Exclusive: Alan Silvestri to Compose Disney+’s ‘Pinocchio’ With Glen Ballard Writing New Songs

Yesterday, during Disney’s Investor’s Day 2020, which was a mini D23 Expo, the company announced that their live-action adaptations of Pinocchio and Peter Pan and Wendy would be making the move to Disney+. Well, today we have some new information on one of the projects.

We have learned that frequent Robert Zemeckis, composer Alan Silvestri has signed on to compose Pinocchio, with Glen Ballard joining to write brand new songs, along with the Disney classics you know and love, including “When You Upon A Star” and “I’ve Got No Strings.”

Read: ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ and ‘Pinocchio’ Officially Announced For Disney+

Tom Hanks (Toy Story 4) is on board the project as Geppetto, making this his fourth collaboration with director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). Silvestri recently collaborated with Zemeckis on the HBO Max Witches remake. Silvestri is also coming off scoring Marvel Studios’ box office hit, Avengers: Endgame.

Pinocchio is expected to start production in April under the working title “Maestro.” The film, which will be released theatrically, is expected to have a budget of over $150 million, Disney’s live-action remakes of  Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book had similar budgets, so expect the House of Mouse to put Pinocchio on a grand scale visually.

Released in 1940, Pinocchio was the second animated movie made by Disney, after 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It adapted the Italian story by Carlo Collodi about a wooden boy puppet crafted by an old carver named Geppetto. The boy is brought to life by a fairy who says he will become a real boy if he shows bravery. The character of Jiminy Cricket becomes his de facto conscience and tried to steer him in the right direction. What follows is a series of adventures that include Pinocchio being kidnapped to be part of a puppet show, getting turned into a donkey, and being swallowed by a whale.

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