Disney's live-action Pinocchio remake doesn't include a clear-cut answer regarding the title character's fate, though there is one big clue hinting at his eventual transformation into a real, human boy. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and released straight to Disney+, the Pinocchio remake cast Tom Hanks as Geppetto, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Pinocchio, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket. The movie re-imagines Disney's 1940 animated classic and makes changes to some elements from the original, including the ending.
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In the 19th-century source material, The Adventures of Pinocchio, as well as Disney's 1940 adaptation, the puppet protagonist is magically resurrected and then turned into a human child after the Blue Fairy says, "Proved yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish – someday, you will be a real boy." The ending of Zemeckis's version features a similar scene, except it's Pinocchio saving a seemingly dead Geppetto as he cries for his father and hums the tune "When You Wish Upon A Star." While the ending of the Disney+ Pinocchio is just as happy as the animated feature, the remake doesn't confirm the boy's physical outcome, as its central message instead underlines how the most important thing is what's in his heart.
The Pinocchio remake does show its titular protagonist transforming into a real boy, but it's not necessarily meant to be what truly happens to him. Before the movie ends, there is a close-up of Geppetto and Pinocchio walking toward the light at the mouth of the cave. Pinocchio's wooden features smooth out as if they are becoming flesh, visually hinting that he is made human. Yet, this is accompanied by Jiminy Cricket narrating, "People say he was transformed into an honest-to-goodness real boy. Did that actually happen? Who knows?"
How Pinocchio's Live-Action Ending Compares To The Original Disney Movie
Disney's animated version of Pinocchio shows the big transformation of the puppet into a real boy. But he still has his donkey ears and tail just before that. In the scarier 2022 remake of Pinocchio, the main character loses his donkey features when he decides to look for Geppetto. With him being the one who saves Geppetto, having Pinocchio then saved with a transformation is no longer warranted by the story. Not only is the remake's ending framed differently, as it is Pinocchio's active choices that start the transformation, but the message is also quite different. Rather than his good deeds being rewarded by a magical transformation, the 2022 Pinocchio drives the point home that it doesn't matter what he looks like or is made of. As Jiminy Cricket states in his final line, "In his heart, he is as real as any boy could ever be," highlighting how it was always the goodness of his heart that was important.
The changes to Pinocchio for the live-action remake are numerous, including the addition of new characters and Geppetto's very sad backstory. But nothing else is as central as Pinocchio's transformation. After all, while both versions of Pinocchio emphasize the importance of what's inside one's heart that counts, the 1940 film shows a final, literal transformation rewarding Pinocchio's good actions whereas the 2022 remake is much subtler by only showing glimpses of a transformation and leaving it uncertain whether that actually happened. This makes the message of the Pinocchio remake more relevant, as there's no definite transformation to celebrate, only Pinocchio's right choices.