Your weekend watch on Disney+: The Live Action Pinocchio

This is a live-action I have been looking forward to since it was announced. Not only was I excited to see Tom Hanks as Geppetto and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt voice Jiminy Cricket, but I was also interested to see what Disney was going to do with a movie. Pinocchio hasn’t been a fan favorite and isn’t available on children accounts through Disney+ because of the alcohol use and racists references, so I wanted to know if they would be able to keep the message of Pinocchio without ruining the things we loved about the 1940 original. 

What I loved: 

Unlike the 1940 film, we got a look into Geppetto more. There was much more of a connection to seeing emotion coming from this character and why he really wanted Pinocchio to be a real boy and why he's so important to him. As a parent, his character got to me, and you were right alongside him through his anxieties and his desperation to find his boy. 

The Pleasure Island scene had a different vibe. They nixed the smoking and drinking (sort of), and instead added things that foolish kids do. They threw in activities that a child these days would be able to recognize, like bullies and kids who break toys and deliberately disobey their parents. I like that they also made Pinocchio uncomfortable with the whole thing, and asked questions that a child would ask if they were in his shoes during that scene. There was no confusion about what was wrong and right throughout the scene. The message from the original was shown, that doing the wrong things makes you a jackass. 

Like the original, the message of being brave, loyal and honest is woven throughout the movie but the ending also gives a new message. In the end ***spoiler*** Pinocchio doesn't turn into a real boy, or at least we don't see him turn into a real boy. The whole movie Pinocchio only wants to be a real boy because he thinks that's the only thing that will make his "pops" happy, so that's why he works so hard. But because he's listening to the bad influences in the world, he keeps making those mistakes instead of listening to "that still small voice" AKA his conscious AKA Jiminy. Geppetto at the end lets Pinocchio know that he loves him even if he's not a real boy, but because he's his boy and he's Pinocchio. It was just a touching scene.  

And just like the live-action remakes, it wasn't an exact replica of the original. 

What I disliked: 

This was a VERY fast-paced movie. There weren't a whole lot of still moments and the poor puppet was being taken to different places rapidly. Why couldn't he have a more in depth conversation with Jiminy like in the 1940s version when he was stuck in the cage?

I wish there could've been more visual background on Geppetto's life, I think it could've made his emotional attachment with Pinocchio that much more. He talks about his past and it's kind of hard to understand exactly what he's saying (must be the mustache or something), but I would've liked to learn more about his wife, his son, and exactly what happened. Make sure subtitles are on during that scene (the very first scene with him, can't miss it). 

Why was Figaro CGI? There are trained cats ya know. 

The dancer Sabina, was a new character and I understand why she was involved but her character served very little purpose in his journey. It was sort of unnecessary or maybe they could’ve elaborated more on this. We didn’t get to see her journey just the beginning and the end and it was a little empty 

Final thoughts: 

Overall it was a good movie, and I personally don't have any problem showing it to my kids. If you're going to watch the movie with them, use it as a teaching moment and help your kids understand why the kids are turning into donkeys. I think it's important to share the message of being loyal, brave and true since that message I feel like has gotten lost in movies these days, or isn't emphasized enough. I think this is a great visual movie to help your kids learn to listen to their conscious instead of the voices of the bad things of the world.