The Adventures of Pinocchio (film)
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a 1996 American fantasy film directed by Steve Barron
and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas
, Martin Landau
and Geneviève Bujold
. It is a fairy tale/fantasy story (aimed at a family audience) about a wooden puppet who comes to life after being carved by a puppetmaker named Geppetto
(Martin Landau). It is based on Carlo Collodi
's original novel of the same name. It was shot in Croatia
, Prague
, Český Krumlov
, and High Force
. For the character of Pinocchio
, a complex animatronic puppet created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop
was used. Pepe, the talking cricket, is computer-animated. Rachel Portman
's score features saxophone
solos by David Roach.
(Martin Landau
) is a poor but earnest woodcutter in the 1700s, who earns a living by woodcutting. Long before, he had carved the image of his heart into a pine
tree, but the night he accomplishes this, lightning
strikes the woods and hits the pine tree. A few years later, an old Geppetto is in the forest and he finds the pine tree again. However, when he is resting, the pine tree splits in half and rolls down the bank, landing at his feet. Geppetto is intrigued upon his discovery and takes the log home. He discovers that the pine log refuses to be burned, and so he decides to carve the new puppet with it. His puppet, named Pinocchio
, is soon mysteriously animated by a somewhat sentient force after his creation, and Pinocchio approaches the woodcutter, initially alarming him, but then Pinocchio becomes aware of a pidgeon
on the window and decides to chase the bird. After a chase throughout the town, Gepetto finally finds Pinocchio and starts teaching him about how to behave.
However, after a short conversation Geppetto has with another woodcutter, Pinocchio runs off first he sees a boy with a red basketball (Dean Cook
)who throws the basketball at Pinocchio's head Pinocchio then goes after the ball and becomes involved with two thieves, Volpe and Felinet, who attempt to flatter Pinocchio, but then Geppetto comes to the rescue and warns Pinocchio to mix with the right people. Volpe and Felinet go to the puppet master Lorenzini (Udo Kier
, possibly named for the true surname of Carlo Collodi) who owns a luxurious puppet theatre. Felinet tells him about Pinocchio, and Lorenzini appears interested, so he visits Geppetto that afternoon to barter for Pinocchio. However, although Pinocchio is somewhat taken to Lorenzini, Geppetto refuses to sell Pinocchio.
Later, Pinocchio follows a group a schoolchildren and becomes fascinated by school and learning, to which he wants to go for, in which Gepetto allows. But a boy named Lampwick (Corey Carrier
) and Lampwick's friend Saleo (Richard Claxton) involves him in a violent prank. The teacher punishes Pinocchio harshly for sneezing his sawdust all over him, forcing him to leave the company of the real boys. Out of bitterness, he then causes a great deal of mischief in a bakery, in which the baker's wife (Dawn French) causes more damage than the puppet. Geppetto is held responsible for the puppet's actions and is arrested. While Geppetto spends the night in a prison cell, Pinocchio returns home and meets 'the voice of truth' in the form of a wise and optimistic cricket
named Pepe. Pepe promises to help Pinocchio to become a real boy, if he can promise to be good.
The next day, Geppetto and Pinocchio stand before the judge, who rules that, unless Geppetto can pay for the damage Pinocchio caused, they will both be sent to prison. Lorenzini steps in and offers to pay off the debt, on the condition that Pinocchio be handed over to his custody. Geppetto strongly refuses but eventually gives in, believing that perhaps the puppet will be better off that way. Pinocchio is heartbroken and does not want to leave his "father", but Geppetto tells them that he cannot be his father (since he is not a real boy). Pinocchio comes to enjoy the theatre and also comes to believe that Lorenzini loves him as much as his father did. Pepe tells him that Lorenzini is just using him to gain money and success. Pinocchio comes to realize this as he performs in Lorenzini's play, and manages to save several puppets from being burned by the cruel Lorenzini. As he escapes, he accidentally sets the theatre aflame. He floats away down the river, passing through the woodlands to a quiet monastery
, after being attacked by a woodpecker
. Volpe and Felinet catch up with him and manage to swindle him out of the few coins of gold that he still has by telling him that if he buries them in the ground, they will grow and cause a miracle that will turn him into a real boy. Pepe scolds the puppet and proclaims: "Miracles don't grow on trees. Miracles are made in the heart!"
Meanwhile, Geppetto and his friend (and secret love) Leona have begun searching the forest for Pinocchio. However, Pinocchio is enticed by Lampwick to join a wagon-load of other boys who are being taken to the Terra Magica, where they are encouraged to perform all sorts of cruel and naughty deeds. Douring the trip, Pinocchio's hat falls into a river and later Geppetto and Leona arrive and find it on a beach, believing Pinocchio is lost at sea. Before striking out in a rowboat to search for the son, Geppetto finally declares his love for Leona. She angrily cries that she (who had been married to his brother for many years, but Geppetto's brother died recently and left her a widow) is done waiting for him. Meanwhile, while riding on a roller coaster
, Lampwick, and two other boys [Saleo played by Richard Claxton and Fighting Boy played by Joe Swash] are turned into donkeys by the enchanted water of a huge fountain they drank. They are then rounded up by Lorenzini, who runs the place after abandoning his career as a puppet-maker. He intends to sell the donkeys as work animals for both money and success. Pinocchio, having grown only donkey ears, frees the donkeys from their pen. Chased by Lorenzini and his henchmen, Pinocchio attempts to warn the other boys of the cursed water and also to stop them from doing cruel and naughty deeds. No one believes him until Lampwick strikes out with his hooves and knocks Lorenzini into the fountain's pool, and as Lorenzini gets out of the fountain and jumps in a river, he transforms into a "monster". The boys, having learned of the valley's curse as well as their lessons, run from the valley together to get back to their homes, scaring much of Lorenzini's henchmen away, and leaving Pinocchio and the donkey Lampwick to journey back home alone. However, when Pinocchio arrives, she is still there, and takes care of Lampwick while reluctantly allowing Pinocchio to row a boat to find Geppetto. However, the puppet gets swallowed by Lorenzini, now transformed into a monstrous whale.
Inside Lorenzini's stomach, Pinocchio is finally reunited with Geppetto. In order to escape, Pinocchio tells Geppetto that he hates him. The lie causes Pinocchio's nose to lengthen and push the whale's throat open wider. The nose then breaks from Pinocchio, but still holds the throat wider. Unable to breathe properly because of this, Lorenzini is forced to puke both Pinocchio and Geppetto out from his stomach before finally succumb from asphyxiation and falling to the seabed. Geppetto and Pinocchio make it back to shore, where Geppetto apologizes for giving Pinocchio away and tells him he loves him. Pinocchio begins to cry tears and turns into a real boy, proclaiming: "Miracles are made in the heart, Papa,". Pepe, knowing that Pinocchio has learned his lesson and has finally achieved what he needed to be, leaves Pinocchio temporarily to go on a much needed vacation, stating he will be with him forever. On the way home, Pinocchio runs into Volpe and Felinet again. Desperate for payback against them for swindling him, Pinocchio tricks them into drinking from the fountain of the valley where he and the other boys were turned into donkeys (as a result, in the film's ending is showed that the two swindlers are transformed into a real fox and a real cat, appropriate due to their names). Pinocchio returns to live life as a real boy with his Papa, Leona and his best friend Lampwick, who changed back to normal along with the other cursed boys by becoming good and doing good deeds.
were considering the idea of a live-action version of Pinocchio. They approached Disney
with this idea, but Disney turned down the project. Years later, producer Peter Locke sent Barron a script for a film based on the Carlo Collodi novel. Barron heavily rewrote the script. The project then finally got off the ground.
One of the biggest changes in the filming was replacing Wallace Shawn
, with David Doyle
as the voice of Pepe the talking cricket. However Shawn's voice as Pepe can still be heard in the trailer for the film and he is even credited in the trailer.
In her seminar "The Persistent Puppet: Pinocchio's Heirs in Contemporary Fiction and Film," Rebecca West finds the film to be relatively faithful to the original novel, although she notes major differences such as the replacement of the Blue Fairy by the character of Leona.
.
sequel was released in 1999 called The New Adventures of Pinocchio. Landau returned as Geppetto, while Kier returned as Lorenzini's estranged wife, Madam Flambeau (They were the only 2 actors to return in the film). Gabriel Thomson
played the title role and replaced Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In this film, Geppetto and Pinocchio are both given a potion that transforms them into puppets and Lampwick instead of being transformed into a donkey, he is transformed into a sea donkey fish. It was shot in Luxembourg City
, Luxembourg
. Like the first movie, the animatronics effects were made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Leona is strangely absent from the film.
Steve Barron
Steven "Steve" Barron is a director and producer, best known for directing the films Coneheads , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the innovative music videos for a-ha's "Take on Me" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"....
and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas
Jonathan Taylor Thomas is an American actor, voice actor, former child star, and teen idol...
, Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
and Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
. It is a fairy tale/fantasy story (aimed at a family audience) about a wooden puppet who comes to life after being carved by a puppetmaker named Geppetto
Mister Geppetto
Mister Geppetto is a fictional character in the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator of Pinocchio...
(Martin Landau). It is based on Carlo Collodi
Carlo Collodi
Carlo Lorenzini , better known by the pen name Carlo Collodi, was an Italian children's writer known for the world-renowned fairy tale novel, The Adventures of Pinocchio.-Biography:...
's original novel of the same name. It was shot in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and Český Krumlov Castle...
, and High Force
High Force
High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees, near Middleton-in-Teesdale, Teesdale, County Durham, England. The waterfall is within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and European Geopark....
. For the character of Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
, a complex animatronic puppet created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, and Frank Oz.It was originally created as a result of the observation that the team that had been put together for The Dark Crystal was extremely hard to recreate for Labyrinth, since the...
was used. Pepe, the talking cricket, is computer-animated. Rachel Portman
Rachel Portman
Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman, OBE is a British composer, best known for her film work. She was the first female composer to win an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Score...
's score features saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
solos by David Roach.
Plot
Mister GeppettoMister Geppetto
Mister Geppetto is a fictional character in the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Geppetto is an elderly, impoverished woodcarver and the creator of Pinocchio...
(Martin Landau
Martin Landau
Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
) is a poor but earnest woodcutter in the 1700s, who earns a living by woodcutting. Long before, he had carved the image of his heart into a pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
tree, but the night he accomplishes this, lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
strikes the woods and hits the pine tree. A few years later, an old Geppetto is in the forest and he finds the pine tree again. However, when he is resting, the pine tree splits in half and rolls down the bank, landing at his feet. Geppetto is intrigued upon his discovery and takes the log home. He discovers that the pine log refuses to be burned, and so he decides to carve the new puppet with it. His puppet, named Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
, is soon mysteriously animated by a somewhat sentient force after his creation, and Pinocchio approaches the woodcutter, initially alarming him, but then Pinocchio becomes aware of a pidgeon
Pidgeon
Pidgeon is a surname from an archaic spelling of pigeon. Notable persons with the surname include:* Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom and the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly...
on the window and decides to chase the bird. After a chase throughout the town, Gepetto finally finds Pinocchio and starts teaching him about how to behave.
However, after a short conversation Geppetto has with another woodcutter, Pinocchio runs off first he sees a boy with a red basketball (Dean Cook
Dean Cook
Dean Cook is a British actor, best known for playing Ashley Thompson on the sitcom Time Gentlemen Please, and for his appearance in the 2000 children's fantasy adventure, The Little Vampire. He also appeared in The Adventures of Pinocchio as "Boy with Red Basketball".-Career:Cook began his acting...
)who throws the basketball at Pinocchio's head Pinocchio then goes after the ball and becomes involved with two thieves, Volpe and Felinet, who attempt to flatter Pinocchio, but then Geppetto comes to the rescue and warns Pinocchio to mix with the right people. Volpe and Felinet go to the puppet master Lorenzini (Udo Kier
Udo Kier
Udo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
, possibly named for the true surname of Carlo Collodi) who owns a luxurious puppet theatre. Felinet tells him about Pinocchio, and Lorenzini appears interested, so he visits Geppetto that afternoon to barter for Pinocchio. However, although Pinocchio is somewhat taken to Lorenzini, Geppetto refuses to sell Pinocchio.
Later, Pinocchio follows a group a schoolchildren and becomes fascinated by school and learning, to which he wants to go for, in which Gepetto allows. But a boy named Lampwick (Corey Carrier
Corey Carrier
Corey Thomas Carrier is an American former child actor. He is also known as just "Core".Carrier was born in Middleborough, Massachusetts to Thomas and Carleen. He has a younger sister named Bethany. He attended an acting school at The Priscilla Beach Children's Theatre Workshop...
) and Lampwick's friend Saleo (Richard Claxton) involves him in a violent prank. The teacher punishes Pinocchio harshly for sneezing his sawdust all over him, forcing him to leave the company of the real boys. Out of bitterness, he then causes a great deal of mischief in a bakery, in which the baker's wife (Dawn French) causes more damage than the puppet. Geppetto is held responsible for the puppet's actions and is arrested. While Geppetto spends the night in a prison cell, Pinocchio returns home and meets 'the voice of truth' in the form of a wise and optimistic cricket
The Talking Cricket
The Talking Cricket is a fictional character who appears in Carlo Collodi's 1883 book The Adventures of Pinocchio .-Role:...
named Pepe. Pepe promises to help Pinocchio to become a real boy, if he can promise to be good.
The next day, Geppetto and Pinocchio stand before the judge, who rules that, unless Geppetto can pay for the damage Pinocchio caused, they will both be sent to prison. Lorenzini steps in and offers to pay off the debt, on the condition that Pinocchio be handed over to his custody. Geppetto strongly refuses but eventually gives in, believing that perhaps the puppet will be better off that way. Pinocchio is heartbroken and does not want to leave his "father", but Geppetto tells them that he cannot be his father (since he is not a real boy). Pinocchio comes to enjoy the theatre and also comes to believe that Lorenzini loves him as much as his father did. Pepe tells him that Lorenzini is just using him to gain money and success. Pinocchio comes to realize this as he performs in Lorenzini's play, and manages to save several puppets from being burned by the cruel Lorenzini. As he escapes, he accidentally sets the theatre aflame. He floats away down the river, passing through the woodlands to a quiet monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, after being attacked by a woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
. Volpe and Felinet catch up with him and manage to swindle him out of the few coins of gold that he still has by telling him that if he buries them in the ground, they will grow and cause a miracle that will turn him into a real boy. Pepe scolds the puppet and proclaims: "Miracles don't grow on trees. Miracles are made in the heart!"
Meanwhile, Geppetto and his friend (and secret love) Leona have begun searching the forest for Pinocchio. However, Pinocchio is enticed by Lampwick to join a wagon-load of other boys who are being taken to the Terra Magica, where they are encouraged to perform all sorts of cruel and naughty deeds. Douring the trip, Pinocchio's hat falls into a river and later Geppetto and Leona arrive and find it on a beach, believing Pinocchio is lost at sea. Before striking out in a rowboat to search for the son, Geppetto finally declares his love for Leona. She angrily cries that she (who had been married to his brother for many years, but Geppetto's brother died recently and left her a widow) is done waiting for him. Meanwhile, while riding on a roller coaster
Roller coaster
The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...
, Lampwick, and two other boys [Saleo played by Richard Claxton and Fighting Boy played by Joe Swash] are turned into donkeys by the enchanted water of a huge fountain they drank. They are then rounded up by Lorenzini, who runs the place after abandoning his career as a puppet-maker. He intends to sell the donkeys as work animals for both money and success. Pinocchio, having grown only donkey ears, frees the donkeys from their pen. Chased by Lorenzini and his henchmen, Pinocchio attempts to warn the other boys of the cursed water and also to stop them from doing cruel and naughty deeds. No one believes him until Lampwick strikes out with his hooves and knocks Lorenzini into the fountain's pool, and as Lorenzini gets out of the fountain and jumps in a river, he transforms into a "monster". The boys, having learned of the valley's curse as well as their lessons, run from the valley together to get back to their homes, scaring much of Lorenzini's henchmen away, and leaving Pinocchio and the donkey Lampwick to journey back home alone. However, when Pinocchio arrives, she is still there, and takes care of Lampwick while reluctantly allowing Pinocchio to row a boat to find Geppetto. However, the puppet gets swallowed by Lorenzini, now transformed into a monstrous whale.
Inside Lorenzini's stomach, Pinocchio is finally reunited with Geppetto. In order to escape, Pinocchio tells Geppetto that he hates him. The lie causes Pinocchio's nose to lengthen and push the whale's throat open wider. The nose then breaks from Pinocchio, but still holds the throat wider. Unable to breathe properly because of this, Lorenzini is forced to puke both Pinocchio and Geppetto out from his stomach before finally succumb from asphyxiation and falling to the seabed. Geppetto and Pinocchio make it back to shore, where Geppetto apologizes for giving Pinocchio away and tells him he loves him. Pinocchio begins to cry tears and turns into a real boy, proclaiming: "Miracles are made in the heart, Papa,". Pepe, knowing that Pinocchio has learned his lesson and has finally achieved what he needed to be, leaves Pinocchio temporarily to go on a much needed vacation, stating he will be with him forever. On the way home, Pinocchio runs into Volpe and Felinet again. Desperate for payback against them for swindling him, Pinocchio tricks them into drinking from the fountain of the valley where he and the other boys were turned into donkeys (as a result, in the film's ending is showed that the two swindlers are transformed into a real fox and a real cat, appropriate due to their names). Pinocchio returns to live life as a real boy with his Papa, Leona and his best friend Lampwick, who changed back to normal along with the other cursed boys by becoming good and doing good deeds.
Development
Nearly ten years before the film was eventually made, Director Steve Barron and Jim HensonJim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
were considering the idea of a live-action version of Pinocchio. They approached Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
with this idea, but Disney turned down the project. Years later, producer Peter Locke sent Barron a script for a film based on the Carlo Collodi novel. Barron heavily rewrote the script. The project then finally got off the ground.
One of the biggest changes in the filming was replacing Wallace Shawn
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn , sometimes credited as Wally Shawn, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, author, voice artist, and intellectual. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre , Vizzini in The Princess Bride , and debate teacher Mr...
, with David Doyle
David Doyle
David Fitzgerald Doyle was an American actor.-Early life:Doyle was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Mary Ruth and Lewis Raymond Doyle, an attorney. His maternal grandfather, John Fitzgerald, was a prominent railroad builder and banker in Nebraska...
as the voice of Pepe the talking cricket. However Shawn's voice as Pepe can still be heard in the trailer for the film and he is even credited in the trailer.
Reception
The movie has received mixed reviews from critics.In her seminar "The Persistent Puppet: Pinocchio's Heirs in Contemporary Fiction and Film," Rebecca West finds the film to be relatively faithful to the original novel, although she notes major differences such as the replacement of the Blue Fairy by the character of Leona.
Box office
The Adventures of Pinocchio was made on a budget of $25 million. Because it only generated $15 million revenue, the film was a box office bombBox office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
.
Soundtrack
Sequel
A straight-to-videoDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
sequel was released in 1999 called The New Adventures of Pinocchio. Landau returned as Geppetto, while Kier returned as Lorenzini's estranged wife, Madam Flambeau (They were the only 2 actors to return in the film). Gabriel Thomson
Gabriel Thomson
Gabriel Thomson is an English actor, best known for his role as Michael Harper in the British situation comedy series My Family.-Career:...
played the title role and replaced Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In this film, Geppetto and Pinocchio are both given a potion that transforms them into puppets and Lampwick instead of being transformed into a donkey, he is transformed into a sea donkey fish. It was shot in Luxembourg City
Luxembourg (city)
The city of Luxembourg , also known as Luxembourg City , is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. Like the first movie, the animatronics effects were made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Leona is strangely absent from the film.