Robert Englund has been an icon of horror for over 40 years, and although he does not seem likely to ever play his most famous role of Freddy Krueger again on screen, the first image of his latest character does look a little familiar. However, this is not a Nightmare on Elm Street project, but is something just as disturbing – the Twisted Childhood Universe (a.k.a. the “Poohniverse”) version of Pinocchio, in which Englund voices the usually pure and jolly figure of “The Cricket.” He doesn’t look too pure and jolly this time around though.
Pinocchio: Unstrung is following in the footsteps of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare, and Bambi: The Reckoning as part of the childhood ruining run of horror movies from Jagged Edge Productions. The dark take on the classic story of a wooden boy who dreams of being real is getting a gory make-over that will certainly not be for youngsters.
Now, after previously teasing the twisted version of the titular character, the movie’s version of Jiminy Cricket is just as disturbing as everything else about the production, and does bear a striking resemblance to one of the many forms Englund’s Krueger took on as he skipped around the dream world of his victims. This is obviously not by chance, but if you have a veteran such as Englund in your movie, then you want to make the most of the opportunity. You can check out the first images of the horror icon’s role below.
‘Pinocchio: Unstrung’ Is the Next Step Towards the ‘Poohniverse’ Cross-Over
When Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was released shortly after the character entered the public domain, the idea of it becoming a franchise was completely ridiculous considering its terrible reviews and the overarching belief that it was being produced as a cash-grab of the cuddly bear’s new status as a commodity to be plundered at will.
However, thanks to the film’s micro-budget, it became a hugely profitable project, and within mere months a whole franchise of similar movies began to emerge. Even more surprisingly, the reviews began to get better, and the budgets began to grow. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 had a clear upgrade in its effects, if not the story, and subsequent movies have attracted plenty of attention for instigating a wave of public domain slashers from several other independent productions, with characters such as Mickey Mouse (in Steamboat Willie guise) and Popeye getting slasher makeovers as a result of the success of the Poohniverse movies.
But, higher budgets mean there is less room to make a profit, and following Pinocchio: Unstrung and a handful of other movies, the crossover event film that is being planned to bring all of these monstrous versions of classic children’s characters together is not going to be cheap. That could end up being a costly affair if it doesn’t attract audiences in the way creator Rhys Frake-Waterfield hopes.
That is a worry for the future. Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare delivered a $1.6 million box office from its $250,000-$350,000 budget, but Bambi: The Reckoning only earned $215,000, which was a long way from the $7.7 million Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey made in 2023. Pinocchio: Unstrung is yet to be given a release date, but needs to deliver at the box office to ensure Frake-Waterfield’s epic vision can make it to its conclusion. With Englund on board, the film could certainly attract more attention than some of the previous movies, but whether it will be enough to make the movie a hit is something we will just need to wait to find out.
