Pinocchio poster

Pinocchio (1940)

Directed by Hamilton Luske

When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio, is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish.

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What critics compared Pinocchio to

TRON: Ares poster
Leto commands the often hyperbolic storyline as a modern cyber-punk Pinocchio with a dash of the friendlier Terminator and a splash of Star Trek’s Data.
Jim Batts →, Jim Batts • We Are Movie Geeks • Oct 10, 2025
wearemoviegeeks.com ↗
…the script itself alludes to both Frankenstein and Pinocchio…
One Guys Opinion • One Guy's Opinion • Oct 9, 2025
oneguysopinion.com ↗
One of the producers of TRON: Ares likened the film’s concept to Pinocchio because the puppet evolved to become a person.
Kaplan & Kaplan
kaplanvskaplan.com ↗
…than it is about Ares’s Pinocchio-esque transformation into a real boy.
Richard Crouse
richardcrouse.ca ↗
…a predictable mashup of Pinocchio, The Terminator and Robocop…
Tim Grierson, Senior US critic, Jeremy Kay, Allan Hunter, Jonathan Romney, Nikki Baughan • ScreenDaily • Oct 7, 2025
screendaily.com ↗
…heavy-handed references to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus” (1818) and “Pinocchio?”
Sarah Vincent, www.facebook.com • Oct 10, 2025
sarahgvincentviews.com ↗
Pinocchio poster
Based on the 1883 children’s story by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio is in spirit a classical European fairy tale, full of wonder and terror, implacable moralism and providential hope.
Decent Films
archive.org ↗
Such was the case with Walt Disney's 1940 release of "Pinocchio."
There’s my Pinocchio!”
The Moving Picture Show
movingpictureshow.com ↗
Title villain Ultron is well-voiced by James Spader and gets a few wickedly cool characteristics, including his recurring "I've Got No Strings" callback to Disney's 1940 animated feature "Pinocchio," but the longer he is around the more glaringly one-note he becomes.
Dustin Putman • The Film File
thefilmfile.com ↗
"There are no strings on me," he says, quoting from Disney's 1940 classic cartoon "Pinocchio" in one of the strangest recent instances of corporate synergy.
Marc Mohan | Special to The Oregonian, Marc Mohan, Special to The Oregonian • The Oregonian/OregonLive • Apr 30, 2015
oregonlive.com ↗
Anomalisa poster
The 20th century had Disney's Pinocchio (1940).
Tony Macklin
tonymacklin.net ↗
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…but Shapiro’s spot seems like Pinocchio’s Pleasure Island. It’ll be fun for a bit, but instead of being turned into a real chef, Syd is going to end up a donkey.
Marah Eakin, Vulture • Vulture • Jun 26, 2025
vulture.com ↗
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio poster
It adds an extra edge, which is saying something, considering how wildly impressive 1940’s Pinocchio from Disney still is as one of their best hand-drawn animated features.
Aaron Neuwirth, www.facebook.com • We Live Entertainment • Nov 27, 2022
weliveentertainment.com ↗
The story beats will be familiar to audiences since the movie mostly splits the difference between Carlo Collodi’s source material, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and the classic 1940s Disney adaptation.
Radheyan Simonpillai • The Globe and Mail • Nov 10, 2022
theglobeandmail.com ↗
Although it’s credited as a direct adaptation of Collodi’s text, del Toro’s Pinocchio owes as much to the 1940 Disney version, including the central presence of a garrulous insect, here named Sebastian J. Cricket and voiced by Ewan McGregor.
Sam Adams • Slate • Dec 9, 2022
slate.com ↗
And not just any feature, but Pinocchio (1940), one of the most beloved, impeccable, and technically breathtaking films of Disney’s Golden Age.
Cinema St. Louis
cinemastlouis.org ↗
Perhaps even more so than Disney’s terrifying 1940 Pinocchio, this stop-motion variation—co-directed by del Toro and animator Mark Gustafson—leans into the more unnerving aspects of a wooden puppet coming to life, while still capturing the fairy-tale wonder at the heart of the tale.
josh • LarsenOnFilm • Nov 17, 2022
larsenonfilm.com ↗
And boy, this is not your Disney “Pinocchio” — not the 1940 classic nor the remake of a few months ago.
Jocelyn Noveck, apnews.com, jocelyn-noveck • Associated Press • Dec 9, 2022
apnews.com ↗
And that’s a problem, because the cartoon is already basically perfect: the best and most justly beloved film of the 1990s Disney renaissance, and the only cartoon Disney ever made after the mid-1940s that I would rank alongside their early masterpieces, Snow White , Pinocchio , Fantasia and Bambi .
Steven D. Greydanus • National Catholic Register • Mar 13, 2017
ncregister.com ↗
Paprika poster
Bunlar dışında filmde birçok gönderme olsa da, yazımızın sınırlarını aşmamak adına sadece isimlerini vermekle yetinelim: Pinocchio (1940), The Big Sleep (1946), Peter Pan (1953), The Collector (1965), Monkey (1978) ve Blade Runner (1982).
H. Necmi Öztürk tarafından • Aug 3, 2020
dialmformovie.net ↗
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Cronos poster
While Frankenstein shares thematic DNA with Pinocchio, there are shades of Crimson Peak, Cronos, The Shape of Water, and Nightmare Alley, making the film feel like a culmination of del Toro’s cinematic obsessions.
Leo Brady • A Movie Guy • Oct 18, 2025
amovieguy.com ↗
In del Toro’s work, from Cronos to Pinocchio, from ghosts to gillmen, the monsters are indisputably the heroes.
Aly Caviness • Midwest Film Journal • Oct 18, 2025
midwestfilmjournal.com ↗
Disclosure Day poster
…(remember, Close Encounters referenced “When You Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio)…
Bilge Ebiri • Vulture • Jun 12, 2026
vulture.com ↗