Yes this movie's practical effects, characters and special effects didn't hold up very well, yes this didn't have the budget to justify a story of this scope, yes the donkey transformation is scary, yes this isn't the best depiction of Pinocchio, but you know what, that's okay.
The movie had one goal in mind, to try and translate the original novel as closely as possible, and if not, just tell a story. And they did. They put their best effort to try and make something unique, and it wasn't all for a lack of effort. If this had more money put into it, they could've done a much better job, clearly ambition outweighed what their budget could allow.
I will say on the donkey transformation, it's supposed to be scary, it's supposed to tell Pinocchio that something is seriously wrong and make him realize he made a terrible mistake.
In spite of this film's many flaws, they're more earnest compared to the 2022 Pinocchio live-action remake, Disney's own mind you. They represent the other extreme. They had all the money in the world and made something of it, but the story is far more hollow by comparison, all that effort, and it was all for nothing.
If you ask me, give me childhood trauma over a wet fart any day of the week, trauma builds character.
The movie had one goal in mind, to try and translate the original novel as closely as possible, and if not, just tell a story. And they did. They put their best effort to try and make something unique, and it wasn't all for a lack of effort. If this had more money put into it, they could've done a much better job, clearly ambition outweighed what their budget could allow.
I will say on the donkey transformation, it's supposed to be scary, it's supposed to tell Pinocchio that something is seriously wrong and make him realize he made a terrible mistake.
In spite of this film's many flaws, they're more earnest compared to the 2022 Pinocchio live-action remake, Disney's own mind you. They represent the other extreme. They had all the money in the world and made something of it, but the story is far more hollow by comparison, all that effort, and it was all for nothing.
If you ask me, give me childhood trauma over a wet fart any day of the week, trauma builds character.