The New Adventures of Pinocchio (film)

The New Adventures of Pinocchio is a 1999 direct-to-video film that is a sequel to the 1996 film The Adventures of Pinocchio. The film was directed by Michael Anderson and featured Martin Landau reprising his role as Geppetto with Udo Kier reprising his role as Lorenzini, but also playing Lorenzini's widow Madame Flambeau. The film also featured Sarah Alexander, Simon Schatzberger, Warwick Davis, Ben Ridgeway, and introduced Gabriel Thomson as Pinocchio. This is the last film Michael Anderson directed before his death in 2018.

The New Adventures of Pinocchio
Movie Poster
Directed byMichael Anderson
Produced byHarald Reichebner
Knut Boeser
Jeffrey M. Sneller
Raju Patel
Based onThe Adventures of Pinocchio
by Carlo Collodi
Starring
Music byGünther Fischer
Rainer Oleak
Production
company
Fries Film Group
Creativ Berlin Filmpartners
The Carousel Picture Company
Global United Entertainment
Pinocchio II Productions Ltd.
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • 16 November 1999 (1999-11-16)
Running time
134 minutes
CountryUnited States
Germany
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Italian

Plot

In July 1890, Geppetto is finishing up his puppets for the Royal Puppet Festival. His son Pinocchio and Pinocchio's 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 named Mister Laffy who washes his face, an albino named Sizzler who can blow fire from his mouth, a large fish tank that have fish with human faces, a woman with a beard named Loretta Largesse, and a fairy called "Blue" who only Pinocchio can see. They then return to Pinocchio's house and find 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 she will restore Geppetto and Lampwick back to human. Pinocchio co-operates by drinking the Elixir and is restored to a puppet. Pinocchio then finds out Madame Flambeau had tricked him just so he 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 consisting of Felinet, Volpe, Mister Laffy, Sizzler and the Strongman 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 are not restored to human.

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.

Cast

Puppeteers
  • Richard St. Clair - Pinocchio
  • Craig Narramore - Geppetto
  • John Wheatly
  • Phillip Fason
  • Isabel While
  • Isabel Blomhoej
  • Delphine Maghe
  • Francoise Poirson
  • Christophe Joncquel

Production

Like The Adventures of Pinocchio, this film used animatronic puppets created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

The film's previous actors from the first movie including Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Bebe Neuwirth, Rob Schneider, David Doyle, and Corey Carrier did not reprise their roles in the sequel and were replaced by Gabriel Thomson, Sarah Alexander, Simon Schatzberger, Warwick Davis, and Ben Ridgeway respectively.

Trivia

The fish with human faces are actually the 4 people who bought and drank the elixir right before Pinocchio and Lampwick go into the "Hall of Freaks". The Asian Man is the Asian Fish, the Whining Boy is the blowfish, the Whining Boy's mother is the blue and yellow fish, and the Thin Man is the fish with a top hat. The 4 are restored to human, as they are seen at Geppetto's show at the end of the movie.

Release

It was released in Australia on April 6, 2000.

References
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