NO strings!

TOM HANKS, LUKE EVANS and CYNTHIA ERIVO on a live-action remake of a Disney classic...

- REBECCA MAHONEY

PINOCCHIO

NEW - FROM THURSDAY 8 SEPTEMBER, DISNEY+ DRAMA

When you wish upon a star... the lovely folk at Disney+ will grant you a shiny new remake of much-loved 1940 animation Pinocchio - and with Tom Hanks taking on the iconic role of Geppetto, it looks set to pull on your (ahem) heartstrings!

Mixing live action and CGI, this magical retelling doesn't stray too far from the story in the earlier version, following kind but lonely woodcarver Geppetto as he makes a puppet named Pinocchio (voiced by The Haunting of Bly Manor star Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and wishes upon a star that his creation would come alive.

But when the Blue Fairy (actor-singer-songwriter Cynthia Erivo) appears and brings the wooden toy to life, Pinocchio learns that he must show his character and prove himself before he can become a real, live boy - with no strings attached.

DANGER AHEAD

Despite guidance from his 'conscience', the ever-plucky Jiminy Cricket (Snowden star Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the beloved puppet soon lands in hot water with all manner of unsavoury characters, including the sinister Coachman (The Pembrokeshire Murders' Luke Evans).

'I think Pinocchio is a classic because it's quite dark,' says double Oscar winner Tom Hanks, 66, who reunited with his longtime collaborator, director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Cast Away, The Polar Express), for the remake.