Churning out live-action versions of their movies has become a regular feature of Walt Disney Studios. On May 31, the studio released the teaser trailer for the latest lore to become live-action – Pinocchio. The 2022 film will be an adaptation of Walt Disney’s 1940 animated film Pinocchio, which was based on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio.

The trailer of the film revealed the looks of some of the characters while teasing the look of the protagonist, Pinocchio. In the film, Tom Hanks plays the puppet-maker Geppetto, while Cynthia Erivo has been cast as the Blue Fairy.

Fans were welcoming of Tom Hanks as the puppet-maker Geppetto. The trailer is loaded with glimpses of Hanks with his look completely altered by all the prosthetics he has on. There are a lot of expectations from the Hanks-Robert Zemeckis combination as the actor and the director have previously come together to make a cinematic legend in the form of Forrest Gump.

Very few fans have grumbled at the looks of Pinocchio’s maker, however, many were disappointed with how little of the puppet-boy was seen in the trailer for his film. Some speculated that Disney chose to avoid showing Pinocchio as the CGI was not up to the mark.

The biggest displeasure expressed by fans mostly surrounded how the new Blue Fairy looks. There have been questions raised about Erivo’s casting and the decision to make her look the way she does. Her look does not match that of the Blue Fairy from the 1940s animated film, nor is it in keeping with Collodi’s description of the character he named ‘the Fairy with Turquoise Hair’ in The Adventures of Pinocchio.

At the same time, a section of fans shared their support for Disney’s choice of casting Erivo. Arguing that fictional characters should not be limited by looks and race, they pointed out that Disney’s 1940s Pinocchio had been heavily altered from the original story in the first place. Many simply appreciated the singer-actor Erivo for her talent as a bit of her singing When you wish upon a star is featured in the trailer.

The trailer also announced that the film will premiere on Disney+ Day on September 8.

It is still unclear why Disney is choosing to stream certain films, like Pinocchio and Peter Pan & Wendy, only on the streaming platform. It has been speculated that the calculated decision was taken to bolster the OTT platform.

The last live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated movies was Mulan, which had a mixed reception.

Disney’s remake of Pinocchio will face competition from Netflix’s Pinocchio which will stream in December. The stop-motion version directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson comes with a star cast featuring Gregory Mann, Ewan McGregor, Finn Wolfhard, Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett.

Whether the live-action version will gain more traction than the darker stop-motion version remains to be seen once the two films hit their respective streaming platforms.