‘Pinocchio’ Dazzling, Though Splintered

Fri., July 26, 1996

Michael Rechtshaffen The Hollywood Reporter

An effective reworking of a children’s classic is no mean feat. In the case of “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” the story of the wooden puppet with the telltale nose has for so long been associated with the classic 1940 Disney version that subsequent tellings (including a 1976 TV movie with Sandy Duncan as the title character) simply couldn’t measure up.

Now filmmaker Steve Barron (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) has boldly attempted to revisit the mischievous marionette in this brash, boisterous and admittedly much darker interpretation filmed in Czechoslovakia with an international cast.

While Barron is to be commended for adhering much closer to Carlo Collodi’s original text, with an eye for rich visual detail, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop has come up with a truly wondrous animatronic creation, the dizzying array of accents and acting techniques never forms a cohesive whole.

Ultimately, this Pinocchio just has too many splinters, and with a tone that is more Brothers Grimm than Uncle Walt, the picture will probably be a bit too intense for younger viewers.

Martin Landau makes for a fine Geppetto, the sympathetic master puppet maker who fashions Pinocchio out of an enchanted tree trunk. Surprisingly, his surrogate son (nicely voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas), is far more rambunctious than previous portrayals, with behavior bordering on acute hyperactivity.

Less effective is the rest of the cosmopolitan cast, including French-Canadian Genevieve Bujold as the unrequited love of Geppetto’s life, Germany’s Udo Kier as the sinister showman Lorenzini (taking the place of Stromboli) and Americans Bebe Neuwirth and Rob Schneider as a pair of bumbling criminals, all of whom appear to be performing in their own private vacuums.

The true star of the show is the eye-popping animatronic technology. This Pinocchio is a thing of richly detailed beauty, moving with remarkable fluidity and resembling a wood-grained Jonathan Taylor Thomas to boot.

xxxx “The Adventures of Pinocchio” Location: East Sprague, North Division and Coeur d’Alene cinemas Credits: Directed by Steve Barron, starring Martin Landau, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Genevieve Bujold, Udo Kier, Bebe Neuwirth and Rob Schneider Running time: 1:36 Rating: PG

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