by REBECCA ASCHER-WALSH, KRISTEN BALDWIN, JESS CAGLE, STEVE DALY, JEFF GORDINIER, A.J. JACOBS, DAVE KARGER, DANA KENNEDY, GREGG KILDAY, KATE MEYERS, CHRIS NASHAWATY, JESSICA SHAW, BENJAMIN SVETKEY, ANNE THOMPSON, AND JEFFREY WELLS
Entertainment Weekly -- Issue 328 Page 56
STARRING Martin Landau, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Genevieve Bujold, Bebe Neuwirth, Rob Schneider
DIRECTED BY Steve Barron
Martin wasn't the first person who jumped into my head to play Geppetto, " says British director and coscreenwriter Barron (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). "Then I saw Ed Wood." Landau's turn as Bela Lugosi was just winning critical raves when the actor met with Barron and agreed to star in this $25 million live-action-and-animatronic version of Carlo Collodi's dark 19th century tale. "I didn't want this Geppetto to be the dear little Alpine clock maker Disney created," says Landau. "He's a curmudgeon who's afraid of people, afraid of intimacy." Landau had little trouble emoting to his pine-carved son once he saw the "fantastic expressiveness" of the Henson Creature Shop's motor-driven title character. Thomas, now 14, plays the real-boy Pinocchio (and the voice of his puppet incarnation) with a touch of electronic help as well: When he relooped a few scenes, his breaking pubescent vocals had to be pitched up. (July 26)
* BUZZ Nearly orphaned when original sponsor Savoy Pictures went bust partway through filming, Pinocchio is now a New Line release--but with the company's video division already soliciting orders for a November video release, this boy may be nosed out quickly in theaters.
PHOTO (COLOR): When it came to Pinocchio's prevaricating puppet (played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas), a wooden perormance was no stretch.