Pinocchio 3000
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| Pinocchio 3000 | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Daniel Robichaud |
| Release date(s) | February 9th 2004 |
Pinocchio 3000 (or P3K, Pinocchio the Robot) is a French/French Canadian/Spanish computer-animated film by Christal Films. Like A.I., it is a futuristic science fiction interpretation of the classic tale Pinocchio where Pinocchio is a robot brought to life by tapping into a city's power surge, rather than a puppet animated by magic.
The story centers around the basic legend of Pinocchio attempting to fit into living with humans, having difficulties, becoming frustrated with them, and eventually overcoming them. Most of the base elements and characters have been used, in different forms.
The story takes place in the town of Scamboville, a futuristic city constantly under development under the reign of its namesake, Scamboli.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
[edit] Geppetto family
[edit] Pinocchio
Pinocchio is an artificial intelligence designed by Geppetto. In this, his nose doesn't so much grow as retract, a feature installed by Cyberina. While initially entertaining the idea of becoming human, after being discriminated against he defensively adopts a position of (possibly righteous) superiority to humans, as he has a faster processing brain and more extensive imagination circuits. When he is cheated out of his victory in an imagination contest with Marlene, he snatches the trophy medal from her. This object becomes a strong component in the story later.
Despite his robot pride, he gains an appreciation for life and humans through his father and in befriending Marlene, and possesses a desire to be accepted by children, even if it means co-operating with the evil Scamboli.
[edit] Geppetto
Geppetto is an inventor and designer of robots and high technology, in addition to his classic role as a toymaker for local children. He resolves to love Pinocchio regardless of whether he is human, and undergoes many risks to make him happy and keep him safe.
[edit] Spencer
Spencer is a talking penguin who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventure for some of the time, attempting to help him make moral decisions, guide him through the city, and avoid danger. He wears a suit and monacle like Disney's interpretation of Jiminy Cricket, and is obviously meant to be him. Unlike in the Disney tale, he is not employed by Cyberina (the Blue Fairy interpretation) and does not play as strong a role in the story.
[edit] House
Geppetto's house has an artificial intelligence which can control the doors, windows, and other appliances. This is a build upon the concept of intelligent homes already in progress with technological habitation designs.
[edit] Scamboli Family
[edit] Scamboli
Mayor Scamboli (called Combinard in foreign films) is the villain of the movie. He is the mayor of the city, a widower who remains raises his little girl alone. He has ambitions to terraform the city, removing all signs of nature and replacing it with aesthetic metal and technology. He does greatly love his daughter and is very protective of her. He is controlling, and sees children and life as a random factor he cannot account for, motivating him to transform both into something he understands: metal.
[edit] Marlene
Marlene (or Marlène) is Scamboli's daughter, and initially is portrayed as a stereotypical spoiled rich girl. It is eventually revealed that she is a more complex character, interested in ecological preservation and semi-technophobic. This may be the root of her initial disdain for Pinocchio. She is also revealed to be romantic interest, in a cute childhood love sort of way. She is torn between her love for her father and the environment, as he refuses to stop attacking it. She wears her hair in pigtails, kept back with a series of coloured hooplike hair bands.
[edit] Cab and Rodo
Scamboli's robots are under both his and his daughter Marlene's command, and the lack of seniority in command structure is later evidenced when they zoom back and forth confused under conflicting commands from the two of them. They appear and are stupid, probably responsible for Marlene's stereotyping of robots, and a source of physical humour in the movie. Cab is a tall and lanky yellow robot, Rodo is a short red robot with a dog's head. Pinocchio initially feels kinship with these two and begins to espouse how much more intelligent robots are with them, but then discovers that he is rather a unique case.
[edit] Miscellaneous characters
[edit] Cyberina
Cyberina is the robotic fairy of the city. Her name is a play on the name Sabrina, with the word Cyber inputted, or possibly an extension of the word Cyber similar to Ballet and Ballerina, implying she is one who is proficient with cybernetics. She is based on the character the Blue Fairy from the original story.
Whether or not she has real magical powers is unknown, as she doesn't actively use them. She does however have a large grasp over various technologies and the ability to implement them. She promises to help Pinocchio figure out how to be a real boy, saying he must learn the difference between right and wrong to do so. She plays a stronger role in the story than in most interpretations, and with a large amount of comic relief, influenced by her voice actress, Whoopi Goldberg's personality and appearance.
She wears eccentric glasses, and has a mermaid-like lower body through which she can fly, and sparking circuits coming from the top of her head, reminiscent of Whoopi's hair, albeit standing straight up, as if charged with static electricity.
[edit] Brother and sister
Playing a minor role, representing other children, these children are introduced as the example of average kids living in Scamboville. They appear throughout the story, and seem to be friends of Marlene.
[edit] Music
The musical score of Pinocchio 3000 is quite varied, varying from pop to soft kid's music. It has been designed with a modern appeal to kids, but pleasant enough for adults. In one instance, Pinocchio sings onstage.
The movie's theme song is What's the Difference? expressing Pinocchio's feelings regarding his robotity.
