Screen Rant's Pitch Meeting series returns with a scalding hot take on the 2022 live-action remake of Pinocchio. The original Pinocchio was only the second film ever to be released by Walt Disney Animation Studios, following up their 1937 debut feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on February 23, 1940. Based on Carlo Collodi's Italian children's book The Adventures of Pinocchio from 1883, the film followed a lonely woodcarver named Geppetto who makes a young puppet that comes to life. Accompanied by his conscience, Jiminy Cricket, and a magical spell that causes his nose to grow every time he lies, Pinocchio sets off on a quest to be good enough to become a real boy. The film also introduced the classic Disney song "When You Wish Upon a Star."
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This new version of Pinocchio, which blends live-action with CGI animation, was helmed by Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Polar Express director Robert Zemeckis and was released exclusively on Disney+ on September 8. The film's voice cast included Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Pinocchio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, and Keegan-Michael Key as Honest John. On the live-action side, Cynthia Erivo plays The Blue Fairy and Tom Hanks plays Geppetto. The film was largely a direct adaptation of the original Disney classic, though they did make several changes to extend the length as well as add some ambiguity.
Screen Rant's latest Pitch Meeting video comes just two weeks after the release of Pinocchio and wastes no time lampooning the movie. In an imaginary pitch meeting for the project, a Disney executive marvels at the fact that they have any animated films left to recreate in live-action before the writer dives into his idea. This includes hiring Tom Hanks with no idea of whether or not he can perform a credible Italian accent and its overabundance of CGI and Disney in-jokes. Check out the video below:
The video carries on mocking many of the elements of the film, including the fact that the Blue Fairy is only in one scene and Geppetto's willingness to send Pinocchio outside without supervision. However, it also takes a shot at the tropes of Disney animation at large. This includes the fact that so many of their films tend to involve a dead family member, a long list that includes everything from the classic Disney Princess film Cinderella to the sci-fi romp Lilo & Stitch.
This particular episode of Pitch Meeting is chiming in with the voices of many critics of the new Pinocchio. Even by the standards of a Disney live-action remake, this particular entry has not been well-regarded. The film is currently standing at a 28% Rotten Tomatoes score with critics, with an only slightly kinder 32% from audiences, meaning that nearly everyone who saw the film will appreciate the potshots that Pitch Meeting is taking at it.