![]() With a sincere, consistently conscientious boy at its center, we lose any reason for the story to exist. The bottom line, though, is that we’re talking about a concept that has aged terribly - unless you’re willing to lean into its darkness. But the visuals are, at least, vibrant enough to keep kids watching. The effects aren’t seamless either, and sometimes they’re downright awkward a few clever allusions to other, better movies (including Zemeckis’ live action-animation landmark “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”) do this film no favors. But the originals, including “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee,” will spark recognition in most children and a bit of comforting nostalgia among their elders. Others were written by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard and are more thoughtfully integrated into the movie. Some of the songs were pulled from Disney’s 1940 animated masterpiece (back then, Walt understood the assignment perfectly). If nothing else, from a modern (or simply humane) perspective, he’s trying to make the best of an egregiously traumatic situation. Even when he admits he enjoys performing and his nose grows, we have no reason to judge him for it. He’s an innocent child who is tricked, kidnapped, assaulted and trafficked into forced labor. So at every turn, adults have to coerce him. His Pinocchio just wants to go to school, make Geppetto proud and follow the Blue Fairy’s instructions. But among the unexpected choices Zemeckis makes is in sketching a sweet-natured hero who consistently resists temptation. ![]() These characters do their very best to convince Pinocchio to trade duty for truancy. This makes him open to exploitation, starting with the sly fox (Keegan Michael-Key) who wants to sell Pinocchio to a traveling show. Geppetto sends Pinocchio off to school, but he’s kicked out by cruel kids and a nasty headmaster. As even the youngest viewer already knows - have we mentioned the 65-plus adaptations? - this is easier said than done.
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