Summaries

Synopsis

In Italy during the Great War, the carpenter Geppetto (David Bradley) loses his son, Carlo (Gregory Mann), during an inadvertent aerial bombardment by Austrian forces (They were simply returning to base and dropped their bombs on Geppetto's town to make their ballasts lighter). Carlo was only ten years old and Gepetto loved him dearly and he was his only companion. together they worked on carving a crucifix for the local church. The whole town loved the father son duo. Geppetto honors his memory by planting a pine-cone (one that Carlo had selected before he died) near his grave and spends the next twenty years mourning his loss.

An anthropomorphic cricket named Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) takes up residence in the resulting pine tree. Geppetto subsequently cuts the tree down in a fit of drunken rage in order to make a new son out of its wood. He passes out drunk, leaving the puppet unfinished, and a blue Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) (Her appearance is a humanoid with two wings that have eyes on them and a snake-like tail) brings it to life, christening him Pinocchio (Gregory Mann). The Sprite meets Sebastian and promises to grant him a wish, which he intends to use to become famous, in exchange for acting as Pinocchio's guide.

Geppetto later discovers that Pinocchio is alive (and wreaks havoc inside Gepetto's cabin as he discovers the new world in front of him) and locks him in a closet while he goes to church, but he follows him, frightening the villagers. The town Podesta visits Geppetto along with the priest (Burn Gorman) to determine if Pinocchio poses a threat to the village. He finds that Pinocchio is harmless but is undisciplined. He orders Geppetto to send the boy to school. The next day, Geppetto sends Pinocchio to school, but the puppet is intercepted by a man and his performing monkey, aristocrat-turned-showman Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) and Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett), respectively. Count Volpe's circus is in financial trouble, and he sees Pinocchio as a way to draw in large crowds and regain his lost glory.

Count Volpe convinces Pinocchio to join his circus and gets him to sign a contract. Geppetto comes looking for him, and Sebastian guides him to the circus, where Volpe had taken him. After Geppetto arrives to take him home, he and Volpe have a tug-of-war that results in Pinocchio being thrown to the road, where he is hit by a car.Pinocchio is sent to the afterlife where he meets the Black Rabbits (Tim Blake Nelson). He is then sent through the doors to meet Death (Tilda Swinton) (Her appearance is a Chimera with the face of a human, the horns of a cape buffalo, the lower horns of a Jacob sheep, the body of a lion, the wings of a bird with eyes on them, and a snake-headed tail), the sister of the Wood Sprite. She explains to Pinocchio that he is immortal, and that he will return to the mortal realm once an hourglass has emptied, cautioning that the time he spends in the afterlife will increase each time he returns.

Returning to the mortal realm, Pinocchio decides to join Volpe's circus (else Gippetto has to pay Volpe 10 million Lire as per the terms of the contract), both to earn money for Geppetto and to avoid being drafted into the Royal Italian Army by the strict village Podesta (Ron Perlman). Podesta thinks that Pinocchio is the perfect soldier as he cannot be killed.By the time Geppetto finds out, Volpe had already left town with his circus and vanished.

When Sebastian and Geppetto search for Pinocchio at sea, they are swallowed by a giant sea monster. Meanwhile Pinocchio learns that Volpe has been using him and not sending any money back to his father as agreed. Volpe had been using Pinocchio non-stop for performances and was scheduled to perform for Mussolini next. During one of his performances, Pinocchio sings a disparaging parody of a patriotic song to Benito Mussolini (Tom Kenny) as revenge for Volpe's abuse and is summarily executed.

Once revived, Pinocchio finds himself taken by the Podesta to a training camp where other small boys are trained to fight in the war. Pinocchio befriends the Podesta's son, Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard), who is scared of disappointing his father and being seen as weak. Per Pinocchio's advice, Candlewick stands up to his father, but the training camp gets bombed by enemy aircraft, killing the Podesta. The blast of the bomb causes Pinocchio to be thrown into the air.Pinocchio manages to escape and is captured by Volpe, who tries to burn him in revenge (his circus was burnt down by Mussolini to avenge his insult at the hands of Pinocchio) but is stopped by Spazzatura. They are sent over a cliff and Volpe falls to his death, while Pinocchio rescues Spazzatura. Soon after, they are swallowed by the sea monster and reunite with Geppetto and Sebastian in its stomach.

Pinocchio lies to make his nose grow, thus forming a bridge leading out of the monster's blowhole. Just as they escape, the monster attempts to eat them again, causing Pinocchio to sacrifice himself by detonating a naval mine that the monster is in the process of swallowing. Upon meeting Death again, Pinocchio demands to be sent back early so that he can save Gepetto from drowning (who was knocked unconscious by the blast), despite the fact that this will make him mortal. After rescuing Geppetto, Pinocchio dies, prompting Sebastian to use his wish to bring Pinocchio back to life, which the Wood Sprite grants.

Pinocchio and the others return home to live as a family. However, Pinocchio outlives all of his loved ones. Ultimately alone, Pinocchio decides to travel to parts unknown for new adventures.During the credits, Sebastian sings for the Black Rabbits in the afterlife.