The New Adventures of Pinocchio

Plot synopsis:
In July 1890, Pinocchio and his friend Lampwick skip school to go to a carnival. While there, they watch a presentation by the carnival's leader, Madame Flambeau. She gives a man with one shorter leg some of her Elixir, and his leg grows to the length of the other one. The carnival's dwarf then leads Pinocchio and Lampwick to "The Hall of Freaks", a place with a clown that washes his face, an albino who can blow fire from his mouth, a large fish tank that have fish with human faces, a woman with a beard, and a fairy called "Blue" who only Pinocchio can see. They then return to Pinocchio's house and find his father Geppetto, who is very sick. Pinocchio and Lampwick then return to the carnival to each buy some of Madame Flambeau's Elixir. Felinet and Volpe, a human-cat and human-fox respectively, lead them to Madame Flambeau. They don't have enough money for the Elixir, so they agree to work for her in the carnival. Lampwick drinks his Elixir and returns home, and Pinocchio gives his Elixir to Geppetto.
The next morning, Pinocchio finds the Elixir has transformed his father into a puppet. Madame Flambeau enters their house, and gets angry at Pinocchio for giving the Elixir to his father instead of himself. She reveals she is Lorenzini's widow. Geppetto and Pinocchio are then forced to work at the carnival's show. Geppetto eventually accepts and enjoys being a puppet, much to Pinocchio's dismay. Lampwick had been transformed into a sea donkey because of the Elixir, and Pinocchio finds him in the large fish tank. Madame Flambeau compromises Pinocchio that if he becomes a puppet, then Geppetto and Lampwick will automatically become human again; but this was a trick so that Pinocchio would perform in front of the prince. Seconds before the show, the dwarf takes Pinocchio; Felinet and Volpe take Geppetto and replace the two with inanimate puppets. The prince angrily leaves due to the audience booing. Madame Flambeau and her team go on a search for Geppetto and Pinocchio. The dwarf takes Pinocchio and Lampwick to the forest where Pinocchio came from. The dwarf transforms and reveals himself as Pepe.
Madame Flambeau finds Geppetto and then finds Pinocchio. Geppetto apologizes to Pinocchio for being more interested in his fame than his son, and it is implied he wants to be human again. Madame Flambeau then transforms into Lorenzini, a secret he had been hiding the whole time. He plans on cooking Lampwick using Pinocchio and Geppetto as the firewood. Pepe gives Pinocchio clues on how to find the Heart of the Mountain. Pinocchio, Geppetto and Lampwick get to the Heart of the Mountain via sliding down a long pathway. Once there, they find a pool called the "magic water", something that turns someone/something into their true nature. Lorenzini and the others also enter the Heart of the Mountain. Lampwick falls into the water and is instantly restored to human. Lorenzini laughs and jumps in the magic water thinking it will make him powerful, but it instead turns him into "the sea monster" over a period of time. Geppetto and Pinocchio then jump in and are instantly restored to human. Volpe and Felinet jump in but their true nature remains.
The next day, Lorenzini is locked up in a cage, and is laughed at by the carnival's audience for his grotesque sea monster appearance. Pinocchio and Lampwick go to see Geppetto's puppet show, along with a girl called "Isabella" who looks just like Blue but with black hair. Isabella tells Pinocchio that the Elixir can't truly fix anyone's troubles. Geppetto performs in front of the prince, and is applauded by Pinocchio and the rest of the audience. As the second lot of credits roll by, Lorenzini escapes his prison.

Tags: fantasy

Review:
Under the magic spell, Pinochio becomes a boy and Jephetto a wooden puppet..
The previous writers comments were not based on The New Adventures of Pinochio.
In this version Martin Landau (Jeppeto) becomes a puppet when he accidentally drinks a magic potion.
An English boy plays his son in the title role and gives a marvelous sensitive performance.
Except for some poor special effects, this Pinochio is really fun, believable and a must see.
Forget the previous versions.
Jeppeto is captured by a traveling circus, and Pinochio with his friend spends his time trying to rescue him, and remove the evil spell.
While attempting to rescue Jepetto, Pinochio is captured, falls under this spell and he becomes a wooden boy, This movie is really fun,hard to find.
If you are in Europe I think you will be able to see it..
Serves as a terrific antidote to the 'Disneytized' version.
I watched this film on TV with my two children (aged 12 and 10) and I think I enjoyed it as much as they did, maybe more.
The whole production is beautiful and feels like a fairy tale should.
The plot kept my children engrossed and amazingly stays true to the story.
It probably wasn't pre-tested or had to have its ending changed to suit the market.
In short, well-made, well-acted and well-filmed with special effects that are good enough to create some magic without being too spectacular and distracting.
It also makes good use of its location setting (admittedly in Luxembourg and not Italy).
A really pleasant way to spend an hour or so with the kids.
So why bother to comment at all?
The thing is a lot of people of my generation grew up with the Disneytized versions of what were mostly European fairy tales or children's stories, such as Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Winnie the Poo, etc, etc.
In the end, it's hard for us non-Americans to convince our kids that these are not the original stories.
Apart from incongruous American accents (okay, we're used to these a lot more than Americans are used to our "foreign" accents), names get changed (Jimminy Cricket instead of Pepe, which was good enough for the author), locations get switched and elements of the plot are shifted about or simplified.
Sometimes the tough parts are made just plain cute.
Maybe it shouldn't matter but when one culture dominates the film and TV outlets as much as is happening today then there's a feeling that when a film goes half-way to keeping its balance (with a nice mix of European and American actors) it serves as  a terrific antidote.
the recent Midsummer Night's Dream (dir.
Michael Hoffman) was another good example.
What a lot of Americans perhaps realize is just how many plots (children's movies aside) that are simply lifted from the original settings, maybe French, maybe British, by the US film and TV industry and then represented as original output.
It's a pity because that way, you don't get to know as much about us as we do about you.
Incidentally, my kids voted for this movie over the Disney version.
It made me proud..
Very disappointing..
To say this is a silly movie is an understatement.
The premise, that Gepetto is now turned into a puppet, has a great deal of promise, in that it could have explored the mirror images, so to speak, of the poignant emotions that have made Collodi's original tale immortal.
Sadly, none of this occurs.
Instead, every millimeter of depth is drained, leaving only an insipid story of a boy and man who seem less real than the puppets they sometimes occupy.
Gabriel Thomson, in the title role, comes across as trying very hard to rescue anything he can out of this part, which must have felt pretty humiliating right after "Pip" of "Great Expectations." He showed much more what he was capable of in "Enemy at the Gates" (2001), and then went on to a TV series.
I suppose the very young might find a few laughs in this "Pinocchio," but if you're looking for a further lesson in life or what constitutes being human, you won't find it here..
Pinocchio - the comments of an extra.
I was part of the "extras" together with my 6 year old daughter.
It's true that the site, the weather, were fantastic BUT...
you could feel from the beginning that this movie will not be that successful due to many various factors.
That was the first time I participated in a movie production and found out that all the people working on the set had an over dimensioned ego, finally, only the actors were nice and friendly.
The official photographer was chasing the extras who were taking pics of themselves in their funny costumes.
He was threatening us.
The casting girl was atrocious, nasty and arrogant.
Some extras thought they were THE movie stars and were constantly pushing the others to arrive all the time in front of the cameras.
Extras were getting poor food while the crew was nicely treated in term of food.
We were so naive, just wanting to participate in a dream, trying to make nice souvenirs.
Well, I participated in other movies and yes, I have to say that this movie environment is really a pitiless world, the jungle where the strongest bites the poorest.
A simple replication of the world I must say..
Solid story but very weak visuals.
I have to concede that this movie is a very deficient sequel to the original Pinocchio plot.
As I watched it I expected better images - this is a real point of criticism here.
A movie like this one, which actually features substantial magical input and imposes visual challenges for the producers ought to meet the requirements and try to live up to the premise it is built on.Thus this brings down the rating significantly.
I would normally be more indulgent with low budget productions, but as stated above, Pinocchio lives and dies with the transformation of visuals and the quality of the images.
Some were acceptable, the majority indifferent, and some simply ludicrous and a real shame.What makes me award this weakly equipped movie with a solid 6 though is based on two reasons: 1.
The British actor Gabriel Thomson as Pinocchio.
Gabriel Thomson is one of very few young actors who have natural skills and the ability to project their characters' sensibility with very subtle and decent acting.
I was stunned by his genuine performance and the way he is able to express so much with so little endeavor.
He shines here as he does in his most notable appearance in 'Enemy at the Gates'.
He manages to vitalize Pinocchio in a way that makes the audience relate to him as a character - something that is not always the case in movies featuring a preposterous edge as 'Pinocchio' does.
Gabriel's performance is very intriguing and much better than everything else this movie has to offer.2.
The story itself detached from the actual transcription.
I do not know if this sequel to the well-known Pinocchio-plot has a literary artwork as a basis.
Anyway, I think the idea itself of how the original story can be continued is true to the original concept and properly developed.
There are some nice messages and the story proceeds at a smart pace that compensates for some of the visual flaws.'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' is not for everyone and it could have been done significantly better regarding its decor.
However, if you are looking for a well-developed story and a brilliant Gabriel Thomson as Pinocchio, you might want to give it a try..
Bizarro Pinocchio.
A poorly made g rated movie.
Martin Landau as Gepetto is either unconscious in bed or doing a voice over.
Talk about phoning in a part.
Jonathan is a prince who briefly visits the show, and he has few or no lines.
This is what he deserves for walking away from a hit TV show.
The drag queen circus master, Udo Kier, looks exactly like Hillary Clinton if she painted an eyeball on her cheek every day.
The computer generated wooden puppets look weird, and the blue fairy speaks in clichés.
On the plus side, Felinet can snuggle in my lap anytime.
This movie is only suitable for little kids and the weak minded; it is excruciating for adults.
Weak sequel to a decent film.
While it doesn't hold a candle to the 1940 Disney film, which nearly 80 years later is one of their greatest triumphs and one of the best animated films of all time.'The Adventures of Pinocchio', dating from 1996, had its flaws, but was decent and a nice alternative to the Disney film.
This sequel, 'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' from 1999, is mediocre at best and even often quite weak.It does have some good things.
Gabriel Thomson is a likable and earnest Pinocchio and Udo Kier steals the film as an over-the-top, sometimes weird but incredibly fun Madame Flambeau.
Rachel Portman is missed, her score was beautiful, more dynamic and poignant but the music in 'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' is serviceable enough.
Warwick Davis does a decent job as Pepe.However, Martin Landau's Geopetto is almost completely sidelined and Landau, who was superb in 'The Adventures of Pinocchio and has given great performance, phones it in here.
And while Kier is fun as Madame Flambeau his Lorenzini (a villain that could have been much more interesting) is just not sinister enough.What particularly hurts the film are the visuals and the story.
'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' looks rather cheap, the photography isn't as lavish, editing is sloppy and the sets and costumes do look like shoestring budget material, but it's the puppetry and special effects that are particularly subpar at best and often extremely poor and too obvious.
Pepe is very mechanical in movement and design, the sea donkey is especially cheaply weak, Kier's sea monster make up couldn't have been more bizarre and the scene with the talking fish should have been left on the cutting/editing room floor.The story tries to put twists on some of the events of 'The Adventures of Pinocchio, but just feels like a dull, soulless and charmless retread with role reversals.
Pacing is dull, the dialogue couldn't have been more cheesy or bland and the direction often is inept, especially in the talking fish/cart ride scene.Overall, weak sequel though not without its moments.
4/10 Bethany Cox. The New Adventures of Pinocchio.
I would definitely rather see the Disney cartoon than this piece of crap.
When I was younger it was good in places, and now the only good thing I can say about it is that there are some good stars in it, but that is it!
You know the story, Geppetto (Martin Landau) makes puppets, including Pinocchio, who is brought to life (played by Gabriel Thomson) and will hopefully become a real boy.
It is hardly the same as the Disney cartoon though, they have more scenes with him going hardly anywhere, he actually gets to go to school, his Dad goes to court or something, and Jiminey Cricket is now named Pepe.
Also starring Udo Kier as Madame Flambeau/Lorenzini, Gemma Gregory as Blue Fairy, Leprachaun's Warwick Davis as Dwarf and Dawn French as the Baker's Wife.
It is just ridiculous, and not special effects or the many stars can save it from being a piece of crap!
Poor!