Pinocchio

Released on Disney+ on September 8, 2022

Runtime: 1 Hour 52 Minutes

Rated PG

Pretty much the same story line from the original, with a few new characters and story beats. Gepetto makes a puppet that he wishes would become a real boy. Pinocchio, the puppet, comes alive and has to learn what it means to be a real boy. In this case honesty, kindness, and not giving into temptation.

Themes:

Themes in the movie include family, lying, dreams can come true, independence, greed, temptation, trust, magic, kidnapping, not giving in to every desire, morality, right vs wrong, decisions, positivity, following your conscience, and being real.

Language:

Some phrases that pop up in the movie are “what the cuss,” “I hate you,” “H-E- double hockey sticks,” and they say jack a-s one time. The old movie used the other word for donkey multiple times, but this one toned it down. Some other words included dumb, loser, bollocks, idiot, jerk, and party pooper.

Stuff to be aware of:

One clock in the workshop has a little man drinking a beer and one has a kid with his pants down being spanked. The kid’s at pleasure island drink root-beer, but if you don’t catch that quick mention you might think it is beer. The Pleasure Island part is pretty intense. Lots of children doing “bad” things. It gets a bit scary when the kids turn into donkeys (like the original) except this time smoke monsters show up and lock the kids in cages to be sent to the salt mines. When one boy turns into a donkey it could be scary for younger viewers. Monstro looks more like a sea monster, than a whale. He has tentacles. Pinocchio is also mistreated and kidnapped by a puppeteer, like in the original.

Overall:

The original Pinocchio is not one of my favorite Disney movies. I will say I think I like this one a little better, but it’s still not on my favorites list. There are a couple of new characters that help connect some of the story threads better than the original, however the last half of the movie seems rushed and a bit disjointed. It was an okay movie to watch since my wife and I have nothing else to do one evening, however I likely won’t watch it again. I don’t plan to suggest it to my girls. I would let them watch it, but it’s not one I would suggest to them. Gepetto gets a bit of a back story, if you ever wondered about why he had no family. However, it still leaves you to guess a lot. There are also some neat Disney references in the wooden clocks.

I guess the writers decided te original didn’t have enough songs so a couple are added in, but I don’t think they will be as famous as originals like “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Hi-Diddle-Dee.”

I did love the line, “a lie can really change a person.” There are some spiritual applications that could be made with a lot of the plot points.