This Thursday, as part of the Disney+ Day celebrations, the classic ‘Pinocchio’ premieres, this time directed by Robert Zemeckis and with Tom Hanks in the role of Geppetto. “It is the reinterpretation of the story of a wooden puppet who embarks on an exciting adventure to become a real boy,” says the synopsis of the film that has just released its latest trailer.
“Bob (Zemeckis) is one of those filmmakers who can’t do something that’s already been done. He takes a project and plays with the creative process behind it. He always challenges me with a task that is completely new to the process of making a film. These great classics not only have an opportunity to update, but to reflect different times, “said the Oscar-winning actor in a statement from the platform.
Hanks says that when he learned that Zemeckis was considering directing a live-action version, he contacted him and offered to play the carpenter who builds the wooden puppet. “’Pinocchio‘ is one of the most – if not the most – beautiful animated films ever made. But now, since digital cinema came along, the puppet could be much more three-dimensional. And while I was worried about standing on hallowed ground, I thought it was a project worth doing.” The new version of Gepetto has been created by Zemeckis and Hanks, but retains some iconic traits of the original character, like his iconic mustache and silver hair, which make him instantly recognizable to audiences who grew up with the animated film.
“You can’t just do a live-action version of what the movie was. animated film. It has to be deeper. It has to have more emotional baggage. So from the start, Gepetto is cooking in her own juice, so to speak, and it’s not a happy juice,” Hanks comments on bringing the character into the 21st century. “Bob and I discussed the fact that Gepetto is a happy man, but that he has suffered loss in his life. He has lost the happiness of being alive, of having a family. He has been on his own, serving others and delighting people with his crafts for two and a half decades. Gepetto’s longing is to be part of something bigger than himself, part of a family, that was the key to him”.
For the actor, creating his character was a “fabulous challenge” in a film that features several CGI characters. “Bob always tells you, ‘Okay, this is what you have to imagine.’ And what you have to imagine is so complex that it is a great challenge for the acting and interpretive process. At one point, I had to place a fish, a cat, a cricket and a wooden boy on my head. He had to do it all, and sometimes with the Blue Fairy too. On the second or third day, my brain was exhausted.”
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Tom Hanks: “It was a fabulous challenge”