Does anyone think that this movie would be a bit funnier if the Blue Fairy was actually more like an _over-worked, frustrated and under appreciated_ fairy as opposed to being sagely wise and eternally upbeat all the time? Like imagine the fairy going all pissed-off Elaine Bennis on Gepetto because she was fed up of people only calling on her to grant their wishes and then complain about it when they went south. You could get some really good fairy tale parody with that stuff. Also, it wouldn't even be old hat since this was before _Shrek 2_ and _Fairly Odd Parents._
Yeah, imagine if her song Just Because It’s Magic was sung out of frustration at Gepetto continuing to annoy her with his wish ‘being wrong’ and instead of sending him on his way he’s all “what’s your deal all of a sudden” and she’ll tell him how her mother practically forced her into the wish granting job which, while she does enjoy, isn’t what she wanted to do with her life. This could be a good replacement for the silly magician scene because he could realize he might be putting Pinocchio in the same predicament.
@@douglasfreer Maybe she wanted to go to art school, and ends up taking a job with Geppetto at the end, giving him an assistant without forcing his only child to follow in his footsteps.
I never saw Pinocchio’s over curiosity as too annoying since it made sense given his character. He’s basically a big new born baby. He doesn’t know how anything beyond the toy work shop works, so it’s only natural he’d ask questions about life and have no social skills.
"So, the curse just washes off with water? Man, some farmer is gonna be very surprised after the next rainstorm." No wonder The Coachman from the original keeps the donkeys underground in the salt mines! That just adds a whole other level of horror to that scene.
If you're going to do a Pinocchio perspective-flip story, why not do it from the Blue Fairy's point of view? Who is she? Why does she grant wishes? Where does she come from? Why did she choose Geppetto? Doing the story from Geppetto's point of view is like if Wicked had been about Auntie Em. Also, where the crap is Jiminy Cricket?!
You want a Pinocchio story that's just as much about Geppetto as it is about Pinocchio himself? Check out the 1976 TV musical with Sandy Duncan. While Pinocchio's trying to figure out what it means to be a real boy, Geppetto is having to deal with a crisis of faith. I don't know how a demon like yourself would react to that kind of subplot, but I'm sure your human viewers might appreciate it. lol "Why is everybody so casual about the fact that a fucking puppet has come to life in their midst??" So far, I think _The Adventures of Pinocchio_ with Jonathan Taylor Thomas did the best job at kinda-sorta explaining it. Geppetto is well-known for creating the best puppets in town, and when people see Pinocchio, they just assume that he's an elaborate special effect. Geppetto meets his friend Tino with Pinocchio in tow, and at first Tino is VERY impressed with his work, but then after getting a better look at him, he asks "..uh, HOW did you do this? Where are the strings?... You don't know?..." Why nobody freaks out after learning the TRUTH about him, nobody knows, but at least that's a realistic first impression of him.
The reason that the water doesn't turn Gepetto into a donkey is because it turns you into the animal you're acting like, and by finally manning up and acting like a real father Gepetto is _acting like a man_
Ayup. That's actually the whole point of Paradise Island. Purposely set a whole bunch of young delinquent boys loose in a free amusement park with booze, then once they reach peak jackass, set them in the roller coaster.
You know, with Disney wanting to remake all their old movies, why don't they try remaking this? Get more fitting actors for Geppetto and a few others, tweak some of their personalities to make them a bit more likeable and un-annoying, give Pinocchio and Geppetto more development together as father and son, remix some of the more forgettable songs, re-write the story to fix some plot-holes and expand on more interesting plot points (maybe even mixing elements from Disney's old Pinocchio and the original story), and we could have a potentially good Disney re-make for a change.
Who would you have for the role of Geppetto? I would say Jacob Tremblay for Pinocchio (he has proven himself to be a brilliant young actor) maybe Anthony Hopkins or Liam Neeson. Maybe Patrick Stewart.....someone with a wise, soothing voice who looks good as an old man. Maybe cast Dwayne Johnson as Stromboli. Maybe Audra McDonald for the Blue Fairy.
Why do am I the only one who’s against these remakes of live action Disney movies, they are predictable, unnecessary, and cringe worthy. I have seen much better live action renditions of fairytale movies that aren’t made by Disney. I would rather see Guillermo Del Toro's take on Pinocchio, than this cash in you ask for it. I swear if they are going to do remake of Peter Pan, it’ll look a lot like the 2003 version.
I think there was a lot of potential behind these ideas, it feels like an intentional meta-commentary on the original Pinnochio story that got wildly watered down into nothingness. The original story was a darkly cynical condemnation of "naughty children", with Pinnochio being the ultimate "brat" who's continually punished and shown the consequences of leaving his perfect parent for the cruel, untrustworthy outside world. He gets tricked, hanged, watches his peers be turned into donkeys, gets his father swallowed by a shark (often adapted as a whale) - and each time it's depicted as something she could've avoided by just being a good boy for his Dad and community. To re-frame that as a story of a town obsessed with keeping children obedient and pristine and Pinnochio being the only one to show true individuality, and the flaws of Geppetto as a parent to try and stifle that individuality to meet the town's ideals, would've been an interesting critique on the originals pretty simplistic and old-fashioned perspective.
12:03--"All the town's children are the work of a professor who manufactures idealized tots in his steampunk calliope." Wait a minute, wait a minute--they remade the Disney Pinocchio story we already knew instead of making an original movie about "steampunk musical Dr. Pretorius"? Seriously, Disney????
As a massive Pinocchio fan, I'd like to say that the 1972 TV miniseries adaptation of Pinocchio by Luigi Comencini focuses alittle more on Geppetto, who was played by Nino Manfredi. That was such an interesting and compelling take on Geppetto, they gave him alot of depth and dimension, he isn't this pitiful grandpa, but more of this middle aged man who's a widower, doesn't have a thing, he really reacts like a human being when Pinocchio is conceived, we see what he's doing while Pinocchio is missing, and you're not bored because Manfredi's performance is that great. In the end when they're about to get out of the dogfish's belly Geppetto is initally reclutant of getting out as if he doesn't want to deal with the world, poignant.
For those who don't know about Seth Adkins (Pinocchio), he was also the crying boy in Titanic that Jack and Rose tried to save, but then his father took him and they were killed when water burst in.
Actually to the movies credit, the townspeople being oblivious to Pinocchio being alive is actually one of the few things accurate to the Carlo Collodi novel. In the book people seem to treat living marionettes as an everyday thing. Fire Eater already has a cast of living marionettes in his theatre-thay consider Pinocchio their brother. Fire Eater's (or Stromboli as he's known in the Disney version) obsession with wanting a 'living wooden boy' to perform and make him money was never really there. Not that it makes it any less weird of course lol. But Collodi created a unique fantasy world within the novel with talking animals, living marionettes and fairies.
Yeah, the confusion seems to come from the fact that most people are only really familiar with the Disney version which cut out a lot of the more fantastical elements; making the things they kept seem more weird than they originally were.
@@eamonclark4952 wonder if he stopped having them because no one would choose them. Hes said he likes it when people say about liking one of his more villainous roles so I hope he knew you was genuine and not meaning it snarkily😁
The whole idea of "Geppetto" could be very nice and heartwarming, also showing that being a parent is far from easy and all, but it is really not well handled in this movie... The two things I like: The Pleasure Island scene and song and the ending song. (I've read somewhere, and it might be wrong, but the children that appear with the actors during the ending are their actual children. Kinda touching, I guess...?)
I definitely agree with your final assessment on Geppetto--it's not as bad as its reputation suggests, but it probably isn't as good as I remember it to be. Again, this is the nostalgia talking, but I may watch it again to see if it has held up or not.
This was actually made into a stage musical, "My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto's Musical Tale," which premiered in 2006 and is currently is in the MTI catalogue.
Glad you listed Brent Spiner as a saving grace. I can't help but wonder if they cast him in a Pinocchio retelling because his most famous role was often compared to Pinocchio. I remember watching this back in 2002 and thinking it wasn't all that much, for many of the reasons you've cited (the non-relationship between Geppetto and Pinocchio, the confusing message the Blue Fairy kept reinforcing, etc.) Except for Stromboli's song, the score seemed rather blah to me. (Your putting "Magic To Do" in there only served to remind me what a GOOD Stephen Schwartz score sounded like!) And when you consider that this is a retelling of a Disney movie with one of its very, very best scores (whose main song became the ANTHEM of Disney itself), it's especially galling.
I think I can guess why they couldn't get Robin Williams for this movie. (Hint: it has to do with the Genie. One specific line in particular......... about being lied to.)
In all fairness, people being utterly chill with a talking puppet is straight out of the Collodi novel. (They're also cool with a talking fox and cat as well.) It's the same logic that makes Londoners surprisingly cool with the existence of a four-foot-tall talking bear in the Paddington books.
I can tell that Robin Williams was an original favorite for this role since from a glance/far Drew Carey kinda looks like him, at least in the box art.
I'm working on my own sequel story to the 1940 Pinocchio film where Pinocchio follows in Geppetto's footsteps and becomes the father of a wooden girl puppet. There's a nod to this film in chapter one when Jiminy cricket returns home after traveling the world he notices a sign above doorway that says "Geppetto and Son".
Seth Adkins as Pinocchio is pretty spot on from what I recall actually. In fact, Disney clearly thought so too since they brought him back to do the voice in Kingdom Hearts. That's as complimentary as Nickelodeon bringing back Seychelle Gabriel to voice Asami on Legend of Korra after she played Yue in Last Airbender.
When I was in college I took an opera class, and I found out Stromboli’s song in this movie is a loving parody of Rosini’s song, Figaro. That fact inspired me to check out this movie. Stromboli and his song are my favorite parts of this movie, too.
Every year at the elementary school I went to, the entire sixth grade puts on a musical performance. My sixth grade year, it was a performance based on this movie. I didn't play a huge role in it; I was one of the parents in "Toys" and Pinocchio's teacher in the school scene.
I'll admit, I kinda liked it when I saw it, I enjoyed the songs mainly and the settings were pleasing eye candy. The actors………..I don't really care, though now that you mentioned it, I would have loved to see Robin Williams as Geppetto, why did he bow out? He would have made the movie a ton of fun to watch, or at least less boring or bland than Drew Carey.
I'm so glad Stromboli was the movie's saving grace- I played him in a youth theatre production (admittedly not the best kind of production but still more fun than this film) and it was hella fun- plus seeing Brent Spiner as a character I've played makes me happy, especially when he's having such fun in the role.
munromister777 My guess is it’s more marketable and shorter. However, “This Empty Heart” isn’t really a knock off of “When You Wish...” It’s more about Geppetto singing about how he has a huge hole in his heart that only a child can fill.
@@kenthuang436 they do use When You Wish Upon A Star twice, but as instrumentals, at the beginning when Geppetto starts telling the story and then a kid plays it on violin in the Stepford village.
@@Quackervoltz And that's not all. Pinocchio was judged by a MONKEY, the "Turquoise Fairy" trolled Pinocchio by TELLING him she was dead, and Pinocchio was even freaking HANGED from a tree!
Fun fact: this was adapted into a stage musical called My Son Pinocchio which is about as bad as expected with this material. Extra fun fact: I only know THIS movie exists because I was stuck stage managing a children’s theatre production of said stage adaptation which still haunts my nightmares to this day
Brent Spiner still gives the twitches on my neck, literally, I loved him playing Data. Also Drew Carey and Wayne Brady are also good, there just not find for musicals unless it's funny. There comedy people. Robin Williams would actually would be better off playing the part.
Interesting how you wanted to see how the townspeople would react to there suddenly being a living puppet all of the sudden because a really good Pinocchio adaptation, the Guillermo del Toro version does have the townspeople react. Most of them do in fact freak out at the fact that a puppet has gained sentience especially since he made his presence known in a church. When it is shown that Pinocchio is practically immortal, a local fascist soldier wants to force the living puppet into the Italian army because he saw potential in a soldier who can’t die. In fact everyone should watch the Guillermo del Toro Pinocchio adaptation because it is really good.
I honestly think this movie would be 10 times better with Robin Williams but drew Carrey was an awful choice. I watched this a few times as a child and remembering not being able to understand half of the songs.
Weird piece of trivia (cuz I’m a freakin nerd despite not even being obsessed with this particular franchise) though Seth Adkins also provides the voice of Pinocchio in Kingdom Hearts. Why I’m not sure since it was only two years after this movies so it’s not like they were that sure THIS would be a hit, like when they made Chicken Little a summon in the second game....because reasons
Poor Drew. You can tell he’s not enjoying it. It seems that anything outside of Whose Line is it Anyway, The Price is Right and The Drew Carey Show, he doesn’t seem to enjoy anything else he’s in. I think Wayne Brady maybe would have been a better choice as Geppetto, too. At least he can sing and act. The Satisfaction Guaranteed song and the Pleasure Island song are probably my favorite songs of the whole movie.
Diva, I was wondering if you've ever seen the 1976 TV musical of "Pinocchio" starring Danny Kaye as Geppetto and Sandy Duncan as Pinocchio. (They used to show it on The Disney Channel). This kind of reminds me of that, as it also expanded the role of Geppetto. I think it was probably better than this, but it's been many years since I've seen it.
I remember watching this movie on ABC when it came out and liking it, but Mom absolutely hated it. Upon re-watching after this review, I see why. The part that was the best was the perfect child town. I would've loved to see a full movie about that.
I enjoy darker interpretations of the Pinocchio story, such as the version put forth by The Mechanisms, where he’s an insane toy maker who turns children into his perfect servants, ever-smiling, ever willing to do his bidding.
16:12 That's... actually true of the relationship between Pinocchio and Geppetto in the book and the Disney version. They do appear to spend more time together in this version.
I don't know if you've ever come across the My Son Pinocchio Jr. (what they renamed the musical version) tracks, but the guy playing Gepetto on them sounds like a young Brian Stokes Mitchell and it's beautiful
To be fair, this was after their remake of Annie, and the only live-action movie musical they released in theaters was Newsies, though it didn't do well. Mary Poppins was their BIGGEST one. I mean, it's a five-time Oscar winning film, for crying out loud! Did Newsies win any Oscars? Nope. Why? Mostly 'cause it was given negative reviews at the time of its release. Live-action Disney musicals nowadays are trying to top Mary Poppins, but that's not happening anytime soon. The only film that's as good as Mary Poppins is, in my opinion, the sequel. I know, I know. "But Julie Andrews isn't in it!" She was offered a cameo role in the film, but declined, not wanting to outshine Emily Blunt (who actually does a good job).
Drew Carrey always gave me the vibes of a third missing Crane brother from Frasier - which isnt meant to be an insult but thats stuck in my head for a long time and I dont know why
"Why can't I have children but these people can?" Well, uh, you kind of need a partner to birth the child. Get married or something, then you can have children. Unless you're impotent, in which case...uh, adopt?
Musical Hell I can't help but wonder if it was a coincidence that they're releasing Age of Ultron--with its Pinocchio references--in Pinocchio's diamond anniversary year.
I saw a stage version of this which I thought was pretty good. The actors all played their parts very well, the blue fairy was delightfully snarky, and the Pleasure Island set involved a giant, nightmare fuel marionette doing the song.
1:51 - 2:20: To be fair, I always wondered what happened to him in the original Disney Film. This movie, after watching this, is not what I asked for. Why can't there be a midquel? If you look at the Lion King 1 1/2, you’ll see how Timon and Pumbaa’s side of the story does work in a comedic sense as well as a character arc. Funny enough, the idea of Timon living the life of a meerkat who hates being condensed and feared by Hyenas was meant to be for the original movie; but it conflicts with the tone of the Hakuna Matata song, so Pumbaa was the only character to have any sort of background at the time. Timon’s backstory would be carried over to the DTV movie, and give him a family. Eventually, Timon would learn what Hakuna Matata actually meant, and joined in on the fight against Scar. And before you say anything, yes, I’m well aware of how the Hyena trap scene has a bit of a conflict with the original movie, but I’d like to pretend the hyenas that Scar saw weren’t Banzai, Shenzi and Ed, but did tell them when about Scar’s finger pointing that later leads to them attacking and eating their former master. Lion King has a great midquel, Pinocchio does not.
Actually Drew Carey was the 5th choice. The role was written for Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews was supposed to be the blue fairy. Julie had surgery and the idea was scrapped
It is a real shame as the movie would have been much more entertaining and Van Dyke would make a great Geppetto and his own age would be very believable as to why he cannot have any children of his own as he’s now elderly and too old to get married and making babies. Drew’s Gepetto not having any kids feels like he just doesn’t like women in general (in a misogynistic way not closeted man way) and thus is against marriage because then he’d have to live with one. I mean look at how he acted around the Blue Fairy. He was dismissive of her attempts to tell him that being a parent isn’t as easy as he thinks it is and that he should be appreciative of Pinocchio’s personality and behavior rather than immediately disliking him because he is hardly a day old and doesn’t know how to act or behave because literally no one has taught him the important rules of being a part of society and Geppetto just automatically assumes the wooden boy is “bad” just because he made some mistakes that he didn’t know were wrong in the first place.
I liked the 1940 Disney version when I finally saw it on home video with my family back in the early 1990's. I read the Carlo Collollodi original when I was in high school. I agree that there are significant differences with Collidi's original and the Disney version. In the original story, Pinocchio hits the cricket with a hammer. Or that the original ending Collodi had in mind for the tale was Pinocchio being hanged. But the readers insisted the tale continue (it was first serialized in Italian papers, much like DIcken's "A Christmas Carol" was first serialized in English papers). That said, the Disney version of the tale is a classic for a reason.
14:28 I'm guessing that was supposed to be a Mimi reference Also RE: Brent Spiner -- _Tales from the Darkside_ season 1, "A Case of the Stubborns." One of my favorite _Darkside_ episodes, and one of his earliest roles where he really got to ham it up.
I remember fondly watching the trailer for this movie when I was younger and always wanting to watch it. I only watched it once like over ten years ago and I guess I mostly forgot about it. I didn't remember any of that town that manufactures kids bit, I completely forgot Stromboli was in this, and I hardly remember the Pleasure Island bit at all.
Can we remake this with Christian Borle in a wig as ghepetto and then just forget whatever the original was cause that would literally be a million times better then even if you despise Christian Borle and remakes
So...I'm the only one here who, not only likes this film, but loves it? I always loved it as a kid and had an absolute HUGE crush on Drew Carey. Speaking of which...Drew Carey heavily resembles my stepdad here. That's...Oedipal, at best. I'm just going to wash my eyes out...
+BethGoth15 I loved this movie! The music was great and I found it to be an interesting perspective. Sure, it has some issues and I can sorta understand where critics are coming from but I don't care. I liked it.
Cityman That's true...but that's not why it's called an "Oedipus complex." It's called that because Oedipus unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. People who have supposed Oedipus complexes feel aggression toward their fathers and attraction towards their mothers.
brent spiner was the only reason to watch this the rest of the movie really was boring, he should of played geppetto as well i noticed stromboli had a bigger role then the original to try and save this rubbish movie. brent was amazing, no jimmy cricket at all
Chekov sightings aside, I vaguely remember watching this when I was seven years old. Obviously there's a reason I don't recall too much about it, it's not that good. :p I love your videos and this is one of my favorites.
Yes, it is. Find the Showtime series "Huff", starring Hank Azaria. He plays the teenage son trying to navigate through his parents and grandparents imperfections.(MA)
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Does anyone think that this movie would be a bit funnier if the Blue Fairy was actually more like an _over-worked, frustrated and under appreciated_ fairy as opposed to being sagely wise and eternally upbeat all the time? Like imagine the fairy going all pissed-off Elaine Bennis on Gepetto because she was fed up of people only calling on her to grant their wishes and then complain about it when they went south. You could get some really good fairy tale parody with that stuff. Also, it wouldn't even be old hat since this was before _Shrek 2_ and _Fairly Odd Parents._
If you're gonna cast Julie Dreyfus, you'd better use her!
Also, I believe this is the first time we come face-to-face with Diva.
Yeah, imagine if her song Just Because It’s Magic was sung out of frustration at Gepetto continuing to annoy her with his wish ‘being wrong’ and instead of sending him on his way he’s all “what’s your deal all of a sudden” and she’ll tell him how her mother practically forced her into the wish granting job which, while she does enjoy, isn’t what she wanted to do with her life.
This could be a good replacement for the silly magician scene because he could realize he might be putting Pinocchio in the same predicament.
@@douglasfreer I _didn't think_ of that, that's a _great_ idea 😀.
@@douglasfreer Maybe she wanted to go to art school, and ends up taking a job with Geppetto at the end, giving him an assistant without forcing his only child to follow in his footsteps.
I think that’s a bit of a cliche already
Robin Williams would have made a great Gepetto
Even he couldn't have salvaged this meh-trocity.
He was already Peter Pan
@@CyberKirby yeah so
Oh God, I would have loved that.
@@lillianward2810 meb too
I never saw Pinocchio’s over curiosity as too annoying since it made sense given his character. He’s basically a big new born baby. He doesn’t know how anything beyond the toy work shop works, so it’s only natural he’d ask questions about life and have no social skills.
Exactly!
"So, the curse just washes off with water? Man, some farmer is gonna be very surprised after the next rainstorm."
No wonder The Coachman from the original keeps the donkeys underground in the salt mines! That just adds a whole other level of horror to that scene.
If you're going to do a Pinocchio perspective-flip story, why not do it from the Blue Fairy's point of view? Who is she? Why does she grant wishes? Where does she come from? Why did she choose Geppetto? Doing the story from Geppetto's point of view is like if Wicked had been about Auntie Em.
Also, where the crap is Jiminy Cricket?!
If you're gonna cast Julie, you'd better use her!
I might enjoy that. :)
Those fairies never get much, so seeing their life might be really interesting.
Now THAT is something I would be interested to see.
I’d like to see Pinocchio from Jimimy Cricket’s POV.
They should have scrapped the whole "Geppetto" idea and made an original musical based on the village of the perfect children concept.
That would have been good!
I always found the Idyllia subplot more interesting than the main story!
They should've set the story IN Idyllia.
I disagree. That concept would be boring.
They already did. It’s called the Stepford Children.
The child making machine is indeed by far and away the most interesting part of this and it was original to this version.
You want a Pinocchio story that's just as much about Geppetto as it is about Pinocchio himself? Check out the 1976 TV musical with Sandy Duncan. While Pinocchio's trying to figure out what it means to be a real boy, Geppetto is having to deal with a crisis of faith. I don't know how a demon like yourself would react to that kind of subplot, but I'm sure your human viewers might appreciate it. lol
"Why is everybody so casual about the fact that a fucking puppet has come to life in their midst??"
So far, I think _The Adventures of Pinocchio_ with Jonathan Taylor Thomas did the best job at kinda-sorta explaining it. Geppetto is well-known for creating the best puppets in town, and when people see Pinocchio, they just assume that he's an elaborate special effect. Geppetto meets his friend Tino with Pinocchio in tow, and at first Tino is VERY impressed with his work, but then after getting a better look at him, he asks "..uh, HOW did you do this? Where are the strings?... You don't know?..." Why nobody freaks out after learning the TRUTH about him, nobody knows, but at least that's a realistic first impression of him.
To Brady's credit, this is still a better title on his resume than Foodfight.
It's still not saying much... :(
@@98953812 Still, though, at least his cameo in this film was more entertaining than him being in Foodfight.
"Wait, the kid doesn't understand figurative language but has already mastered cursive??"
Them's American Education for you
Actually this is set in newly unified Italy
The reason that the water doesn't turn Gepetto into a donkey is because it turns you into the animal you're acting like, and by finally manning up and acting like a real father Gepetto is _acting like a man_
You are a genius.
What water?
@NobodieZ The water from the ocean in the whale scene.
@godzillachild heck, the Jim Henson Pinocchio movie had a more convincing Stomach Escape than this.
Ayup. That's actually the whole point of Paradise Island. Purposely set a whole bunch of young delinquent boys loose in a free amusement park with booze, then once they reach peak jackass, set them in the roller coaster.
You know, with Disney wanting to remake all their old movies, why don't they try remaking this? Get more fitting actors for Geppetto and a few others, tweak some of their personalities to make them a bit more likeable and un-annoying, give Pinocchio and Geppetto more development together as father and son, remix some of the more forgettable songs, re-write the story to fix some plot-holes and expand on more interesting plot points (maybe even mixing elements from Disney's old Pinocchio and the original story), and we could have a potentially good Disney re-make for a change.
pikaace I'd give Drew a cameo just for kicks and giggles.
Who would you have for the role of Geppetto? I would say Jacob Tremblay for Pinocchio (he has proven himself to be a brilliant young actor) maybe Anthony Hopkins or Liam Neeson. Maybe Patrick Stewart.....someone with a wise, soothing voice who looks good as an old man. Maybe cast Dwayne Johnson as Stromboli. Maybe Audra McDonald for the Blue Fairy.
@@DGilVids ya think he'd do it
Why do am I the only one who’s against these remakes of live action Disney movies, they are predictable, unnecessary, and cringe worthy. I have seen much better live action renditions of fairytale movies that aren’t made by Disney. I would rather see Guillermo Del Toro's take on Pinocchio, than this cash in you ask for it. I swear if they are going to do remake of Peter Pan, it’ll look a lot like the 2003 version.
@@willlyon7129oh yeah
I think there was a lot of potential behind these ideas, it feels like an intentional meta-commentary on the original Pinnochio story that got wildly watered down into nothingness.
The original story was a darkly cynical condemnation of "naughty children", with Pinnochio being the ultimate "brat" who's continually punished and shown the consequences of leaving his perfect parent for the cruel, untrustworthy outside world. He gets tricked, hanged, watches his peers be turned into donkeys, gets his father swallowed by a shark (often adapted as a whale) - and each time it's depicted as something she could've avoided by just being a good boy for his Dad and community.
To re-frame that as a story of a town obsessed with keeping children obedient and pristine and Pinnochio being the only one to show true individuality, and the flaws of Geppetto as a parent to try and stifle that individuality to meet the town's ideals, would've been an interesting critique on the originals pretty simplistic and old-fashioned perspective.
A saving grace for me is there's a cute cat in it
also, it has one of the _least freaky-looking_ live-action Pinocchio.
I was waiting for Brent Spiner to read a poem about a cat.
Sorry (not sorry).
I'm genuinely stumped as to why you don't have more subscribers. You reviews are very enjoyable. :)
agreed
Gina M wasn’t expecting you here
"Stumped"
........No pun intended?
Shes a bit cringy, but I embrace it
It's her presentation but I love it
12:03--"All the town's children are the work of a professor who manufactures idealized tots in his steampunk calliope."
Wait a minute, wait a minute--they remade the Disney Pinocchio story we already knew instead of making an original movie about "steampunk musical Dr. Pretorius"? Seriously, Disney????
As a massive Pinocchio fan, I'd like to say that the 1972 TV miniseries adaptation of Pinocchio by Luigi Comencini focuses alittle more on Geppetto, who was played by Nino Manfredi. That was such an interesting and compelling take on Geppetto, they gave him alot of depth and dimension, he isn't this pitiful grandpa, but more of this middle aged man who's a widower, doesn't have a thing, he really reacts like a human being when Pinocchio is conceived, we see what he's doing while Pinocchio is missing, and you're not bored because Manfredi's performance is that great. In the end when they're about to get out of the dogfish's belly Geppetto is initally reclutant of getting out as if he doesn't want to deal with the world, poignant.
For those who don't know about Seth Adkins (Pinocchio), he was also the crying boy in Titanic that Jack and Rose tried to save, but then his father took him and they were killed when water burst in.
Actually to the movies credit, the townspeople being oblivious to Pinocchio being alive is actually one of the few things accurate to the Carlo Collodi novel. In the book people seem to treat living marionettes as an everyday thing. Fire Eater already has a cast of living marionettes in his theatre-thay consider Pinocchio their brother. Fire Eater's (or Stromboli as he's known in the Disney version) obsession with wanting a 'living wooden boy' to perform and make him money was never really there. Not that it makes it any less weird of course lol. But Collodi created a unique fantasy world within the novel with talking animals, living marionettes and fairies.
Yeah, the confusion seems to come from the fact that most people are only really familiar with the Disney version which cut out a lot of the more fantastical elements; making the things they kept seem more weird than they originally were.
R.I.P., Anton Yelchin.
(That was the kid Pinocchio was imitating.)
Oh fuck he's right.
The Chekov from the Star Trek movies? No..
What ?!?! The actor who played Jim in TrollHunters is in this movie ?!?!
I'll never look at this film again
THAT WAS ANTON YELCHIN?! I didn't recognize him at all!
Also R.I.P to Rene Auberjonois (the prof. making all the perfect "child-robots). He was the actor who voiced Chef Louis in _The Little Mermaid._
Nothing hurts worse than knowing that Robin Williams might've had the starring role in this... ouch!
Drew Carey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brent Spiner, Usher...that is one weird cast.
I just kept scanning for other 90s TV actors. I kept expecting Wayne Knight to be the whale or Jason Alexander to be Jiminy Cricket.
I met Brent Spiner at Galaxycon in Richmond and I told him I loved his performance as Stromboli in "Geppetto"
how did he react?
@@thetruesora he said he used to have pictures of Stromboli
@@eamonclark4952 wonder if he stopped having them because no one would choose them. Hes said he likes it when people say about liking one of his more villainous roles so I hope he knew you was genuine and not meaning it snarkily😁
@@thetruesora I’m sure he did
The whole idea of "Geppetto" could be very nice and heartwarming, also showing that being a parent is far from easy and all, but it is really not well handled in this movie...
The two things I like: The Pleasure Island scene and song and the ending song. (I've read somewhere, and it might be wrong, but the children that appear with the actors during the ending are their actual children. Kinda touching, I guess...?)
I definitely agree with your final assessment on Geppetto--it's not as bad as its reputation suggests, but it probably isn't as good as I remember it to be. Again, this is the nostalgia talking, but I may watch it again to see if it has held up or not.
This was actually made into a stage musical, "My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto's Musical Tale," which premiered in 2006 and is currently is in the MTI catalogue.
Anton Spivack Is it licensed from Disney?
I was actually was in that show a few years ago! It was better than the original movie in my opinion.
Glad you listed Brent Spiner as a saving grace. I can't help but wonder if they cast him in a Pinocchio retelling because his most famous role was often compared to Pinocchio.
I remember watching this back in 2002 and thinking it wasn't all that much, for many of the reasons you've cited (the non-relationship between Geppetto and Pinocchio, the confusing message the Blue Fairy kept reinforcing, etc.) Except for Stromboli's song, the score seemed rather blah to me. (Your putting "Magic To Do" in there only served to remind me what a GOOD Stephen Schwartz score sounded like!) And when you consider that this is a retelling of a Disney movie with one of its very, very best scores (whose main song became the ANTHEM of Disney itself), it's especially galling.
I think I can guess why they couldn't get Robin Williams for this movie. (Hint: it has to do with the Genie. One specific line in particular......... about being lied to.)
I always thought it was hilarious that the puppeteer villain was named after a rolled up pizza in the Disney movie. It always makes me hungry.
Grace Amodeo I thought he was named after the Volcano?
In all fairness, people being utterly chill with a talking puppet is straight out of the Collodi novel. (They're also cool with a talking fox and cat as well.) It's the same logic that makes Londoners surprisingly cool with the existence of a four-foot-tall talking bear in the Paddington books.
I can tell that Robin Williams was an original favorite for this role since from a glance/far Drew Carey kinda looks like him, at least in the box art.
I'm working on my own sequel story to the 1940 Pinocchio film where Pinocchio follows in Geppetto's footsteps and becomes the father of a wooden girl puppet. There's a nod to this film in chapter one when Jiminy cricket returns home after traveling the world he notices a sign above doorway that says "Geppetto and Son".
That sounds insanely awful.
Seth Adkins as Pinocchio is pretty spot on from what I recall actually. In fact, Disney clearly thought so too since they brought him back to do the voice in Kingdom Hearts. That's as complimentary as Nickelodeon bringing back Seychelle Gabriel to voice Asami on Legend of Korra after she played Yue in Last Airbender.
The Seinfeld fairy!
Marinelife7 😂
When I was in college I took an opera class, and I found out Stromboli’s song in this movie is a loving parody of Rosini’s song, Figaro. That fact inspired me to check out this movie. Stromboli and his song are my favorite parts of this movie, too.
Ha! Figaro! Which is also Gepetto's cat's name!
15:49 I think some fish ate all of Pinocchio's donkey skin off. That's how it happened in the book.
Jaceblue04 Well....that’s....terrifying.
"Lady with the blue hair"? What was she, Bluebeard's sister?
@Tonyjohnny bombaycat "Turquoise," you mean, or was it a pun?
Every year at the elementary school I went to, the entire sixth grade puts on a musical performance. My sixth grade year, it was a performance based on this movie. I didn't play a huge role in it; I was one of the parents in "Toys" and Pinocchio's teacher in the school scene.
Finally. Somebody who isn't overly dismissive of Matthew Broderick.
I'll admit, I kinda liked it when I saw it, I enjoyed the songs mainly and the settings were pleasing eye candy. The actors………..I don't really care, though now that you mentioned it, I would have loved to see Robin Williams as Geppetto, why did he bow out? He would have made the movie a ton of fun to watch, or at least less boring or bland than Drew Carey.
I'm so glad Stromboli was the movie's saving grace- I played him in a youth theatre production (admittedly not the best kind of production but still more fun than this film) and it was hella fun- plus seeing Brent Spiner as a character I've played makes me happy, especially when he's having such fun in the role.
So why were they willing to put No Strings on Me into this movie, but opted for a knock-off of When You Wish Upon a Star? That confuses me.
munromister777 My guess is it’s more marketable and shorter. However, “This Empty Heart” isn’t really a knock off of “When You Wish...” It’s more about Geppetto singing about how he has a huge hole in his heart that only a child can fill.
When You Wish Upon a Star is an Oscar winner. Can’t have any of that in this movie!
@@kenthuang436 they do use When You Wish Upon A Star twice, but as instrumentals, at the beginning when Geppetto starts telling the story and then a kid plays it on violin in the Stepford village.
15:59- Actually in the book a fish ate the donkey skin and left Pinocchio's wooden skin.
What the fuck
@@Quackervoltz And that's not all. Pinocchio was judged by a MONKEY, the "Turquoise Fairy" trolled Pinocchio by TELLING him she was dead, and Pinocchio was even freaking HANGED from a tree!
Fun fact: this was adapted into a stage musical called My Son Pinocchio which is about as bad as expected with this material. Extra fun fact: I only know THIS movie exists because I was stuck stage managing a children’s theatre production of said stage adaptation which still haunts my nightmares to this day
Brent Spiner still gives the twitches on my neck, literally, I loved him playing Data. Also Drew Carey and Wayne Brady are also good, there just not find for musicals unless it's funny. There comedy people. Robin Williams would actually would be better off playing the part.
Also Spiner voiced Purple Man in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Interesting how you wanted to see how the townspeople would react to there suddenly being a living puppet all of the sudden because a really good Pinocchio adaptation, the Guillermo del Toro version does have the townspeople react. Most of them do in fact freak out at the fact that a puppet has gained sentience especially since he made his presence known in a church. When it is shown that Pinocchio is practically immortal, a local fascist soldier wants to force the living puppet into the Italian army because he saw potential in a soldier who can’t die. In fact everyone should watch the Guillermo del Toro Pinocchio adaptation because it is really good.
I think I like the Hugh Jackman picture
Still better than Pinocchio a True Story.
I honestly think this movie would be 10 times better with Robin Williams but drew Carrey was an awful choice. I watched this a few times as a child and remembering not being able to understand half of the songs.
What if there was a ‘Wicked’ or ‘Twisted’ style musical called Stromboli? THAT would be interesting…
Especially if he was played by Usher.
I feel like a lot could be salvaged from this if you view it through the perspective of a "Data goes glitchy in the holodeck" episode of TNG instead.
I know this movie is pretty weak overall but Since I Gave My Heart Away genuinely makes me tear up every time
Eh, I still prefer this Blue to Once Upon a Time Blue.
Weird piece of trivia (cuz I’m a freakin nerd despite not even being obsessed with this particular franchise) though Seth Adkins also provides the voice of Pinocchio in Kingdom Hearts. Why I’m not sure since it was only two years after this movies so it’s not like they were that sure THIS would be a hit, like when they made Chicken Little a summon in the second game....because reasons
Drew Carey got hounded for this in “Who’s Line Is It Anyway”... multiple times...
Poor Drew. You can tell he’s not enjoying it. It seems that anything outside of Whose Line is it Anyway, The Price is Right and The Drew Carey Show, he doesn’t seem to enjoy anything else he’s in.
I think Wayne Brady maybe would have been a better choice as Geppetto, too. At least he can sing and act.
The Satisfaction Guaranteed song and the Pleasure Island song are probably my favorite songs of the whole movie.
Diva, I was wondering if you've ever seen the 1976 TV musical of "Pinocchio" starring Danny Kaye as Geppetto and Sandy Duncan as Pinocchio. (They used to show it on The Disney Channel). This kind of reminds me of that, as it also expanded the role of Geppetto. I think it was probably better than this, but it's been many years since I've seen it.
I remember watching this movie on ABC when it came out and liking it, but Mom absolutely hated it. Upon re-watching after this review, I see why. The part that was the best was the perfect child town. I would've loved to see a full movie about that.
I enjoy darker interpretations of the Pinocchio story, such as the version put forth by The Mechanisms, where he’s an insane toy maker who turns children into his perfect servants, ever-smiling, ever willing to do his bidding.
16:12 That's... actually true of the relationship between Pinocchio and Geppetto in the book and the Disney version. They do appear to spend more time together in this version.
11:55 holy shit, is that Bail Organa’s actor on the left!?
I don't know if you've ever come across the My Son Pinocchio Jr. (what they renamed the musical version) tracks, but the guy playing Gepetto on them sounds like a young Brian Stokes Mitchell and it's beautiful
17:13
too bad Cersei wasnt there, she would've just tear that paper apart XD
and would've said "you actually think a piece of paper will help you?"
Do you think you'll ever review the 2022 live-action "Pinocchio"? Judging from what I've seen and heard, it's definitely worthy of Musical Hell.
I had *completely* forgotten about the "Geppetto" until now! However, I didn't forget about the wallpaper change. 😅
6:30 This is a plot point Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio actually makes good use of. Heck, even "Pinocchio: A True Story" makes better use of it.
To be fair, this was after their remake of Annie, and the only live-action movie musical they released in theaters was Newsies, though it didn't do well. Mary Poppins was their BIGGEST one. I mean, it's a five-time Oscar winning film, for crying out loud! Did Newsies win any Oscars? Nope. Why? Mostly 'cause it was given negative reviews at the time of its release. Live-action Disney musicals nowadays are trying to top Mary Poppins, but that's not happening anytime soon. The only film that's as good as Mary Poppins is, in my opinion, the sequel. I know, I know. "But Julie Andrews isn't in it!" She was offered a cameo role in the film, but declined, not wanting to outshine Emily Blunt (who actually does a good job).
Drew Carrey always gave me the vibes of a third missing Crane brother from Frasier - which isnt meant to be an insult but thats stuck in my head for a long time and I dont know why
"Why can't I have children but these people can?" Well, uh, you kind of need a partner to birth the child. Get married or something, then you can have children. Unless you're impotent, in which case...uh, adopt?
Okay, Diva, admit it--you did this review just so you could make that Age of Ultron joke, didn't you? :P but it was still a lot of fun.
TheHeroOfTomorrow Not entirely--but the opportunity to cross-reference Disney cross-referencing was too good to pass up.
*Inception "BWAAAAHHHHH...."*
Musical Hell I can't help but wonder if it was a coincidence that they're releasing Age of Ultron--with its Pinocchio references--in Pinocchio's diamond anniversary year.
@@jenniferschillig3768 I guess it was.
I saw a stage version of this which I thought was pretty good. The actors all played their parts very well, the blue fairy was delightfully snarky, and the Pleasure Island set involved a giant, nightmare fuel marionette doing the song.
I thought the mom curse involves the mother character dying as part of the protagonist's obligatory tragic backstory.
mariic2 That’s the Disney Mom Curse (tm).
The popular cliche strikes again, supposedly.
1:51 - 2:20: To be fair, I always wondered what happened to him in the original Disney Film. This movie, after watching this, is not what I asked for. Why can't there be a midquel? If you look at the Lion King 1 1/2, you’ll see how Timon and Pumbaa’s side of the story does work in a comedic sense as well as a character arc. Funny enough, the idea of Timon living the life of a meerkat who hates being condensed and feared by Hyenas was meant to be for the original movie; but it conflicts with the tone of the Hakuna Matata song, so Pumbaa was the only character to have any sort of background at the time. Timon’s backstory would be carried over to the DTV movie, and give him a family. Eventually, Timon would learn what Hakuna Matata actually meant, and joined in on the fight against Scar. And before you say anything, yes, I’m well aware of how the Hyena trap scene has a bit of a conflict with the original movie, but I’d like to pretend the hyenas that Scar saw weren’t Banzai, Shenzi and Ed, but did tell them when about Scar’s finger pointing that later leads to them attacking and eating their former master.
Lion King has a great midquel, Pinocchio does not.
Actually Drew Carey was the 5th choice. The role was written for Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews was supposed to be the blue fairy. Julie had surgery and the idea was scrapped
It is a real shame as the movie would have been much more entertaining and Van Dyke would make a great Geppetto and his own age would be very believable as to why he cannot have any children of his own as he’s now elderly and too old to get married and making babies. Drew’s Gepetto not having any kids feels like he just doesn’t like women in general (in a misogynistic way not closeted man way) and thus is against marriage because then he’d have to live with one. I mean look at how he acted around the Blue Fairy. He was dismissive of her attempts to tell him that being a parent isn’t as easy as he thinks it is and that he should be appreciative of Pinocchio’s personality and behavior rather than immediately disliking him because he is hardly a day old and doesn’t know how to act or behave because literally no one has taught him the important rules of being a part of society and Geppetto just automatically assumes the wooden boy is “bad” just because he made some mistakes that he didn’t know were wrong in the first place.
Great review, the edited references made this really funny.
I liked the 1940 Disney version when I finally saw it on home video with my family back in the early 1990's. I read the Carlo Collollodi original when I was in high school. I agree that there are significant differences with Collidi's original and the Disney version. In the original story, Pinocchio hits the cricket with a hammer. Or that the original ending Collodi had in mind for the tale was Pinocchio being hanged. But the readers insisted the tale continue (it was first serialized in Italian papers, much like DIcken's "A Christmas Carol" was first serialized in English papers). That said, the Disney version of the tale is a classic for a reason.
Ok but “Just Because it’s Magic” is an underrated Schwartz BANGER
Ultron reference FTW! ^_^
6:08 Oh hai 10-year-old Anton Yelchin.
14:28 I'm guessing that was supposed to be a Mimi reference
Also RE: Brent Spiner -- _Tales from the Darkside_ season 1, "A Case of the Stubborns." One of my favorite _Darkside_ episodes, and one of his earliest roles where he really got to ham it up.
Awesome review, Diva. Although I must say, I was holding out for a Seinfeld joke with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Blue Fairy, haha. Still a great vid.
***** Geppetto, alas, was not deemed sponge-worthy.
Better? ;-)
Musical Hell
Good one.
Musical Hell Much. :P
Brent Spinner NEEDS TO STOP APPEARING IN BAD MOVIES you were awesome as Data, I liked you ☹
After Master of Disguise, I think he's realized that.
Between him and Rene Auberjonois (RIP), this movie's old home week for Trek alumni.
"Merry Christmas honey! Look it's Geppeto on DVD!"
props for using danse macabre, one of my all-time favorite pieces, as your outro
BB Wolf Thanks! It's one of mine, too, and it captures the old-fashioned horror-show vibe I wanted for my underscore.
Musical Hell I assume you watch price is right everyday like me
+Musical Hell you should do the music man
I've reviewed the 2003 version here: th-cam.com/video/JDekw4IYluE/w-d-xo.html
+Musical Hell personal question how did you react to the news of Robin Williams death?
I remember fondly watching the trailer for this movie when I was younger and always wanting to watch it. I only watched it once like over ten years ago and I guess I mostly forgot about it. I didn't remember any of that town that manufactures kids bit, I completely forgot Stromboli was in this, and I hardly remember the Pleasure Island bit at all.
Wow I vaguely remembered watching this as a kid and wasn't sure if I imagined it or not.
And this was a debut of Margaret Van Fuzzylegs
I saw this as a kid and must’ve blocked it out until this very moment. Thanks for bringing back all these terrible memories lol
no adolfo pirrelli teference when talking about strombolli? aww...
Too obvious
Can we remake this with Christian Borle in a wig as ghepetto and then just forget whatever the original was cause that would literally be a million times better then even if you despise Christian Borle and remakes
Why would you EVER despise him?
Wait she hates him?
You don’t get it, it must be sea water, not aquarium salt water ACTUAL SEA WATER, with all of the wonders that implies.
So...I'm the only one here who, not only likes this film, but loves it? I always loved it as a kid and had an absolute HUGE crush on Drew Carey. Speaking of which...Drew Carey heavily resembles my stepdad here. That's...Oedipal, at best. I'm just going to wash my eyes out...
+BethGoth15 I loved this movie! The music was great and I found it to be an interesting perspective. Sure, it has some issues and I can sorta understand where critics are coming from but I don't care. I liked it.
It is one of my all time favorite movies
No, that's an Electra complex. Only male people can feel Oedipal, the character Oedipus was a man.
good
Cityman That's true...but that's not why it's called an "Oedipus complex." It's called that because Oedipus unwittingly killed his father and married his mother. People who have supposed Oedipus complexes feel aggression toward their fathers and attraction towards their mothers.
Why just say "the blue fairy" but never once mention Julia Louie Dryfus name... Not once!
15:15 It might be because Gepetto is an adult not a child
brent spiner was the only reason to watch this the rest of the movie really was boring, he should of played geppetto as well i noticed stromboli had a bigger role then the original to try and save this rubbish movie. brent was amazing, no jimmy cricket at all
Chekov sightings aside, I vaguely remember watching this when I was seven years old. Obviously there's a reason I don't recall too much about it, it's not that good. :p I love your videos and this is one of my favorites.
If nothing else, it was fun watching the guys on Whose Line Is It Anway mock Carey ruthlessly for this.
Ah... Fairy Ex Machina, I never asked for this.
More like a sanctimonious fairy, am I right?
wait...that guy who makes the "perfect children"...ODO????
6:14 Is,,,, is that Anton Yelchin?
Yes, it is. Find the Showtime series "Huff", starring Hank Azaria. He plays the teenage son trying to navigate through his parents and grandparents imperfections.(MA)
Why couldn’t they of made this about Stromboli