Disney's Pinocchio (Live-Action)

[Daniel]

Robert Zemeckis in early talks to direct the remake. Interesting choice... this is heavy!

[Ben]

Weirdly enough, we JUST finished running the original this evening! Zemeckis is actually an inspired choice, given what he did with Marwen, though I’d have thought this was more suited to Tim Burton. Either way, it’s good that they’re going with an experienced hand, and with their relationship, could it be that Hanks comes back on board as Gepetto...?

[ShyViolet]

Actually this does kind of intrigue me...Zemeckis’ classic films like Roger and BTTF and even the “ghost train” segment of Amazing Stories all kind of had an iconic “fable”-type feeling to them. I just hope he can summon back some of his old magic and doesn’t turn this into the CGI-Uncanny Valley-Zombie-fest that Monster House was.


Oh, and I can’t help but remember the ‘96 film. Even though a lot of it was kind of a mess (saw it in theaters) it still had a strange (ok, very strange) sort of wonder about it:

https://youtu.be/V5XE1rwdzz0

Wow, when you think about it that year had some pretty weird children’s movies come out...I mean this, Jack, AND Matilda? Weird but cool!

Oh, and I always thought it was cool that Stromboli in the Disney version was called Lorenzini here...that’s a sly reference to Carlo Collodi’s real name!

[Ben]

Amazing Stories' Ghost Train was directed by Spielberg, Vi.

[ShyViolet]

I’m so sorry Ben, I ALWAYS get that mixed up. Lol.

[EricJ]

Oh, and I can’t help but remember the ‘96 film. Even though a lot of it was kind of a mess (saw it in theaters) it still had a strange (ok, very strange) sort of wonder about it:

Martin Landau, accidentally or not, made so perfect a Gepetto, you almost had to see the mess just for his performance.
(I don't know if I should mention a low-budget German sequel to the '96 mess that...no, I shouldn't. It's one of those surreally bad movies you can't remember clearly, and wonder if you fell asleep and had a nightmare watching.)

Here, Disney's been so self-hypnotized by their own attempts to sell "A Christmas Carol" over the last ten years, that when they tried to find Another Jon Favreau to do more CGI-heavy remakes while the real one was busy, they thought, "Say, remember when Robert Zemeckis worked for us?"
Speaking for myself, I DO.

(And whew, for a second, thought they'd bought out the version Guillermo Del Toro kept threatening to make, someday, after a couple of other more important projects, when he gets around to it...And what ex-Roger Rabbit director does THAT sound like?)

[Daniel]

and with their relationship, could it be that Hanks comes back on board as Gepetto...?

That thought did cross my mind. I think he would be willing.

If not Hanks... maybe Milo Anthony Ventimiglia? I could see it!

[ShyViolet]

I actually think that Hank Azaria might be interesting as Gepetto. I guess a lot of kids might still think of him as Gargamel, but he’s an incredibly versatile actor as we all know. (He also would have more of an authentic Italian look to him.). And he’s great in combining humor with gravitas.

(Hopefully by the time this film is actually released the Apu thing will have blown over. It mostly has anyway, I think.)

[Daniel]

Whoever it is, I just hope they take their time and choose wisely. The casting is one of the problems with these live action redo's. Many times it just feels like the roles are miscast. The obvious one to point out would be Beauty, even now Lion rivals that! Disney values name recognizability over anything else it seems. Newsflash - casting affects the quality of a film. No matter if the roles are small, not demanding or simply a voice over. It can honestly make or a break a film.

[Daniel]

In this article, looks like Disney was really considering having this go to Disney+ before Zemeckis... guess it's now official?

The box office failures of “Dumbo” and “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” have made Disney increasingly wary of committing to a full-fledged theatrical release of some of these films, and there is a sense they might work better for streaming. There was a time when Disney considered debuting its live-action version of “Pinocchio” on Disney Plus, but after hiring Robert Zemeckis to direct the film, a theatrical release seems more likely.

I think Disney is expecting too much. Of course the remakes for Renaissance films did more bank. They're more recent for one and the vast majority grew up with those and want to rekindle or now have kids of their own and want to pass it on.

Oversaturation could also be a factor. Too many in such a small window. Didn't really affect Aladdin surprisingly but again, film of the 90s. Think they should've saved Dumbo or Lion for next year.

[Ben]

Dumbo totally felt like a Thanksgiving/Christmas movie.

[EricJ]

The box office failures of “Dumbo” and “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” have made Disney increasingly wary of committing to a full-fledged theatrical release of some of these films, and there is a sense they might work better for streaming. There was a time when Disney considered debuting its live-action version of “Pinocchio” on Disney Plus, but after hiring Robert Zemeckis to direct the film, a theatrical release seems more likely.

I think Disney is expecting too much. Of course the remakes for Renaissance films did more bank. They're more recent for one and the vast majority grew up with those and want to rekindle or now have kids of their own and want to pass it on.

Like Zemeckis, we only got Lion King, Dumbo and Aladdin in theaters to pay the bills for Jon Favreau, Tim Burton and Will Smith respectively--Lady & the Tramp was made on a cable budget, with no big name actor or director salaries to pay.
(Tim Burton was left over from the early days, when their "concept" for live-action remakes was to give theme big-name directors like Kenneth Branagh and Sofia Coppola. They've already pretty much given up on that one, but Tim took too long to make his movie.)

I don't pretend to understand what Faustian contract Disney signed to have the words "Lion King" or "Beauty & the Beast" hold hypnotic sway over the audience and control their thoughts and will wherever it is uttered, but it's a safe bet Dumbo didn't have it. We know Dumbo flopped because Tim Burton is a dead career walking, but they could have given it to any director and it still would have had no interest for the audience...Just because it looked neater than "Pete's Dragon".
As for Aladdin, it was the "Default Real-Movie" for May, after we didn't feel like going to see Pikachu or Godzilla, but it does sort of add up that Disney doesn't have much future trying to marketing-retread any of the titles outside the Big Four.

[Daniel]

Zemeckis has been confirmed. Neat.

[ShyViolet]

Interesting. I have to admit I am kinda curious as to how he’ll choose to adapt this.

[Daniel]

Maybe mo-cap? Nah, I don't see him going down that route as unique as that would be. Maybe have the CGI try and emulate it. I just hope it doesn't pull a Beauty and have Pinocchio look busy and awfully realized...