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The New Adventures of Pinocchio

The New Adventures of Pinocchio
European release April 2001; U.S. release February 2003
Directed by Michael Anderson
Starring Martin Landau, Udo Kier, Gabriel Thomson, Warwick Davis

This is not your typical kiddie movie. It has a darker edge than you usually find in the genre, and even though it has a traditional happy ending, the events that happen along the way are quirky and unpredictable. The movie doesn't talk down to the kids, either. The film is probably best suited to school-age children, and will be entertaining for many adults too.

I had a lot of advance information on this movie, to the extent that I knew the whole storyline long before it hit the airwaves. The movie held my attention in spite of this, and throughout the film I found myself wanting to see what would happen next and enjoying the movie's many unusual moments.

The story tells how Pinocchio's irresponsible behavior in real-boy form leads to him and the people he loves falling into the clutches of an evil carnival owner who'll stop at nothing to get a hit headliner act. Pinocchio must then struggle to save them all.

Warwick Davis plays a carnival barker who befriends Pinocchio. Although several other characters have a bigger role, Warwick has a very satisfactory amount of screen time in this film; he shows up within the first five minutes, and makes frequent appearances thereafter. I had a good laugh when he got into the CG action near the end of the movie!

Other highlights included Udo Kier playing his part in drag for most of the movie. Sarah Alexander's performance as Felinet the catwoman had an interesting quirkiness as well.

This movie was filmed in Luxembourg in Spring 1999.

The Dark Horizons website posted this report in July 2000:

Pinocchio 2: The Darker Side?: Tom Sheppard, writer of the cartoon series "Pinky and the Brain" talked with The Flik Spot and confirmed a sequel is in the works to the Martin Landau & Jonathan Taylor Thomas 1996 film version of the classic "Pinocchio" tale. The sequel, entitled "The New Adventures of Pinocchio" is written by Sheppard and helmed by the legendary Michael Anderson ("Logan's Run"). Landau will return alongside actors like Udo Kier and Warwick Davis, and Sheppard confirms this'll be quite a different kind of Pinocchio than what you're used to seeing: "I can assure you, the film is far darker than the first, and quite bizarre. Udo Kier is in drag for most of the film! Anyway, New Line is supposed to be releasing it in the fall. For fans of classic horror, fantasy and Grand Guignol, it should prove to be a pleasant surprise".

IMDB and Yahoo! Movies have more information on the movie. There's a French-language site here with pictures from the movie.

Behind the Scenes
Stanley Mejivski, the #1 extra for the film. Thanks for the pics and info! Director Michael Anderson and star Udo Kier. Gepetto puppet prop. Even clowns take breaks!
Matte painting.
 Actress Sarah Alexander with make-up artist.

Now here's something you won't get anywhere else! Stanley Mejivski, the number one extra on the film, kindly provided me with behind-the-scenes information and pictures. He plays 5 or 6 roles and appears 20 times in the movie in 14 different scenes, sometimes as more than one character in the same scene. He included a picture of himself, to help us watch out for him in the movie!

Unfortunately, he doesn't have any candid pictures of Warwick - Stan was reluctant to bother the stars, although he did manage to get a shot of Udo Kier and the director. But he did meet Warwick, and stands behind him in one scene (see picture at the top of the page). Stan describes the action as follows. Stop reading now if you don't like spoilers!

"If I got it right, he [Warwick] plays some kind of a guy who shows monsters in a circus; that day he was calling on passers-by to see a gigantic woman who can eat tons of food. All I can say is that I'm standing right behind him as he does so, and that the woman eventually explodes, turning the tent into a mess.

Stan was too busy trying to spot himself and his friends onscreen to pay any real attention to the film itself, but he said that the audience seemed to really appreciate it.

And I really appreciate having all this information! Thanks for your help, Stan!