Movie review
September 7, 2022 · 105 min · PG
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The movie swaps in Cynthia Erivo, a Black actress, as the Blue Fairy in a 1900s Italian village story where the character was always depicted as white. The ending drops the original transformation into a real boy and has Geppetto declare the wooden puppet is already his "real boy" with nothing to change, pushing unconditional self-acceptance instead. New supporting characters add extra diversity and a ballerina subplot. These choices stand out against the classic moral tale of honesty and virtue.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Pinocchio.
Woke representation / casting
Visible race swap on the Blue Fairy with Cynthia Erivo stands out in the period Italian setting; added diverse supporting roles and new characters.
Woke political dialogue
Minimal; no heavy activist speeches, just classic moral lessons with light acceptance framing.
Identity-driven story themes
Core honesty tale intact, but ending reframes "real boy" goal around unconditional self-acceptance of the puppet form.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Brief puppet prejudice at school stays story-appropriate; no modern systemic or identity-politics lectures.
Woke character or canon changes
Blue Fairy race swap plus major ending rewrite from 1940 Disney canon (no transformation).
Production
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Specific backlash over casting as forced diversity and ending as woke self-acceptance messaging.
Creator track record context
Zemeckis and Weitz lack any pattern of activist or identity-driven prior work.
