While Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, the new Disney Pinocchio remake failed to understand the key message of the original. The Italian fantasy story was meant to teach children relevant life lessons, mainly about being honest — with others and oneself. The 1940s Disney classic stuck closely to the roots of the original story. This new live-action remake, like so many others that came before it, is a bland interpretation of what it once was.
The live-action 2022’s live action Pinocchio changed vital parts of the story, blurring the overall message along with it.
The Message Of The Original
The main messages of the original film and story revolve around being honest. In order to be a real boy, Pinocchio must prove himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish. In the 1940s version, Pinocchio is able to transform into a real boy by becoming everything he was supposed to be. Without the guidance of Jiminy Cricket, he had no real conscience so naturally, he made mistakes. His character was able to evolve throughout the film due to the mistakes he made, similar to a young child growing up and becoming wiser. In the live-action remake, Pinocchio’s character is less mischievous and naive, so he makes fewer mistakes and is still punished for them. At some points, his mistakes even end up helping him. Basically, Pinocchio hardly grows up.
Pinocchio Does Nothing Wrong
On his way to school, Pinocchio is distracted by the devious Honest John. In the original film, Pinocchio doesn’t end up going to school and decides to go with Honest John, who makes him promises of fame and fortune by becoming an actor. In the remake, Pinocchio does end up going to school, but is kicked out because he is not a real boy. Honest John approaches him again, and with seemingly no other options, Pinocchio follows him. Pinocchio did all the things he was supposed to do and did nothing wrong in these scenes. This completely derails the point of the story — Pinocchio is supposed to learn from his mistakes.
Pinocchio’s Lies Are Used To Help Him
In the 1940 film, Pinocchio is saved from his scary situation with Stromboli by the Blue Fairy. Although he had brought the traveling puppet show success, Stromboli threw Pinocchio in a locked cage after the show. When asked how he ended up there, Pinocchio lies, causing his nose to grow longer and longer with each lie he tells. The Blue Fairy teaches him a lesson about honesty, stating that “a lie keeps growing and growing until it’s as plain as the nose on your face.” After he learns his lesson, she helps him escape after telling him that “a boy that won’t be good, may just as well be made of wood.”
In the live-action Pinocchio remake, the Blue Fairy never appears. Once Jiminy Cricket questions whether Pinocchio actually wanted to go to school, the wooden boy’s nose begins to grow. Instead of learning a valuable lesson from this, his lies are able to help him escape. His long nose ends up reaching across the room, letting Jiminy Cricket get access to the key Pinocchio needed to escape. This scene is very important in the original film, and it was sadly ruined in the new rendition.
Pinocchio Is Punished For No Real Reason
Towards the end of the film, Pinocchio is brought to Pleasure Island. In both films, he is taken mostly against his will to the island but how he acts while there is very different. In the original, Pinocchio partakes in all the debauchery Pleasure Island has to offer. He destroys buildings, smokes, and drinks alcohol. As the story goes, the boys who glut on the illegal activities on the island turn into donkeys by the end of the night. Pinocchio grows ears and a tail as a punishment for his actions before escaping the island.
In the remake, Pinocchio barely participates in what the island has to offer. Disney sanitized the new version, replacing liquor and smoking with root beer and candy. After one sip of root beer Pinocchio grows ears and a tail. It’s odd that Pinocchio is punished for his actions, as he made a conscious decision a majority of the time to not be bad like the other kids. It’s as if he was punished for no real reason at all. In the original, the message is clear that bad kids who smoke, drink, and don’t go to school get punished for it, and they make an “ass” out of themselves. Pinocchio wanted to go to school and to be a good boy, but he was still punished along with the others. This message gets lost in the new film.
At the end of the film, it’s not confirmed if Pinocchio becomes a real boy or not. The whole point of the story is that if he proved himself to be good, he would become real. It’s almost as if he gets no reward in the end. The original made sure to highlight the importance of being good and kind by rewarding Pinocchio with the gift of life. The morals that the original story held were completely clouded by changes to the plot and unfortunately, the true heart of the story of Pinocchio was lost.
The Oscar Nomination For Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio Proves Its Superiority To The Disney Remake
The new Disney Pinocchio was a bad remake all on its own, but it also had the misfortune of opening the same year as a brilliant new take on the story. The meaning behind Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio is ultimately about parents and the love they have for their children. However, it even handles the message of the original Disney movie better than the live-action remake does. This is accomplished by having Pinocchio as a much more mischievous and curious child who makes mistakes and causes trouble for his father. By contrast, Pinocchio in the live-action remake was meant to be a perfect son who was tricked into being disobedient.
However, Del Toro's movie also carries the message that no one is perfect and that is something that people just accept in their loved ones. Sebastian J. Cricket states that he is a writer who tells stories about imperfect sons and imperfect fathers. That is the key difference between these two 2022 versions of Pinocchio. Del Toro's movie is willing to show the flaws in Pinocchio as a son, and in Geppetto as a father, while still showing the love between them while the Disney remake shies away from complex and flawed characters. It is not surprising that Del Toro's version ended up nominated for Best Animated Feature while the Disney remake was critically reviled.
