All’s been quiet on Disney’s animated movie-to-live action adaptation front since Cruella launched in May 2021, but that’s about to change this fall.
Pinocchio — Disney’s second animated feature-length film when it premiered in 1940 — will get a live-action adaptation in September. But, because Pinocchio is also a fairy tale in the public domain, it is also one of three adaptations coming out this year. The first, a Russian adaptation with a much-memed dub, came out in February. A Guillermo del Toro-directed stop-motion animated version of the story is set to hit Netflix in December.
The Disney version stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto, the woodcutter, with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the wooden puppet. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will voice spiritual advisor Jiminy Cricket and Cynthia Ervivo will be the Blue Fairy. The new trailer shows just about every notable character — but just a brief glimpse of Pinocchio himself.
Pinocchio’s original animated release in 1940 won two Academy Awards for its music — Best Original Score, and Best Original Song, for “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which has since become a Disney anthem. Pinocchio’s live-action adaptation is set to release on Disney Plus on Sept. 8 — just in time for Disney Plus Day, when the company will announce a flurry of Disney Plus-related announcements.
