Many people didn't realize there was a new live-action Pinocchio until it got nominated for Oscars

The 93rd Academy Awards brought many surprises on Sunday. But even aside from the big twists (like bumping Best Picture and Best Director much earlier in the telecast than usual, or Anthony Hopkins' upset Best Actor win over the late Chadwick Boseman) there were also smaller ones. For instance, did you know there was a new live-action Pinocchio film released last year?

Many people didn't, at least until it got nominated for two Oscars in Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (both of which it lost to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom). Though it was an Italian production directed by Matteo Garrone and starred Roberto Benigni, this Pinocchio wasn't nominated for Best International Feature Film.

"When did they slip a new Pinocchio past me?" Comedian Paul F. Tompkins mused on Twitter Sunday.

"This whole Pinocchio live action film feels like a reverse Mandela effect where it happened but we all don't believe it did," tweeted actress Angelique Rivera, referencing the phenomenon when many people come to believe the same false memory.

Other Twitter uses looked up imagery from the film, perhaps to see how it had earned its costuming and makeup nominations... and were horrified by what they found.

"Just found out they made a live-action Pinocchio movie this year and it will haunt my dreams," journalist Josh Billinson tweeted alongside an image of child actor Federico Ielapi as the titular wooden puppet with an elongated nose.

What's especially funny is, this isn't the end of the story. While this Oscar-nominated Pinocchio was an Italian film explicitly based on the original fairy tale by Carlo Collodi, there is yet another live-action Pinocchio film coming in the near future from director Robert Zemeckis, based more on the 1940 animated Disney film as the latest in that company's long line of remakes. The full cast has been unveiled, if you want to start preparing now so you aren't caught off-guard by another live-action Pinocchio again.

Is that still not enough Pinocchio for you? Well then you're in luck, because Netflix is also preparing its own version for a 2021 release. This one will not be live-action, though; it will be done in stop-motion animation and directed by the Oscar-winning Guillermo del Toro in his animated directorial debut.

Suffice to say: There are more wooden puppets where that came from!

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