Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment
  3. News

Disney+’s first Pinocchio trailer wishes upon a star

Blair Marnell
By

Disney+ Day is coming early this year, and Walt Disney Studios is celebrating with the debut of a new live-action remake of one of its most beloved animated classics, Pinocchio. And if the first trailer is any indication, the company has spared no expense in bringing the fairy tale to life for modern viewers.

Curiously, Pinocchio himself is almost completely absent from the trailer. Instead, Pinocchio’s father, Geppetto, gets most of the spotlight. As played by Tom Hanks, Geppetto is an aging puppeteer and toymaker who was never blessed with a family or a wife. Out of sheer loneliness and despair, Geppetto wishes upon a star to have a son of his own. Geppetto gets his wish when the Blue Fairy answers his prayer and brings Pinocchio to life. But that’s where the trouble begins.

Pinocchio | Teaser Trailer | Disney+

Since Pinocchio is a living puppet, he will be depicted through CGI with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth providing his voice. The trailer also confirms that other anthropomorphic characters from the film, like Jiminy Cricket and “Honest” John, will also be CGI creations. Additionally, it appears that Pinocchio’s journey will take him to dangerous places, including the malevolent Pleasure Island; which forces Geppetto to go off in search for his boy.

Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Joseph Gordon-Levitt co-stars in the film as the voice of Jiminy Cricket, with Cynthia Erivo as the Blue Fairy, Keegan-Michael Key as “Honest” John, Lorraine Bracco as Sofia the Seagull, Luke Evans as The Coachman, Kyanne Lamaya as Fabiana (and her marionette Sabina), Giuseppe Battiston as Señor Stromboli, and Lewin Lloyd as Lampwick.

The first poster for Pinocchio.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit director Robert Zemeckis helmed the Pinocchio remake from a script he co-wrote with Chris Weitz. Zemeckis’ long-time collaborator, Alan Silvestri, will provide the score.

Recommended Videos

Pinocchio will premiere on September 8, only on Disney+.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
The best Star Wars movies on Disney+
The cast of Star Wars.

A long time ago, in this very same galaxy, streaming Star Wars movies was a lot trickier than it is now. Ever since Disney+ became the home of the beloved sci-fi saga, though, it's a lot easier to plan a Star Wars movie marathon.

Disney's streaming service is now the only place you can find the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and all the spin-off films (both animated and live-action). And they've never looked better. The original trilogy and the prequel trilogy are both available in 4K Ultra HD, while other Disney-produced films in the franchise support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos streams (just ignore the weird new edits).
Sign up for Disney+ now
Disney+ has a massive library of films that just keeps getting bigger, too, so if you only have time to catch three or four Star Wars movies, here's what we recommend.

Read more
Disney will bring Andor’s first two episodes to Hulu and ABC
Diego Luna looks behind him while walking down a street in a scene from Andor.

There are certain advantages that come with owning one of the top streaming services, multiple cable channels, and one of the primary broadcast networks. And later this month, Disney is bringing all of its resources to bear for its latest Star Wars series, Andor. To coincide with the first season finale on Wednesday, November 23, Disney will premiere the first two episodes of Andor on Hulu on the same day. The episodes will remain on Hulu through December 7.

ABC is also premiering the first two episodes of Andor on Wednesday, November 23. They will air from 9 p.m. PT/ET to 10:30 pm PT/ET. The Andor tour continues the next day, Thursday, November 24, on FX, in the same time slot. Finally, Freeform will air the episodes on Friday, November 25, and they will once again be showing at the same time.

Read more
Pinocchio review: nothing new to see in wooden adaptation
Pinocchio kneels on stage in a scene from the 2022 live-action film.

Disney's live-action adaptations of the studio's classic, animated features have generally been hit-or-miss affairs. While some have managed to breathe new life into familiar stories, others have fallen flat, delivering cold cash grabs that never quite channel the magic of the films that inspired them.

Arriving on the Disney+ streaming service on September 8, the live-action Pinocchio falls into the latter category, and it really is a shame, because the Robert Zemeckis-directed film has plenty of potential to go along with its impressive cast.

Read more