Robert Downey Jr. as Gepetto?

While it does seem once Disney gets their hands on something, they treat it like they created it themselves out of thin air (like AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh).  And when you think of Pinocchio and Gepetto, I bet you think of the Disney versions as opposed to the original story written by Italian writer, Carlo Collodi in 1883 or the image of Pinocchio created by Enrico Mazzanti for Collodi's story. Tim Burton may give us yet another vision of Pinocchio to ponder as it's being reported that he and Robert Downey Jr. are looking to collaborate on a Pinoccio project. Screen Rant reports that "Tim Burton is now considering the Fuller-scripted Pinocchio project as a possible future directorial effort. More so, the iconic Gothic filmmaker reportedly has his eye on getting Robert Downey Jr. to portray the titular puppet-brought-to-life’s “father” - ie., the woodcarver Gepetto. As it turns out, Downey has “expressed serious interest” in the film and also wants to collaborate with Burton.

If Downey does sign on for Pinocchio, then chances are good that Gepetto could play a somewhat more substantial role in the story that he traditionally does. Whether the film will feature a standard iteration of the character as a kindly, but lonely older man – or mix things up by making him more of a comical and offbeat figure (a la most of Downey’s recent roles) – remains to be seen."

Pinocchio is a classic story and personally, I think Burton may give it a distinctly UN-Disney-esque air that I would welcome.  It's the Disney monopoloy that I find a bit bothersome and a lack of  homage to the original source. It's A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh", folks, not Disney's. End of story.