Carlo Collodi Movies

Daniel Robichaud's P3K: Pinocchio 3000 takes the famous fairy tale and sets it in the future. The childless Gepetto build a robot that looks like a boy. Gepetto has invented a special device that allows the robot to feel human emotion. The mayor of the town Gepetto lives in rules the city in a cruel and unforgiving way. When the mayor opens a play area for children in the town, Gepetto senses that the mayor has selfish motivations and sabotages the opening. The mayor seeks out his revenge by using Pinocchio for his own nefarious purposes. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Unlike the more familiar animated Pinocchio by Disney, there are no song interludes here, and characters added to the story by Disney (such as Jiminy Cricket) are not included. Producer Francis Ford Coppola and director Steve Barron, (known for the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film) closely adhere to Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel and use the visually timeless setting of a Czechoslovakian village. Jim Henson's puppet studio skillfully brings this Pinocchio to life. Long ago, in his youth, Gepetto (Martin Landau) loved but did not court Leona (Genvieve Bujold), who married Gepetto's brother instead. In that earlier time, he carved her initials with his onto a tree. Now his brother is dead, and though he still feels for Leona, he is still too shy to woo her. Instead, the old puppet-maker goes into the forest and cuts down a tree in order to make a puppet just for himself. The tree is the same one he carved his initials into when he was younger, and it has the magic of his love in it. Soon after the puppet Pinocchio is made, he comes to life. Aside from being made of wood, he begins to live the life of a perfectly normal little boy. He even goes to school. Lorenzini, an evil magician who runs a children's puppet show, hears of Pinocchio and wants to use him in his show. Lorenzini lures children to his show, only to later turn them into donkeys. Donkeys are useful creatures, and Lorenzini makes a lot of money selling them. Through many trials and tribulations, the puppet-boy earns the right to become the human boy Pinocchio (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this animated version of the classic children's tale, the marionette who wanted to become a real boy gets into trouble when he loses his father Gepetto's favorite jewelry box. At first, Pinnochio tries to conceal his wrongdoing but eventually, thanks to the promptings of his insect pal "Gee Whilikers," comes to do the right thing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Designed especially for the kiddies, this lively outing has Pinnochio trying to stage a puppet show on behalf of a sick puppeteer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Classical story presentation of the wooden puppet who has one wish: to become a real boy! ~ All Movie Guide

Writer/director Luigi Comencini originally created Le Avventure di Pinocchio as a five-and-a-half-hour miniseries for Italian television. This 134-minute version, featuring various guest stars, was released theatrically. Pinocchio (Andrea Balestri) is a wooden puppet carved by Geppetto (Nino Manfredi), who is turned into a little boy by a magical fairy (Gina Lollobrigida). She insists that he be obedient and loving to his father Geppetto, but the rebellious Pinocchio tries to live independently -- and encounters many ordeals, from being turned into a donkey to getting swallowed by a whale. After he and Geppetto escape from the whale, Pinocchio is able to be the good son his father deserves. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

In this Czechoslovakian version of the popular children's story, live action is combined with puppetry as it tells the story of a lonely wood-carver who creates a puppet to represent the son he never had. Endowed with a will of his own and the ability to move independently, the puppet has many adventures and in the end gets to become a real live boy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto (Christian Rub) builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio (Dick Jones), is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish. But, even with the help of Jiminy (Cliff Edwards), a cricket who the fairy assigns to be Pinocchio's conscience, the marionette goes astray. He joins a puppet show instead of going to school, he lies instead of telling the truth, and he travels to Pleasure Island instead of going straight home. Yet, when Pinocchio discovers that a whale has swallowed Geppetto, the puppet single-mindedly journeys into the ocean and selflessly risks his life to save his father, thereby displaying that he deserves to be a real boy. Based on a series of stories by 19th century Italian author Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio came under fire for being a sugarcoated version of its original tale, but the film's moral did have a strong educational effect on children. Soon enough, a 16 mm excerpt from the picture, titled "Pinocchio: A Lesson in Honesty," was released for teachers to use in schools. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide