Pinocchio

Director: Roberto Benigni, Matteo Garrone Roberto Benigni

Overview

Academy Award-winner Roberto Benigni adapts the classic children's tale by Carlo Collodi for the big-budget family-oriented comedy Pinocchio. In his usual fashion, Benigni directs and stars, this time as the little puppet boy made out of wood. The familiar story begins as a log of pinewood falls out of a cart and lands in front of woodcarver, Geppetto (Carlo Giuffr?), who carves the puppet out of longing for a son. When the puppet begins to come alive and cause trouble, Geppetto is arrested and Pinocchio is left to his own na?ve worldview. After getting a stern warning from the Blue Fairy (Benigni's wife and producer Nicoletta Braschi), Pinocchio sets out to reunite with his father, become a real boy, and succumb to some desire for adventure. Along the way, he meets a number of characters played by mostly Italian stage actors, including Franco Javarone, Peppe Barra, and Kim Rossi Stuart. The popular Italian comedy team Fichi d'India plays the roles of the Cat and Fox. Released by Miramax in the U.S., the film received an English-dubbed soundtrack with the voice talents of Glenn Close, David Suchet, and Breckin Meyer as Pinocchio.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/29/2022
UPC:	0810103683808
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	G
Source:	Paramount
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:51:00
Sales rank:	59,792

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Roberto Benigni	Pinocchio
Nicoletta Braschi	Blue Fairy
Kim Rossi Stuart	Lucignolo
Peppe Barra	The Talking Cricket
Mino Bellei	Medoro
Max Cavallari	The Cat
Bruno Arena	The Fox
Franco Javarone	Fire Eater
Alessandro Bergonzoni	Ring Master
Luis Molteni	Butter Man
Corrado Pani	The Judge
Vincenzo Cerami	Man with the Mustache
Giorgio Ariani	Host of the Red Crown
Tommaso Bianco	Pulcinella
Carlo Giuffrè	Geppetto
Giorgio Noè	Boy
Jim Belushi	Farmer
Tom Amundsen	Voices
Stephen Apostolina	Voices
Erik Bergmann	Voices
Steve Bulen	Voices
John Cleese	The Talking Crickett
Glenn Close	Blue Fairy
David Coburn	Voices
Peter Gerety	Voices
Topher Grace	Lucignolo - Leonardo
Eddie Griffin	The Cat
Nicholas Guest	Voices
Ray Iannicelli	Voices
Eric Idle	Medoro
Cheech Marin	The Fox [U.S. Version]
Steve Mellor	Voices
Nicole Orth-Pallavicini	Voices
Bob Papenbrook	Voices
Regis Philbin	Voices
Queen Latifah	The Dove [U.S. Version]
David Suchet	Geppetto [U.S. Version]
Federico Ielapi	Actor
Rocco Papaleo	Actor
Massimo Ceccherini	Actor
Marine Vacth	Actor
Breckin Meyer	Pinocchio [U.S. Version]
Lando Buzzanca	Mangiafuoco
Kevin James	The Fire Eater [U.S. Version]
Carlo Guiffre	Actor
Kim Rossi-Stuart	Actor
Nicola Piovani	Composer

Technical Credits

Roberto Benigni

Vincenzo Cerami

Carlo Collodi

Brendan Donnison

Roberto Benigni	Director,Screenwriter
Nicoletta Braschi	Producer,Producer
Maurizio Corridori	Special Effects
Mario Cotone	Executive Producer
Elda Ferri	Producer
Rob Hodgson	Special Effects
Vincenzo Cerami	Screenwriter
Carlo Collodi	Screenwriter
Brendan Donnison	Screenwriter
Tricia Henry Ashford	Special Effects
Alessandro Boscolo	Sound Effects
Mark DeSimone	Sound Effects
Matteo Garrone	Director

Editorial Reviews

The sight of a middle-aged, harlequin-clad Roberto Benigni bringing Pinocchio to life may creep out adults, but the illusion might not matter for young fans of Carlo Collodi's timeless story of the puppet that yearns to be real. The Oscar-winning director-writer-star of Life Is Beautiful is at his irrepressible best (or worst, depending on your view) as the headstrong and peevish puppet who -- despite his best efforts to change his ways and be well-behaved, obedient, and honest -- proceeds to naively stumble into one calamity after another. The film may be too frantic for some tastes, and there is a stunningly ill-conceived image of a dangling Pinocchio hanged by "assassins" from a tree, framed against the brightest, fullest moon since E.T. But the boundless Benigni's performance is anything but wooden, and the film opens and closes with images that are pure magic: the Blue Fairy's mice-drawn carriage and the lovely, childlike sight of Pinocchio's shadow, which separates from its school-bound owner to chase a butterfly. As in the Disney version, the Playland sequence, in which disobedient boys are turned into jackasses, is a harrowing highlight. The superior subtitled Italian-language version is available on VHS and DVD, as is the critically maligned English version, which, though poorly dubbed, will make the film accessible to younger viewers. A titanic hit in Benigni's native Italy, this indefatigably eccentric film may well build a cult following Stateside.