Pinocchio 3000

Pinocchio 3000 .i.
Directed by	Daniel Robichaud
Produced by	Louis Duquet
Written by	Claude Scasso Peter Svatek
Starring	Malcolm McDowell Whoopi Goldberg Howie Mandel Helena Evangeliou Gabrielle Elfassy Howard Ryshpan
Music by	James Gelfand
Editing by	Claudette Duff
Studio	CinéGroupe Filmax
Distributed by	Kidtoon Films
Release date(s)	February 9, 2004 (2004-02-09)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$28

Pinocchio 3000 (or P3K, Pinocchio the Robot) is a 2004 Canadian computer-animated film by Christal Films. Like A.I. Artificial Intelligence, it is a futuristic science fiction interpretation of the classic tale The Adventures of 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.

Plot

The story begins an inventor named Gepetto is making a robot, Pinocchio as his son. Meanwhile, an evil mayor named Scamboli is making a technology city "Scamboville", to get rid of nature. He also hates children except for his beloved daughter, Marlene. Marlene has a problem about no space for children to have fun. So, Scamboli is going to make a theme park called "Scamboland".

That night, Gepetto and Spencer the Penguin are preparing to make Pinocchio to life. But Scamboli got the city mains to light up his theme park for the Grand Opening. So, Gepetto is going to steal his electricity. Suddenly, Scamboland had a single power cut and the children walked away. Then, Pinocchio came to life. He met Gepetto, Spencer and House as a family. Suddenly, they met Cyberina the fairy. She decided to give Gepetto's wish to turn Pinocchio into a real boy, if he has to learn about Right and Wrong.

The next morning, Pinocchio is walking his way to school with Spencer and learning about right and wrong. But he made some new friends with Zach, Cynthia and Marlene. But Marlene challenges Pinocchio to an Imagination game and it was host by Cyberina.

After they finished the game, Marlene have won. But, Pinocchio snatch the medal from her. Scamboli's henchmen, Cabby and Rodo decided to take Pinocchio to see Scamboli. While they talk to each other, Scamboli has an idea after Pinocchio said, "Life would be great, if kids were more like us". He decided to make Pinocchio a star to entertain the children.

When Pinocchio gave an advertisement, Gepetto must convince him to come home. While Pinocchio was having a concert with the children, Scamboli kidnapped Gepetto. All the children went to a roller coaster ride called "A Whale of a Change". But it was a trick, it turn all of them into "Scambobots". Meanwhile Pinocchio gave Marlene her medal and befriends with her. They went to Marlene's garden to spend in the night.

The next morning, Marlene found out that Scambobots were destroying her garden. She heard Pinocchio laughed. She give the medal to him and broke up with him. But Pinocchio accidentally helped Scamboli, so he is going to find his Dad. He found out that Gepetto was not home expect Spencer. So, they went to Scamboli to find him fast. When they got here, they met Scamboli and the robots. Scamboli turned Gepetto into a robot and forced to kill Pinocchio. Spencer flashed Scamboli's eyes with his camera and stole his remote. Pinocchio and Spencer went to the "Tunnel of Danger" to hide. They were trapped by Scamboli inside a ride. Marlene was here for Pinoccchio to be avoid. Scamboli crates obstacles while Marlene destroys them. Suddenly Scamboli cheats by shutting Marlene down, so he can kill Pinocchio. Pinocchio uses the medal to shield himself from the laser to destroy Scamboli's weapon. Meanwhile, Cabby accidentally gave Gepetto a remote. But Cabby and Rodo got fired by Scamboli. Gepetto commanded the robots to get Scamboli.

Scamboli went to Cabby's shuttle to get away, but he was caught by the Scambocop. It bumps Scamboli inside a shuttle and flies down to the Whale ride. Pinocchio, Gepetto, Marlene and Spencer to bring the robot back to children. Soon it's Gepetto's turn, Scamboli press the red button to stop the machines. Pinocchio went inside the whale and tries to fix it. He found out that Scamboli was here. Pinocchio found the red button to get rid of Scamboli. So, he began to tell a lie to him about his personality. Once he reached it, Scamboli was caught on the cart. Pinocchio learned that everything was his fault. Cyberina appears, Pinocchio told her that he learnt about Right and Wrong. She gave Pinocchio and Gepetto's wish.

Pinocchio turned into a real boy and Gepetto turned back into human. Suddenly, everyone saw a mysterious person in a cart. Scamboli turned into a robot and Marlene was shocked. Cyberina borrowed Cynthia's "Funbrella" to make a sunshine and bring all the greens of Scamboli. It ends Spencer taking a picture of Pinocchio, Gepetto and Marlene.

Characters

Geppetto family

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.

Geppetto

Mister 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.

Spencer

Spencer is a robotic 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 fill the said characters role. 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. He is a bit clumsy and laid-back, and is shown to be Geppetto's assistant.

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.

Scamboli Family

Scamboli

Mayor Scamboli (called Combinard in foreign films) is the villain of the movie. He is the mayor of the city, a widower who raises his little girl alone. He has ambitions to transform 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.

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 Pinocchio's romantic interest. 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.

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 based on the design of a porcupine. 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.

Miscellaneous characters

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.

Zac and Cynthia

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.

Music

The musical score, by James Gelfand, is quite varied, ranging 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 robotness.

See also

Children's literature portal

• List of animated feature films

External links

• Christal Films' official movie site
• Pinocchio 3000 at the Internet Movie Database