the classic story.
Pinocchiowill be released on Disney+ on September 8, just in time for Disney+ Day. Check out the official featurette below:
